The long, awaited event!

Well, we made it! Our crazy wedding weekend is over! Last night was the wedding of Mike Alaniz (long-time friend and co-worker of Randy's) and Abi Carroll. Over the years our family has gotten to know and love Mike and Abi so much and we were honored to be a part of the wedding. Randy was one of the groomsmen and Audrey and Isaac were the flower girl and ring-bearer. They did a wonderful job! Audrey enjoyed being a princess for the day. She got to start the morning by going to Abi's parents' house and getting her hair done with the bride and other bridesmaids. She was great the whole day, sitting patiently, not touching her hair, and going where she was told. She's growing up so fast! Amazingly, Isaac did nothing inappropriate or worthy of America's Funniest Home Videos. He did act his age at times when he needed to wait for us to get ready, or wait for pictures, or wait (a key word for the day that isn't really in most 3 year old's vocabulary) for 30 minutes for the wedding to start, in his little tuxedo, pillow in hand. But when it came down to it, he and Audrey both took their jobs very seriously and walked exactly how they had practiced the night before and made mom and dad proud! Grandma Arlene was gracious enough to stand in the back with Violet for the wedding...and Isaac joined them the last 10 minutes or so as well. It was an absolutely beautiful wedding! Enjoy all the pictures!
Randy's mom, Arlene, holding Isaac, me, Violet, Randy, Audrey and Randy's brother, Kevin, right after the wedding.Isaac striking a pose in his reception duds (Mike bought matching shirts for all the groomsmen to change into for the reception). What a handsome dude!Congratulations Mike and Abi...we love you!

This week's fun!

We've had a good week! Violet pulled up onto the ottoman Thursday morning and hasn't stopped since. She loves to crawl (army-style still) from furniture to furniture and then pull up and see what fun, small toys she can find. It took her a day or two to figure out how to get back down after she was up, but now she's good!

The weather cooled down considerably this week too...and it finally feels like fall! The clouds rolled in on Thursday and we dropped from high 90s to mid 70s for the weekend. It was great! And here is one of the many, beautiful sunsets we get in Fresno (colors, of course, courtesy of the smog).
Here's Violet enjoying the weather out in the front yard!

Isaac started playing soccer this weekend too...we signed him up for a short 7 week league with People's Church. They only play 4 on 4, and each kid has a parent on the field with him/her. It's just a fun time of getting them to run around and kick the ball...and everyone cheers when anyone gets the ball in the net. Isaac loved being out there and was the first to kick the ball and dribble it straight into the goal when they set in down to start the game. No need to tell him what to do or where to go...he was ready! Hopefully he'll be that enthusiastic over the coming weeks. Audrey did well watching from the sidelines. She was a little disappointed at first that she wasn't going to play; but we reminded her that she did dance class when she was 3, and now she has other special things that she does that Isaac doesn't get to do (namely school). She seemed to understand. Audrey finished her first month of school and is still loving it. Her school added a new kindergarten teacher this last Friday, so a couple of kids moved out of each class to go into the new one; but she is still in Mrs. Burgess' class. Her classroom will definitely benefit from the lesser number of students (from 23 to 17). I (Jamie) enjoy going every Wednesday morning to help out Audrey's class; my neighbor, Marcy Bergen, and I swap babysitting so I can go. She watches Isaac and Violet every Wednesday morning, and I watch her 2 kids one day while she works (she's a per diem P.T. in town). The only thing Audrey doesn't like about school is that she has less free-time to spend with our neighbors, the Bergens. Here's a picture of our Audrey Meredith with Audrey Nicole (as we refer to them to keep them straight) playing in the yard on one of the cool evenings. Hope everyone has a great week as we officially start fall!

Prayer Request

Please remember our extended family in prayer over the coming weeks. Randy's uncle, Leonard Funk (Randy's mom's brother-in-law) passed away yesterday from a very short battle with cancer...he was diagnosed only two weeks ago. Memorial service plans are being made and we hope to attend. Please pray for the Funk family as they grieve together...Betty (Leonard's wife and Arlene's sister), Barbara and Karen (daughters), and Jared (grandson). Thank you!