A Day at the Park.......

We actually had a family day this past Wednesday!!! Todd was finally able to take a vacation day and we ended up just going to the park. We played on the playground for a little while, but Kylie isn't a big fan of the swings so it didn't last long. Then we decided to wander over to the pond and look at the ducks!! This was the high light of our afternoon. The first picture is Kylie and Todd walking to the pond.....I love this picture!
Here is Kylie running to the water, I was afraid she was actually going to go in, thankfully we were able to catch up to her!
Kylie loved watching the ducks splash and swim, she kept saying, "Duck, Quack"

"Quack, Quack, Duck, Quack"
Kylie also was a fan of saying, "What's that?"Another great picture of Todd and Kylie, they had a great day together.....I could tell that Kylie was loving our family time!
We were trying to get Kylie to look at the camera and smile at mommy, but she was so distracted with the ducks......maybe if it is nice next week, we will take bread for her to feed to the ducks.I love this picture of their feet!
These are the best pictures of Kylie just by herself......she loves being outside, and loves quacking at the ducks! I think she is pretty cute!
After hanging out at the park and watching the ducks for a while we decided to get out of the sun and go home. Our original plan was to go pick apples somewhere, but after our failed attempt at that, we decided to just go to the park, and it was a great decision. Todd made the decision to go to Whistle Stop park in Byron Center, and it was a good decision......the play ground wasn't a hit, but the duck pond was fabulous!!! It was such a great family day, one that was long needed! Todd worked so much this summer and was unable to take time off, Kylie and I were so happy that he decided to take such a beautiful day off, we all had so much fun together!

High Heels.......What a girlie girl

Kylie has decided to start wearing my high heels! Every day she finds a pair to put on and then walks around the house in them. I actually have video because it is way cuter then the pictures can do it justice, but I was having difficulty loading the video, so maybe another day! She is becoming a girlie girl and at the same time loves sporting goods!! When ever she is in the garage, she always grabs the basketball and throws it around and yesterday my mom and I went to the Disney store and the first thing she grabbed was a soccer ball, then the baseball stuff, and then the golf clubs and then she went for the stuffed cars and "rockets". What a little person she is becoming, it is much fun right now. We had her 15 month check up this past week and she is doing just fine, she is right where she needs to be in developmental stuff and is growing just fine! She didn't change in height and only gained a few pounds, but she is right where she needs to be!
I think she looks like her Aunt Amy in this picture, as far as face shape, she still has my blond hair and blue eyes though!
Mel and Todd

Here are the wedding pictures!

Here are the beautiful flowers......Barb's are the blue ones and the the bridesmaids carried the white ones!
Here is my Beste on the morning of her wedding, ready to become Mrs. Weintz! She is stunning! Below is Lynnae and I, all five bridesmaids had the same dresses, but in different shades of blue, it was simply beautiful!Here is Barb and Elton getting pictures taken, I believe that Barb stood in the same position for about an hour and the photographers just moved different people in around her! Just kidding, but it did seem like it, she had the perfect pose down and was absolutely stunning! They saw each other before hand so they got all of the pictures done, they had a private moment with only photographers when Elton saw Barb for the first time, nobody else was allowed to be around!

CHEERS!!!!!

Here are the bridesmaids in the back of the limo toasting to the happy couple, I think they were out of the limo taking pictures, we didn't care we just kept drinking the champagne, I think this was the 2nd glass, thanks to Bob (one of the groomsmen) for making sure our glasses were never empty!
Here is Barb and Elton, finally back in the limo after many pictures. They took a ton of pictures outside at the church after the wedding and then we drove to Kalamazoo college, where Elton asked for her hand in marriage and they took a lot of pictures just the two of them and then we were able to get out of the car and have our pictures taken! Barb and Elton were very happy to return to the limo and be able to have a little drink. It was a very hot day, but very beautiful outside!
Here is Todd and I toward the end of the evening. This was a self-portrait taken by Todd. This was shortly before my camera battery died, so I didn't get very many reception photos.

Mel and Todd

September has been a blur....

On the 20th of September my Beste got married. Barb Beste that is, she married Elton Weintz. I was actually given the honor of standing up for the happy couple. Friday night the 19th of September we had rehearsal. Here comes the bride....oh wait that is the wrong direction!

Here is the happy couple practicing becoming Mr. and Mrs. Weintz!

This is Todd and I at the rehearsal dinner, it was held at the Black Swan in Kalamazoo, MI. We had a great time. As our gift for being in the wedding Barb gave us brooches to go on our dresses and then also gift cards to spend on our favorite things....I got one for a pedicure!

Where do I begin....I'm so far behind!

The first day of school, Kylie is going to Mary and Sandy's in P.J.'s this year, and yes I took this at a red light!

The end of the first day of school, I think someone was tired!

The Birthday boy and me....welcome to the "Old Ducks" Buday!

Buday's new house, notice all the beer cans in the spindles :) I think his mom and sisters did this, something about pay backs!

This is the outfit Kylie had on when we went to pick her up and I thought she looked so cute, I needed a picture and I liked how this one turned out even if she wasn't looking at me, I thought this was a cute one of her getting into her toy box when we got home after a long weekend away from her "home" toys.So happy playing in the rain
If you look carefully you can see that she is watching the softball roll down the driveway

She had water running down her face....she wanted to get her bike out, we drove it around the garage.

Gracie and Tia with their seatbelt on....it was humorous, Gracie was basically dragging Tia.

So I am only a couple of weeks behind for posting anything, sorry. We have been very busy around here. Todd has gone back to school on Tuesday evenings, Melinda has gone back to work and Kylie is settling in at the baby sitters. She actually has been doing really well and loves being with her friends again.
The first week back to work flew by and the weekend was here before we knew it, Kylie went to Grandma and Grandpa's house and Todd and I went to Cleveland to celebrate Jeremie's birthday. It was a long ride, but we had a lot of fun and it was well worth it.
This past week at work, I actually had to go every day and by Friday, Kylie didn't want to go anywhere and threw a big fit getting into the car. Of course once I got her in her seat and gave her some toys, she was as happy as can be and was just fine when I brought her to Mary's. When we got home it was raining and Kylie decided she wanted to play in the rain....this was fun for both of us, as it something I enjoy and it was warm outside. We were both soaked, but had so much fun. She found a softball (go figure we have one of those around here) and she was rolling the ball out of the garage into the driveway and I would chase it, then she would come out of the garage and laugh and I would say while laughing, "Hey get back in the garage, it is raining out" and she would laugh harder and then turn around and penguin "run" back to the garage. At one point she threw the ball and followed it right away and then stood in the middle of the driveway throwing the ball to the grass, of course loving every minute. She had water dripping down her face, what a cutie :)
We actually got to stay home this weekend so we dog sat for Grandma and Grandpa and all the dogs behaved. On Saturday night Todd and I decided to go to our neighbors adult gathering so Nana and Papa came over and watched Kylie and all three dogs.
This week should be a normal week of work for me, so I will have Wednesday off, which will be nice, and then next weekend is the big wedding weekend in Kalamazoo (Congrats Barb and Elton ) it will be fun and busy, I will try to post sometime this week if I get more pictures, otherwise I will post a wedding weekend update next week! I hope everyone is well!


Mel and Todd

Is there really such a thing as too much softball?

I think the answer is yes.

This weekends tournament was an around the clock 20 team event. From Friday to Sunday I played 9 games and slept a only a total of 7 1/2 hours. Melinda came along and was a great cheerleader for the team...she did skip one game to get 2 extra hours of sleep. The schedule was crazy, our game times were:

Friday 8:50 pm
Saturday 1:50 am, 7:30 am, 10:50 am, and 8:00 pm
Sunday 12:50 am, 5:30 am, 9:00 am, and 10:10 am

We finished with a respectable 5-4 record.

Back to school...

Tomorrow is back to school, and this time it is for me too. I am starting grad school at WMU tomorrow so that should be an interesting new thing for my already busy schedule. Melinda is going back to work and Kylie is going back to see all of her friends at Day Care. I can't believe summer is really done.


Todd