Dean & Anna's Wedding Day

Just in time for Father's Day, my Dad wore this shirt for the last time :)

He bought it for our wedding almost 14 years ago, and now all 6 of his girls are married!

The hunt is over... :)

"shooting" a few pics of the beautiful bride & her handsome groom

Van Egdom family

We all had a wonderful time celebrating Dean & Anna's wedding day!

Flashback to our wedding in 2001, when this was the whole family...

Can't believe that cute little girl in front is all grown up and married!

(Jerron wasn't even born yet... he joined our family

about 2 months after this picture was taken. ;)

Dad & Mom and the siblings in birth order -

Erin, Sarah, Joel, Bethany, Sherry, Valen, Anna & Jerron

(This photo has become a favorite tradition at our family weddings.)

Flashback to 2013, & you will notice that Jerron has passed us all up in the last 2 years!

~Sisters ~

Anna's nieces and nephews and Dean's youngest sisters sang an Irish Wedding Song at the reception. They were so excited to be part of Dean & Anna's special day!

As a surprise for Dean & Anna,
they also gave some advice to the newly married couple. : )
Many thanks to my sister Valen for putting this together!

Congratulations, Dean & Anna!

We love you and wish you God's blessing as you begin your life together! : )

Happy Birthday, Ryan Perry!

Ryan was so excited about his Thomas the Train birthday cake,
he couldn’t take his eyes off of it long enough to look at the camera… ; )

 

We celebrated his birthday with the De Jong cousins,
and had a great time swimming at the Ramada hotel with them!

 

Ryan loves the water!

~

Can’t believe how fast he’s growing up!

Having fun at the park

 

Riding in the car at HyVee

 

Ready to slide

 

He sure loves his Daddy!

 

Drinking gatorade at a softball game : )

~

Ryan’s always been good at keeping us on our toes…
Just in the last few months he’s had a plastic BB surgically removed from his nose,
stuffed the outside furnace vent full of rocks (requiring a visit from the furnace repairman,)
had a couple of major allergic reactions to our dog, Honey,
and rolled down a hill into a pond while sitting in his stroller.
We are very thankful that he is happy and healthy,
but there are times when we wish he didn’t add quite so much excitement to our lives! ; )

Destination Disney, 5th & Final Day

 

Ready to ride in the Mad Tea Party teacups

 

Prince Charming Regal Carrousel

 

“Under the Sea” with the Little Mermaid

 

 

Waiting to eat lunch at the Crystal Palace,
where we had lots of fun meeting Pooh and his friends!

 

Saying “hello” to Tigger

 

Posing with Piglet

 

Not-so-gloomy Eeyore

 

Smiles with Winnie the Pooh

 

 
Hugs for Pooh

 

One more time on Splash Mountain

”Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay,
My, oh, my, what a wonderful day…”

 

Doing some exploring on Tom Sawyer’s island

 

The Festival of Fantasy Parade

Peter Pan float

 

Jiminy Cricket and Snow White

 

Mickey & Minnie

 

Ice cream bars during the parade. They hit the spot,
but it was a challenge to eat them before they melted! : )

 

Enchanted Tales with Belle,
where guests are chosen to play a part in the story…

Paul, a knight in shining armor : )

 

Kara & Luke were enchanted dinnerware

 

Evan was the Beast with a heart of gold

 

(He wasn’t so sure about dancing with Belle, but he played the part well. : )

 

One of the staff said that Evan was “the best Beast they had all day” ; )

 

One last snapshot at Disney

 

Time to bid farewell to our townhouse

~

We had a wonderful time at Disney World, and made many magical family memories while we were there. We hope you’ve caught a glimpse of that in these photos! : )

Destination Seaworld (Day 4)

On Day 4 we decided to do something other than Disney World, and opted for Sea World instead. First up, the orca whale show. What big, beautiful, amazing creatures!

Look at them go!
We found out that sitting in the “Soak Zone” is no joke…
When the whales flip their huge tails in your direction, you WILL get soaked!

 

There were lots of beautiful flowers and trees at Sea World

 

A close-up view of a bald eagle that was rescued by Sea World
and is no longer able to survive on its own in the wild

 

Next up, the dolphin show!

A trainer riding on 2 dolphins through the water

A dolphin “walking” on the water

Eight dolphins jumping at one time! Wow!

~

Time to cool off with a water ride…

 

Ryan was too short and Luke was too tired to go on the ride,
so they decided to watch and get soaked by the spray instead.

They were wringing water out of their clothes by the time the others came down!

 

Making a big splash on Journey to Atlantis! : )

 

Kara by a sign in my favorite part of SeaWorld, the Waterfront,
which looks like a quaint Mediterranean seaside village,
complete with cobblestone paths and charming storefronts.
And the best part – no crowds! ; )

 

  
Taking turns in the shark’s mouth

   

 

Clyde & Seamore’s very entertaining Sea Lion High show

 

Enjoying some delicious Chicago-style Giordano’s pizza for supper,
where a lady made the kids some amazing balloon animals! : )