weekend recap

what a whirlwind of an autumn weekend!

friday joel and i hung out at my parents all evening with my parents, stephen, david, adam and jill and their three toddlers. it was so fun! we all laid in the living room reading the newspaper to each other, laughing at ourselves and just talking about life. i really cherish those moments, it was so relaxing and refreshing. jill made these AMAZING cookies for us. they are cookies made from cake batter - i mean, seriously!? could i love a dessert more?! (the answer is 'doubtful'!). check your next cake batter box for the recipe option of making cookies - yum yum yum - thanks jill!

saturday joel, his sister roni, and her boyfriend robert and i drove up to michigan for their grandparents (bushie and jodgie) 50th anniversary party. but not before getting up late, a mad dash to heyerly's to buy donuts for my brothers and the little kids, an outfit-picking-out nightmare that resulted in me taking 2 outfits to michigan and not liking either of them, and a stop by in ossian to make sure our tent for loving options fundraiser the next day was set up in the proper spot. whew. that was all before 10:30 am...
we made it to michigan - ran around a bit finishing setting up for the 'reception' and then went to bushi and jodgie's so the girls could spend 2 hours getting ready and the guys could watch some football (note: joel got ready at an hour early so he wouldn't have to get up during the precious few minutes he had to watch the notre dame game before we left for mass...). my mother-in-law kari, and my sisters-in-law roni and leslie and i had fun in the bathroom doing each others' hair and makeup and chitchatting. we all got in the cars and heading to the church for mass that was dedicated to ron and phyllis' 50th anniversary - it was very sweet!
the reception was so fun! the whole fam sat at the head table (18 of us!) which ruled because we all got to eat first! and then there was a slideshow of their wedding and life since then playing all night as we chatted with friends and danced the night away (don't worry - paradise by the dashboard lights made and appearance and i definitely lost my voice singing to it!) we made it back to the losinski's - great michigan friends and joel's godfather's house around 11:00 that night and hung out till 12:30 before i drove us home - we hit the sack at 2:30 to get up around 8:30 and start another day!

sunday we headed up to ossian for the loving option carnival fundraiser which was SOOO much fun! i haven't heard yet how much money we raised, but we sure did enjoy doing it! the cheap candy and prizes were delicious and fun to play with - not to mention the great time we all had together running games and playing with all the kids - i love my job!

now we are home, joel fighting a cold and me trying to get a lot done on my fall break from school before we hit the road at noon on thursday to drive to omaha to visit our great friends - the branyans! :)