Hooray for Robin & Erik!

The other weekend, Jeff and I drove up to Orlando for the day to attend Robin & Erik's wedding! Erik is the dear son of our good friends we met from church, Lynn & Glenn, and we've been so happy to see Erik do so many cool things in his life over the last couple of years, including meeting his best friend, Robin. So - this had to be one of the coolest, most creative weddings that we've ever attended (and many of you know how many weddings we've been to). The wedding venue was at a place called the Enzian Theater, which is an old Indie moviehouse that shows old and offbeat films and the whole event was inside. There were so many cute do-it-RobinandErik-self details too - from decorations, fun music, and some awesome eco-friendliness - it was impressive. I also have to give MAD PROPS to the vegan brunch buffet! I don't think I've been to any planned affair where I didn't have to think about what I could eat b/c I could eat everything! Even the cupcakes were vegan (baked by the DJ himself)...how amazing. Best of all is that the ceremony was so meaningful and Christ-centered which was so beautiful and thought-provoking. The whole affair was beautiful, and as you can see, I couldn't stop taking pictures (except I somehow missed getting one with Lynn and me sniff, sniff). I was in love with the spanish moss covered trees - exactly what I needed to fuel my post-"Away We Go" watching needs. Note the awesome picture of Jeff with Jareth....coincidence that it was playing that week? I think not....Erik and Robin are obviously destined for good things! Anyway - it was a great and beautiful day and we are so excited to have shared it with the VL fam! Hooray!

Brandon and Carter Visit!

Last weekend, Brandon and his friend, Carter, came to visit South Florida. They decided to stay in South Beach, Miami and come up to Palm Beach County to hang on Saturday....which worked out well b/c then we all went to the Dave Matthews Band concert together that night. It was a great show and Brandon, being the cool and well-connected person that he is, got us really good seats to upgrade our tickets to - so we could actually see the band from our seats! It was amazing! On Sunday, Mom, Dad, Tyndell, and I went down to see Brandon and Carter at their hotel, The Delano (really famous South Beach hotel - look it up if you haven't heard of it), and had brunch together. It was one of the most beautiful hotels I've ever seen so I posted a pic from Brandon's room and also a few of Tyndell hanging out inside and on the front porch - check out the fun father and son shot! Unfortunately, Tyndell got so hot on this visit that she passed out immediately when we got back into the cool car to go home. Thanks for a fun weekend Brandon and Carter! It was great to catch up with you!

Summer Boat Cruisin'

A couple of weekends ago, we went out with two other couples on an awesome afternoon/evening boat cruise down in the Fort Lauderdale East River area. Marlis and Bob are some of our best friends down here and are so gracious to invite us and Aaron and Shelley out on their boat to hang out every so often. We always have the best time with these guys just cruising around, toasting to each other, and taking in the scenery - here are a few fun ones - THIS is definitely what Florida summer is all about. I LOVE the one of the girls in the water and Aaron halfway underwater like he's about to shark attack us. And ladies - no worries - I won't be posting ALL the pictures from this occasion - Whhhooo whhhoooo! Thanks Marlis and Bob! We love you!

Park Mornings!

We are definitely enjoying a lazy, hot summer! Tyndell is a park junkie so the last couple of weekends, we spent some good times at our local parks - we even went to "the good one" downtown with the swings last weekend! Anyway - here are a few random phone pics to share. I've been trying to get her to wear a hat and sometimes she's all about it and sometimes absolutely not - oh well - I guess that's what sunscreen is for, though, it doesn't seem to matter how much I put on her - she still tans. I think she must have her Gigi's skin! Please Mom - no "frying oil" on this child hahaha!

Royal Poinciana Love

Some of you may remember my "Long Road to the Tropical Island" post a couple of years ago (click on the title link for before photos) and I felt the need to remark on the love I have for the Royal Poinciana tree that we planted in February 2008. I was so so sad when we decided to take out the big olive tree that was in our front yard previous (See post from June 2007) b/c it was so big and shaded the whole front yard. But it was an ugly, evasive species and loomed over our roof. So when we replaced it during the Landscape Island project, I told Jeff that I didn't care what kind of tree it was as long as it grew big, FAST, so that I could have my big tree back. Well - I have to say that I am super pleased with the Royal Poinciana choice that we made b/c when we planted it, it was about a 15-foot tall stick and now look at it in this picture (orange flowering tree on the right)! It has done so well and is BIG and pretty with red-orange firey flowers! The island is doing really well and I'm loving the craziness of the Starburst as well.

The other cool thing about this tree is that they were all over Mali when we lived there and I always loved them (who can resist mimosa leaves and orange?). I found a cool picture online of one and it looks just like one of our neighbors' trees!
Ah...simple things can add so much joy!

A Gallant Fourth of July

I feel like such a nerd - there were definitely lots of opportunities to take cute pics this past holiday weekend, and I completely forgot except for a few phone versions that I quickly snapped here. Jeff was out of town this past weekend (Phish vs. family - Phish won) and Tyndell and I hung out, relaxed with friends and family, and just had a nice girl weekend together. It was actually really nice - very quiet and relaxing - got caught up on sleep and laughter quota needs. On Saturday, we caught a few hours before the storms set in, and headed to my parent's house with Aaron, Shelley, and Madelyn and hung out in the pool and ate yummy YUMMY shish ka bob (isn't that one of the best words EVER?!). On the actual Fourth of July, we just went to church and then headed over to Keith and Tammy's house to hang for a few hours and played with their kids, Max and Samantha. Tyndell had a blast playing with all their Elmos and their cool red car as you can see! And we made it to the beach for a couple of hours on Monday morning. We literally made it outside between all the storms and relaxed inside for the rest but it was a great time.