It's a Miracle!

It is truly a miracle that I am FINALLY updating our blog!  Not that there hasn't been anything to blog about- SO much has happened in our family the last few months!  Many great things as a matter of fact.  First, Rich was let go from his job at the casino where he worked for the last 16 years.  I know that doesn't sound like a great thing, but actually it was.  He got to retire for 4 months and get all sorts of unfinished projects done around the house.  He needed the break after working so hard on his PHD and everything else.  This was only a great thing because he was able to find another job just in the nick of time and he really loves it.  He is the HR Director at Global Data Systems here in Lafayette.  We really thought we would have to move, so much to the delight of Savannah (and us) we get to stick around a little longer.  Here's some pics to let you know about the other great happenings over the last 4 months:

Devin, Bree's boyfriend- at the time, came to visit Louisiana for the first time.  We took him to all the usual places- Tobasco Factory, Jungle Gardens, out to eat Alligator. He seemed to enjoy it all :)

Rich and I took a trip for his birthday over to the Houston area which included a soccer game to see the Houston Dynamo play.  We also went to Kemah (the boardwalk), Galveston (Moody Gardens, beach time, movies, Pleasure Pier) and the NASA Space Center- all things we have never done before.  It was a very full and FUN trip!!

We had a GREAT 4th of July with family and friends over for a BBQ and fireworks.  Devin, now Bree's fiance, suprised her and drove into town for a few days. Here we are displaying some sparkler art.  Photography by Rich & Nikki

 With Rich's time off, we managed to squeeze in a trip to Door County, Wisconsin to my mom and Wayne's lakehouse.  Sarah, Savannah's friend, came with us and we did all the usual very fun things!  Out on the lake. . . .

 Eating at Al Johnson's (notice the goats on the roof!). . . .

 Rich still proving he's got skills . . . . .

Pretending we are children . . . . . All in all a fabulous trip!

 Okay- so now for another GREAT thing that has happened- Bree got married!  These pics are from her Bridal Shower.  Savannah made those cute wedding dress cookies :)

Two of Bree's best childhood friends, Emily & Heidi, helped throw such a cute shower!!

Bree and Devin had a BBQ with friends and family the night before the wedding.  We were stressing out pretty bad because Hurricane Isaac was supposed to hit just a couple days before.  Luckily, it was a non-event in Lafayette and everything went on as planned.

Devin's sisters made all the awesome food!!

All the kids enjoyed the pool!  For more pics you'll have to check out Bree & Devin's new blog (see sidebar!). 

 Here are just a couple pictures from the big day.  When we get the really good professional ones, I will post more.  This is just outside the temple in Baton Rouge.

This is just outside of the place where we had the reception.  It's great to have Devin in the family and meeting his family was a pleasure!!  I can't help but notice that someone is missing though- Hunter! 

:(  But the last GREAT thing I want to blog about is that he passed his one year mark on his mission in Sierra Leone!!  He has 11 months left as of today.  I might not be so good at keeping up with this blog, but I post weekly on Hunter's mission blog so you can always keep up to date with him. (see sidebar!)  Our family has been truly blessed!!!

Another BYU Graduate in the Family!

We had a wonderful extended weekend in Utah for Bree's graduation, but not without a stressful, last minute deadline for Rich and his dissertation! It had to be sent all the way to his sister's house in West Jordan so he could make the final edits and turn it in for the final time.  Here he is in Kinko's feeling VERY relieved to FINALLY be done with it!  He is now Dr. Stewart!!!  We are all SO proud of him!

The first day in Utah, (after Rich finished his paper) we met Bree and Devin (her boyfriend) at JCW's for burgers.  That's Rich's mom and our niece, Addison who were also there.  Then we headed over to Thanksgiving Point for the Tulip Festival.

Devin is filling in for Hunter since he couldn't be there. He had to crouch down quite a bit to make it more believable :)

Our nephew, Carter, and niece, Addie in front of some beautiful tulips!  Cute, cute kids!!

Bree was so happy to be graduating that she had to kick up her foot.  Devin graduated, too, and I'm sure he was happy, but I'm glad he didn't kick up his foot.

That evening we got to see Carter play in his first soccer game of the season!  We sure miss those days of the players doing cartwheels and picking flowers- it's hilarious.

Friday was the big day and Bree has never looked happier!  We're soooooo proud of her and all her accomplishments!!!

The family (minus Hunter :( )

After the big event, we grabbed a bite at The Awful Waffle.  It was YUMMY!

Okay, more food- later that evening we had Devin and his family over to Jen & Marty's (Rich's sister and her husband) for a graduation BBQ.  Of course, look who's hanging out right by the food!  I'll admit it, we ate A LOT on this trip :)  It's the Stewart way.

Saturday, we got to go to another soccer game!  Addison had her first game of the season, too :) She's a good little player!

After the game, we rode trax to downtown Salt Lake and went to a brand new mall.  It was very nice.

Jen and Carter at the mall-

We walked across the street from the mall to Temple Square.  I love this pic of Marty and Addie!

The crazy fam!

 Now for a funny story- Addison somehow got stuck in her seatbelt after graduation and it locked up and was so tight around her that she couldn't get out!  I can't even explain it because I'm still trying to understand it myself.  Well, after a few minutes of trying everything they could think of, Marty and Rich gave up and had to cut the seatbelt! I don't think Addie thought it was too funny, but she will when she tells the story to her kids someday. 

She made a souvenir necklace out of the seatbelts remains :)

All in all, it was an awesome trip and we are so grateful to Rich's sister's family for letting us stay with them and taking such good care of Breeann during all her years at BYU!!  They are the best!!!

Happy Easter Y'all!!

Even though Savannah is the only kid left at home, I have to TRY to make Easter fun, so I sent both her and Rich on an Easter basket Hunt with clues along the way. As you can see, they found them :)

We decorated some eggs yesterday and made sure we made one for Hunter and Bree. They're all pink because the other colors were so light and Hunt wasn't here to say no.

After going to church and hunting for baskets, we spent a lazy day in the backyard on my birthday present! I LOVE it :)

Um. . . . it's not really built for two. . .

Savannah has this sudden interest in BB guns, so Rich took her to buy some targets and he (of course) ended up buying another one so we've been having fun with that.

Our dog, Charlie, gets SO scared when we're shooting the guns so Savannah is feeling sorry for him - such a cute picture!

This last random picture is from yesterday- Rich spent ALL day pressure washing our driveway, sidewalks, patio, front porch and chimney! Gotta love that Louisiana mold!! (Yes, I stood on the ground with the phone in my hand ready to call 911 when Rich fell off the roof. If you know his track record, you'll understand. He's fine, by the way- he never fell)

March Madness

Well, I'm mad anyway! I tore a muscle in my calf doing Zumba and now I get to wear this beautiful boot for three weeks. Hopefully I'll heal fast and can get back to running and dancing :) This is making me feel OLD!!

Savannah won this for catching the biggest fish at a company picnic! I didn't know what a great fisherwoman she is :) She is all done with soccer for the school year and will be getting her driver's license in a month!! Look out everyone. . . . . . (This makes me feel OLD, too !!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Okay, so I know we're more than a little behind on posting, but really, life has been pretty dull since New Year's. We did manage to have our annual "Red Dinner" for Valentine's Day this year and we have two pictures to prove it! This year we had lasagna, red jello, strawberries, salad with craisins (yes, that's cheating) and red Martinelli's. For dessert we had sugar cookies decorated with yep, you guessed it, RED sprinkles :) Hope yours was a happy one!

Happy 2012!!

On New Year's Eve we loaded up on the artillery, invited a few friends to come over, played some cards and blew stuff up! What a way to ring in the new year :) Hope it's loaded with new adventures!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

So here is my oldest child playing with his Christmas toy ;) This is an Air Swimmer that you fly through the air by remote control. Pretty darn cool, actually!

My mom made these cute aprons for all the girls in the family this year. We just HAD to model them.

This is the four of us- yes, we missed Hunter TERRIBLY- at our Christmas Eve dinner. It was a very quiet year without him or any other family visiting, but still great with Bree in town to visit for a couple of weeks and the highlight of our Christmas day was getting to talk to Hunter on the phone for an hour. He's doing fantastic- not homesick at all!

Bree painted these cute Christmas string of lights on her and Savannah's toes! So creative :)

We worked on treats for the neighbors. Fun, fun, fun! And ate our fair share of junk!

We decided to go look at lights at Acadian Village which we haven't done in years. It was a beautiful night and I guess everyone else in Lafayette decided to go too. We waited in a line up of cars for one and a half hours!!!! All in all a wonderful Christmas!