Mr. and Mrs. Schram

Our dear friends Carryn and Justin got married on August 23rd and we were so happy and honored to be a part of their big day!  Carryn and Stephen worked together at Spirit in the Pines which is where Stephen and I met.  Justin is also on the fire department with Stephen.  We are all just one big, happy family and are so blessed to have these two in our lives!

I was Carryn's personal attendant and I had Stephen as my assistant! HA!  

The weekend started off with nails for all of the girls on Thursday, followed by lunch at Punch Pizza.  We had the rehearsal at the apple orchard they got married at and hammered out all of the details that needed to be figured out.  They had their grooms dinner on Thursday at the Chanhassen Legion which was so delicious!

Friday all of the girls went over to her parents house and had brunch.

Saturday morning we all met up for our hair appointments and then headed back to Carryn's parents house to get ready.

The beautiful bride!

Its a little hard to see but here are the lovebirds in the mirror after their first look

The wedding party!

Carryn's nephew, Ben was a hoot!  The girls were trying to take pictures with some chalkboards they had made and he was just waltzing around with his enormous umbrella!

All of the girls + Ben with their chalkboards

Jenny and Angie

Carryn with her camp brothers, Dan and Stephen

Kirstin and Carryn

Eden Prairie firefighters and their spouses-- we call ourselves Fire Friends!

Stephen, Kirstin, Belle, Catt, Paul, Erik, Carryn, Justin and Jenny

Love my man in uniform!

The wedding went off without a hitch and the reception was so much fun!

Family Lake Day-- Round Two

My whole fam bam packed up and headed out for another day on the lake!  We have rented a boat three times this summer and we have had so much fun!

This day we headed out on Lake Minnetonka.  The weather left much to be desired but it cleared up with an hour to spare so we got to see a little sunshine!

Bennett and Katie!

Avery and Nama

Momma and her girls

Kirstin, Bennett, Avery and Nama

The face of pure joy!

The brave crew who faced the chilly waters! (no I am not naked...)

Once again we had a blast and we look forward to getting out on the water again next summer!

Kayla's Bachelorette Party

We had Kayla's Bachelorette Party in the middle of August and boy was it a blast!  She wanted to do something low key so we went out to dinner and went to Cheers Pablo in Woodbury.

The evening started off a little rocky...

We were heading to dinner and were pulled up at a stoplight...I looked behind me and I saw some smoke.  Initially I thought it was coming from my car...turns out it was the car behind us...which happened to have Kayla and some of her friends in it.  Long story short after some freaking out and yelling we learned that there was something wrong with the electrical system in her friends car and there was a small engine fire.  Sheesh...who would have thought that would happen!

We managed to enjoy dinner and have a couple cocktails and head off to Cheers Pablo.

If you've never done one of these painting classes I would totally recommend it!  We booked a private party but you can also take a class in the main studio.  They have an instructor who leads the class and they walk you step by step through the painting that is selected.  They give you freedom to roam to make the painting your own but they also can give you pointers if things are going awry.  

Getting started with our paintings called Twin Cities Reflection

Most of us are not artists but all of our paintings turned out so well and are all very different.

Sisters!!!

Dads 70th Birthday Party

My dad turned 70 on July 17th so we had a big party at our house to celebrate...the day after Kayla's bridal shower...yes it was a crazy weekend...I don't know what I was thinking!

We had my whole extended family over so it was basically like a family reunion!  It was so great to see everyone!  We used to do Christmas at my grandmas house every year and that was normally the only time that we had everyone all together.  When she passed we started doing a summer reunion since the holidays are so busy for everyone!  My dad also had some good friends of his over that he has been friends with FOREVER, since before I was born.

I had seen this cute idea on Pinterest to put birthday candles in a vase and fill it with gumballs but let me tell you...gumballs are expensive when you try to buy them in bulk so we settled for some colorful pom-poms and I still got the look I was going for but for way less money!

I made a little basket of lollipops with this funny sign...the kids loved all of the lollipops

More table decor

The birthday boy and his cake!

The weather was steamy all day but surprisingly a lot of people wanted to be outside which was great because we had 25 people and our main floor is not that big!

I made a little basket with goodies for all the kids filled with coloring books, crayons, bubbles, and chalk.  They were easily entertained the whole time!

We had such a great time celebrating out wonderful dad!

Kayla's Bridal Shower

Yes I know...I am way behind on posts...the past month has been crazy busy with work, weddings and all things summer!  But here we go...one big catch up!

Stephen's sister, Kayla is getting married on September 26th so Jess and I hosted a little bridal shower for her in mid July!  We had so much fun decorating that I neglected to take pictures of any people at the party!  HA!

The drink bar!

The return of the mason jars!  I just love these things!

Delicious cupcakes!

The table set up!  We had sloppy joes, cornbread casserole, pasta salad, fruit, chips and cupcakes!

Table decor

I made another fun banner!  These are just so fun to make and incredibly easy!

We had the guests write their addresses for thank you notes again, save so much time, I can't imagine hosting a party and not doing this ever again

Simple lollipop favors

We picked up these fun pinwheels to decorate the front steps!

This party was way smaller than the baby shower so it was less stressful thank goodness!  We had a great time and Kayla got lots of great cooking things!

Fourth of July

The fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays of all time!  Nothing is better than summertime, fireworks and spending time with family and friends!

My sister had us all over with their friends for a fun fourth of July party!  My sister always makes her house look adorable with cute signs and decorations for every party she hosts and this was no exception!  All of the food and drinks were wonderful!

My sweet Avery and Bennett

Katie and I

The boys in stripes, Bennett and Stephen

After spending some time at their party we headed over to Stephens parents house to have a little BBQ with their family!  Always good times snuggling with baby Andre!

Next up...dinner at Chammps with our friends before heading to fireworks!  We met up with some of our dear friends, Jenny, Erik, Carryn and Justin.  All of the boys are on the fire department together and Stephen, Carryn and Jenny worked together at the camp that Stephen and I met at.  Jenny and Erik started dating after meeting at Stephen and I's wedding almost two years ago.  Small world I know, its crazy how so many parts of our lives have merged together!  We absolutely love it!  After dinner at Chammps we headed over to the fire station to watch fireworks!  We watch them there every year because you can't beat the convenience!  We get to park at the fire station which is right across the street from where they shoot off the fireworks, we can go inside and use a nice bathroom and escape the bugs, and we get to sneak out quickly after fireworks and beat all of the traffic!  

Carryn and I

Stephen and I

FIRE FRIENDS!

Justin, Carryn, Stephen, Kirstin, Jenny and Erik

It was a very busy day running around to see all of our family and friends but we wouldn't have it any other way!!!

Family Fun Days

My whole family had planned to take a summer vacation in northern Minnesota together.  However, with the size of our large family it was hard to find a place big enough that met our criteria!  So we ended up all taking the same week of the end of June and had ourselves a little staycation!  First up we rented a boat on Lake Waconia!  Unfortunately due to all of the rain we got earlier in the summer the water was really high on all of the lakes so the whole lake was a no wake zone!  No problem for us...we scooted along slowly to the other side of an island, dropped anchor and enjoyed the PERFECT weather!

My little Av-baby getting all sunscreened up for a day in the sun!  We didn't want any repeats of last years sunburn!

The whole fam-bam getting ready to head out for our day of fun!

Avery and Papa

Love me some of this goofy girl!

Avery and Katie swimming!

All of the boys!  Davey, Stephen and Scott

My momma and I

Day Two we headed to Cascade Bay water park in Eagan!  We had a blast on all of the water slides and floating down the lazy river!  It was a little cloudy and cool that day but we made the best of it and managed to get out of the water park with minutes to spare before a torrential downpour!  

Day Three we headed to Stillwater to bum around the town!  The St. Croix river was also incredibly high from all of the rain.  I wish I had taken some pictures.  There were light posts halfway underwater where there is normally a sidewalk to walk along by the river.  We did a wine tasting for a local vineyard which was fun and very yummy!  Then we headed to lunch at the Freight House!  

All in all it was a fun few days with the family!  We so cherish all of the time we get to spend together making awesome memories!

Andre Robert Duvic

Stephen and I are thrilled to announce that we are auntie and uncle again to a sweet little man!  Stephen's sister, Kayla and her fiance, Andre welcomed their little guy, Andre Robert Duvic on Friday, June 20th at 12:12pm.  He weighed in at a hefty 9 pounds 1 ounce and was 20 and 3/4 inches long.  He has lots of dark brown hair and a widows peak just like his daddy!  We are so in love and can't wait to love on him for many years to come!

I got to meet him Friday evening with the whole Branham clan!

4 generations all in one picture!

Grandparents with momma, daddy and baby boy

Excited aunties Jessica and Kirstin

Unfortunately Stephen had to work Friday night so he had to wait until Saturday evening to meet him!  He is such a natural!

Baby Dre with auntie and uncle!

Finally out of his hospital clothes and into something a little more stylish!

I crocheted a big blue and white striped blanket that will be perfect for tummy time for baby Dre and Josie picked out this sweet little mini Josie for him!  Looks just like her!

We had Branham family dinner on Sunday and I was more than happy to snuggle with the little guy while everyone else grabbed a quite bite to eat!

Josie was very interested in what baby Andre was doing!  When he was crying she came right over and jumped up next to him to see what all the fuss was about.  I think she was a little jealous but she handled it very well!  She even wanted to climb in his carseat with him while we buckled him in for the ride home!

We are so in love and can't wait to make more memories with our newest nephew!