Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Wayne Smith

This past weekend, the whole Kennemer Family flew out to Houston, Texas for Ben's cousin Julie's wedding. Everything was beautiful and lots of fun. It was the first time everyone in the family had been all together since our wedding in November, and I know everyone had a great time.

Julie and Jerry's Rehearsal dinner was at the San Houston Race Track that was actually really cool. We bet on horses all night, with very limited knowledge as to how (besides 'oh that one has a cool name' or 'the cheat sheet says this one will win' (and it was always wrong)... and although we ended up losing money overall, Ben and I won $6 by betting on horse #5 winning Race #6! Maybe we can go to the Kentucky Derby next year? After the races, Robert Earl Keen played a concert out in the middle of the track, but we didn't stay around too late to be able to enjoy it.

Ben and Zachary horsing around (haha get it?)Juliette and Zachary Saturday morning was the Bridesmaids Luncheon with yummy Brunch food and Beautiful flowers, put together by Ms. LeJean and Laura (Julie's sister). Julie with her hostesses, LeJean (aunt) and Laura (sister)me & Maui the Bride and Grandmother During the day Saturday, we all went to the Houston Galleria to shop, eat, pass the time. Well, it is quite an incredible mall, but the affordable shops (as in anything other than all the name brands the 'stars' wear) were slim pickins. Ben and I resorted to trying on sunglasses (picking out a birthday present?) and eating at the food court.

Then the wedding Saturday night. The ceremony was beautiful and Ben and I had the pleasure of 'babysitting' Zachary (the ringbearer/Julie's nephew/our ringbearer as well) the rest of the ceremony. Ben and I loved playing with him, drawing, and playing with his 'prize' for doing his ringbearer duties (LEGGOS!). The reception followed at Rice University's campus Cohen House. It was really a great night, with a great sit down dinner, and lots of dancing!!! I took a thousand pictures (what can I say, I LOVE weddings, family, and taking pictures!).

The whole Potter family with the Bride and Groomannouncing for the first time...blurry... but a great 1st dance picture2 newlywed happy couples!Grandmother & Granddaddy (Look at those SMILES! )Future newlyweds too!BEST WISHES to Jerry and Julie on a long, happy, blessed life together!

The Three F's

FRAME, FILL, & FLOW

At least that's what the Garden guy at Lowe's told me! OK, so I went to get some flowers to put in the front pots on my porch, because my pink petunias had died in the heat. Well, I thought buying a few begonias would be quick and easy, but they happened to be out of that particular flower. The garden guy asked me if I needed any help and I told him my pot size and location (full sun) so what flowers should I get? And here we go...

"you must have something to FRAME (adding height so the pot isn't flat and boring), and then you must FILL (the surroundings in the pot to be full), and finally you need FLOW (cascading out of the pot to keep it growing and going). " I had no idea a simple pot of flowers could be SOOO complicated!!!

Haha, OK so this is what I ended up with! AND I LOVE IT!! I think it looks so much better than a few pink flowers (this isn't even flowers at all)! I wish I could boast about my creativity but I really had nothing to do with this one (except planting them once I got home)!!!The FRAME is "Liriope"(green), the FILL is "Dusty Miller" (small white), & the FLOW is "Coleus" (red).

Now I think I need to lost the "corny country" white flowers on my wreath... OK, so I have that plain brown twine wreath that for holidays I have wrapped with some sort of strings from Michael's to go along (hearts for valentines, little pastel eggs for Easter, fake poinsettias for Christmas, etc etc). But do you have any suggestions to make my wreath a little more creative and good for just everyday beauty? or should I take it down all together and wait for the next holiday? I'll take suggestions, be honest PLEASE! :)

Ladies Tournament Weekend

We fished Ladies Tournament this past weekend. We left at 1AM Saturday morning and headed about 90 miles out (attempting to find pretty blue water). It was really not a successful fishing day AT ALL. We were chased by storms all day long, the water was ugly and dirty, NO fish or porpoises to be seen, and lots of grass on the hooks. Actually, we did have one knock-down and luckily I was up fishing at that time. However, after reeling a while we realized there was no fish, just weeds on the other end I was hauling in. We had a good time out there anyway, and spent most of the day eating (typically what we do on the boat when the fishing isn't good)! Natalie and Stephen, Rachel and Hollis, Ben and I, and Daddy all went. Momma stayed home to babysit Bennett and we missed them both!
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We were also celebrating Father's Day this weekend, since we were ALL together. After the fishing day, we spent time in the new pool as much as possible. It is so nice to have it there, since the river water STILL has tons of jellyfish everywhere. We could have used some sunnier skies, but still a good relaxing weekend. I wish we could spend EVERY weekend at the beach in the summer!!! I didn't really take any pics until right before we left, so this is all I have.

Harper Doodle

That seems to be what I call him alot lately. I realized I haven't really updated the blog on Harper stats, not that I really have a lot. He is almost 6 months old and last time we checked, close to 50 pounds!!! Yes, a big growing boy (hopefully he will stop growing around 60-70 pounds). His FAVORITE, and I mean cherished, toy is his cow. It's just a fat round stuffed animal filled with about 10 squeakers inside it that we got him for Easter, and now he never wants to put it down. When he's walking anywhere in the house, or tell him to come here, or go outside, he always picks up the cow first. Even to the point that he knows the word "cow." He doesn't even associate the word with his outher toys... if we say "get your cow" he finds his cow. Smart boy, and a cutie! I snapped a few pictures this afternoon, before the rain rolled in, so they aren't that great, but I needed some updated pictures quick!

Father's Day Weekend

...spent at the beach... PERFECT!

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We spent the weekend at Ben's beach house in Josephine. We had some YUMMY dinners and had a good time hanging out together. Ben went fishing with his brothers and dad on Saturday on their new boat, and Ms. LeJean was shopping, so I went down to my fam's house for the day. We went on our new boat over to Tacky Jacks for lunch (always yummy) and dodged the oncoming storms/bad weather. Some family friends, Brett and Angie, and their 2 boys, Hayes and Grayson, were down from Birmingham for the weekend visiting. Natalie and Bennett were there too (Stephen was on call). It was hilarious to see Bennett wear his life preserver for the first time ever.... such a little butter ball. Captain BennettHayes, Grayson, and Bennett at lunch

Hayes driving the boatThe new pool at my parents house was finished up a few weeks ago, so when we got back from lunch we swam for a while. We kept saying "what did we ever do before we had this pool" because there were jellyfish all in the river, and it was overcast and rainy... but the pool felt GREAT! I wish I had taken more pics (don't I ALWAYS say that?) but they were all only of Bennett (still a great subject)! I went back to Josephine that afternoon and the boys got back from fishing. No such luck with the fish part, but I know they had a good time out there. Saturday night we celebrated Father's Day with Mr. Don and awoke to a great breakfast Sunday morning before heading back home to do "Sunday things" (yard work, laundry, cleaning, work reports, movies, naps, etc).

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Since the Setzler side weren't all able to get together to celebrate Father's Day properly, we plan to celebrate (the ENTIRE fam together) next weekend at the beach. We will probably fish Ladies Tournament and hopefully catch some fish!!

Another Kennemer Wedding!

Monday night, Ben's older brother Will proposed to Amy Schwarz!!! We are all so happy for them and are excited about having a new sister in the family! They are thinking about a Spring '09 wedding, but don't have a date set yet. Having just gone through the process over the past year, I welcomed them into the wonderful world of wedding planning (and for Ben's parents, Rehearsal Dinner and Honeymoon planning!).

Wednesday we all went to the Country Club for a celebration dinner and I met Amy's parents and sisters for the first time. They are a wonderful family... Amy is the oldest of 3 girls marrying Will is the oldest of 3 boys (not to mention the other similarities of Ben being the middle of 3 boys married to me, the middle of 3 girls.... Natalie is the oldest of 3 girls married to Stephen the oldest of 3 boys.... I think the siblings and birth order really help 2 people understand each other, and they seem to have similar personalities).

Anyway, it was a wonderful dinner with some great wine and celebration champagne! We couldn't be happier for Amy and Will and look forward to seeing them grow as a couple and live the married life we are enjoying so much!

CONGRATS!!!

Odds and Ends

2 weeks ago, Ben and I were on our way back from the beach and stopped by our good friend Matt Glass' house out in the country (Elsanor, Alabama). He was about to head back to Washington DC, but we got to visit for a short bit. They live on a farm and grow all kinds of veggies, and offered us some zucchini. I said sure, and these are what we ended up with!!! they are HUGE! We had no idea how to use them before they went bad, so I made 3 loaves of zucchini bread (YUM)! We do still have some left over... any ideas?

Ever since my best friend Katie's wedding (March 1) I have been planning on making her a scrapbook including all of her party invitations, pictures, etc. I kinda procrastinated a bit while collecting pictures and buying scrapbooking supplies. I finally got it going and completed her scrapbook this past weekend. I have to say I had grander visions of an incredible scrapbook (you know, like scrapbooking professionals do), but I am DEFINITELY a beginner. I think Katie and Jody liked it though. Now I think I'll use my remaining supplies to make one for myself?

This past weekend, Ben was in his good friend Garrett's wedding. They have been friends since little bitty childhood and then of course went to school together. Friday night their Rehearsal dinner was at 5 Rivers (I'm so mad i didn't take any pictures in front of the beautiful sunset). The wedding was Saturday afternoon and very beautiful (however, extremely HOT!). These are the ONLY pics I took of the whole weekend but I lifted this picture of the bride and groom from someone else's facebook album.

And lastly, my dreaded run-in with the law. This could be a long story (and maybe I should tell the whole story so I don't sound like such a criminal, but I'm kinda tired of telling the whole story). Saturday morning when Ben and I were headed across the bay to Mobile for the wedding festivities, I was pulled over by a state trooper (in an unmarked car, with 2 troopers inside, with clothes hanging in backseat so as to appear off duty, and that I didn't notice until I had pulled up right next to him). This happens to be my VERY FIRST time to EVER get pulled over for ANYTHING (I knocked on wood every time I said that so proudly, but my luck ran out).

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1. I received a ticket for going 75 in a 65mph (I was probably going about 70, but how do you argue that?) not to mention the cop followed behind me (with me going 64 on cruise control) for over a mile before turning his blue lights on. I will be going to court in August to BEG the judge for driving school, or something to lessen the fine/sentence.

2. I also received a ticket for expired insurance (i have a company car, and my insurance was NOT expired, but Ben and I couldn't find the updated card in the glove compartment). I already went to the courthouse to turn in my updated insurance and get this cleared.

3. And finally a WARNING (but nearly a license SUSPENSION) for driving with a Restriction (Corrective lenses required) on my license, however I had LASIK eye surgery and do not wear contacts anymore (the Eye Dr. gave me a signed card saying I was legal to drive and NEVER told me that I had to go back to DMV and get my license changed). O yeah, and they wouldn't let me drive anymore and they questioned Ben about his corrective lenses too. Sooooo, I had the run around Monday going to DMV, getting sent to eye Dr to get my eyes rechecked and a form filed out, and going back to DMV tomorrow to get eyes checked AGAIN by them and take picture, pay AGAIN for new license, and should then have that cleared.

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Let's just say that I balled crying for about 45 minutes after the incident, and didn't cheer up until I saw baby Bennett!!

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So there was my fun Saturday... how was yours?