Gone

We don't always go up north for a whole week but this time we did!
My baby brother got married (woohoo!) So we made the best of it.

I'm gonna be honest and tell you that it wasn't my favorite trip back home. Some trips are just so much fun and we do so many things, seeing so many people. This was one of those trips where things didn't go quite as planned.

For the last few years we've stayed at my parents house but as sleeping situations have been altered, siblings gotten bigger and one moving back home it's not as easy to find space for my crew as it has been.
I found out both my cousin and sister were coming to town and staying there too so that sealed the deal, we get to stay at Grandmom's!

 Ana remembered Grandmom's front porch swing and wanted to go out there almost as soon as we arrived.
So we sat and swang, swung, swinged.... 🤷🏼‍♀️ Grandmom pulled out the bug nets and containers, the kids caught so many fireflies as the sun set. I lived in this house with my family until I was 11, it reminded me of the many hours I spent doing the same thing at their age. *be warned, this trip was super nostalgic for some reason*

Grandmom and her crazy puppy - Hershey! (How cute is she?!)

On our first night there after we'd had dinner and settled in I had the funniest conversation with Elyanna!
Ana: Mommy I wanna go home
Me: Why do you want to go home?
Ana: Why do you want me to stay here?
I laughed and laughed! I did tell her why we were there but she continued to express her desire to go home all week long. She wanted to take her suitcase with her wherever we went and every time we got our shoes on she asked if it was time to go home. Sweet girl broke my heart! I think it's just a phase, she's not a stranger to traveling or spending time with people other than me.

July 9th was Cow Appreciation Day! Ashley and I took our kids to get our free CFA and show off the shirts we made. Naomi even had a super cute hair bow to match! In case you're wondering - I made the kids shirts super big so they can wear them for years to come 😉

I got to teach my girls how to pick raspberries (Asher said it was too hot). I used to pick from these same bushes as a kid! *nostalgic, I'm telling ya* I realized I'm raising some city girls that are afraid of nature #momfail. But we did have fun braving the thorns and bugs for some yummy berries!

For a day and a half I used a station at a friend's salon to take care of as many of my clients as I could. This time I even got to do hair for 5 of my sisters! It was fun to do their hair in a salon, they usually get the home treatment 💇🏼‍♀️ 

My family and Tim's Dad tag teamed watching the kiddos so I could work. (thanks again y'all!) It felt good to be "back to work" but also made me grateful for my cushy SAHM gig 😉 I see a few of the same people each time I come and every now and then a face from my past shows up which is super fun. One of my friends and I say we're going to "do this" more often, or something, some type of communication and it still ends up being once a year!😂 It's ok, I'll take it ♥️ Recently a long lost client (or so I thought) found me on facebook and I'm so glad she did! I got to do her hair on this trip and hear about what has happened over the last TEN years 😳 Donna is special to me because she had a hand in helping Asher and I get established as a new little family, she bought Asher his crib and passed along many wonderful things and clothes to help us get started. She was truly an angel to me in that season of my life! I was so blessed to be able to reconnect with her!

Rehearsal Day - My sweet sister watched my people so I could get a massage from my friend Tess and her magic hands 🤗 When I got back we (and our cousin Isa) went to get our nails done, complete with a stop at DD for iced coffee! It was fun to have some girl time, but towards the end I was stressing we were going to be late for the rehearsal! Then it started pouring outside which created even more traffic and we were indeed a few minutes late but thankfully they didn't seem to be waiting on us. 

The rehearsal seemed to go well, everyone knew their place and my girls walked down the aisle with no hesitation. Donny and Bridget were all smile the whole time. So strange to think of my chubby baby brother as a husband, but I know he's gonna rock it! 

Like I said this was our first time on the grooms side of things and my dad's first time being responsible for the rehearsal dinner. Of course nothing but the best for his boy, there's nothing quite like MD style seafood. Don't let the label "Maryland style" fool you into thinking it's the same thing though! Unless you're in MD or someone from MD is making it for you - it's not the same.

Wedding Day Eve...

Mom and I hadn't had any real time together so we said let's do something Friday! It turned into running errands together but it was still nice to spend a few minutes with her. Ana was having a hard time being away from home and wanted to be with me so she tagged along too ;) 

Meanwhile

My sister Melaina and cousin Isa, took Laila to the tea house where Melaina works. We'd been chatting about how much Laila would love this and we were right! Of course as Ana's opposite she was quiet and well behaved 😂 I'm so glad Laila had this opportunity with her aunt and "new aunt" as she came to call my cousin 😂

Wedding Day!

The girls and I got up early to head over to my moms!

The boys got to sleep in a bit before being picked up to attend a memorial service for Tim's grandfather (before the wedding). How's that for a wedding and a funeral in the same day?! 

If you know Elyanna you know she is accident prone... wedding day was no exception. She tripped over the carpet as my brother informed me, and bonked her head pretty good! I've actually never seen her get a goose egg like this before. The pic is after the swelling came down a little too! My mom seems to know everything and thankfully knew just what to do. A little essential oils, a little prayer and lots of snuggles to get this silly girl back to herself. 

As you can see, MomMom's treatment did wonders for our little flower girl in just a few hours!
Melaina has gorgeous hair and it was easy to turn into a beautiful wedding updo! She was a stunning bridesmaid!

You can see more wedding photo's in the facebook album if
you're interested!
The ceremony went off without any issues (that I know of). All the girls looked amazing, especially my new sister! It's so hard to accept someone new into the family, who is every truly good enough for your sibling? I'm pretty confident my family was unsure of my choice too at first. But with Bridget, she totally belongs in our family and we're all so glad she's here! It takes a special person to fit into our crazy zoo, much less become a Stimax! Poor girl will forever have her last name mispronounced 😂 (It's Stie-max, if you're wondering)









To finish off this loooooong post, here's our updated family! Minus one sister and her fam!
My parents now have:
- 7 Girls
- 5 Boys
- 3 Sons In-Law
- 1 *new* Daughter In-Law!!!!
- 2 Step Grandsons
- 4 Grandsons
- 3 Grandaughters (and 2 more due in a couple weeks!)

I'm super proud to be part of this crazy big, unusual family. Big families rock!