Gabe & Donna's Wedding Day

Gabe and Donna got married on Saturday, May 21, 2011 on St. Augustine Beach.

Here's Gabe and Josh walking down to the ceremony site.

Katie and Aaron before the ceremony.

Jan and Mark seated after Isaac walked his mom down the aisle...he was so proud that he was chosen to walk Jan down...he loves his Mama!

Donna's Dad walking her down the aisle.

The ceremony begins...doesn't Donna look so sweet?

Layering of the sand ceremony...Donna and Gabe's moms added their layers of sand to symbolize Gabe and Donna's lives before...the jar ended up with 5 layers and they corked the container to have as a keepsake.

Giving and Receiving of Rings

The Kiss

It's official! Mr. & Mrs. Gabe Treesh! This is my favorite photo of the whole event!

Isaac and I after the ceremony.

Leah and Abby

Josh and Nikki

The Treesh Family

Mark & Jan with Donna & Gabe

Daniel and his crazy date Leah

Let the party begin! The reception was at The Reef restaurant.

I loved the cake!

The centerpieces were so pretty.

Donna's gorgeous bouquet.

Dancing the night away...

Congratulations to the happy couple!!!

Gabe & Donna's Rehearsal Dinner

Friday night, May 20th, we celebrated the last night of the single lives of Donna and Gabe (Treesh kid #3) at the Raintree Restaurant in St. Augustine, FL. Mark and Jan hosted a fabulous rehearsal dinner...this was their 4th one to host, so they are getting pretty good at this with only one more to go!

Josh (Treesh kid #1) and Nikki flew in from Okinawa, Japan to be there for Gabe's big day.

Mark (Dad Treesh) thanking everyone for coming to the dinner and roasting Gabe just a little bit.

Jan (Mom Treesh) giving Donna some advice on how to deal with Gabe's sense of adventure, general craziness, and fun-loving spirit.

Me and Isaac (Treesh kid #4)...we were recruiting more siblings to move to FL during dinner since it is just us and Gabe and Donna for now...

Sammy (Treesh kid #7) and Alyse in from Lexington, KY...soon-to-be married in December

Katie and Aaron (Treesh kid #6) in from Fairbanks, AK

Jonathan, Abby (Treesh kid #5), Daniel (one&only Treesh grandkid) in from Lexington, KY, and Leah (Treesh kid #2) in from Munich, Germany

Nikki and her sister Jenni who was visiting Nikki during one of her only days in the U.S. this year

Mark and Jan

Gabe and Donna aka Groom-to-be and Bride-t0-be who live in Jacksonville, FL

Daniel loved his train Gabe gave him for doing the honor of being Gabe and Donna's ring bearer.

Gabe and Donna listening to everyone's loving marriage advice and well wishes.

Treesh Family...yes, we are starting to rival the Duggars in size...just wait until we all have kids!

The 3 Week Closet Makeover

On April 11, I started cleaning out my clothes in our master closet. I was inspired to join the Master Closet Revolution with Project: Simplify. I had lost 31 pounds between August 2010 and February 2011, and it was time to get rid of my chubby clothes forever! Here's a few before photos...kind of embarrassing that our closet was such a mess...at least the rest of our house is in order, well, except for the closets, drawers, anything out-of-sight basically...but I'm working on that!

I started with the folding clothes first. I just pulled them all out of the closet and threw them on the bed and starting trying on. I tried on everything which took several hours, that's how it turned into a 3-week project. I separated the clothes into a keep pile and bags for eBay, to give away, and must be tossed immediately. Whatever doesn't sell on eBay I plan to give away...eBay is my next frontier.

Trying on clothes was a little depressing because clothes that I had hung onto in hopes of being able to fit in again are mostly now out-of-style. The last thing I want to happen is to end up on What Not to Wear because I'm reliving my high school (yes, I still had clothes from high school..and yes, I know that was 10 years ago!) and college years while I should be wearing young professional clothing. Shopping in NYC with Stacy and Clinton would be really fun though.

I finally got back into my jeans that I wore my freshman year of college...I did not drink in college like the majority of UK's campus nor did I eat meat from the cafeteria (couldn't trust it), only veggie plates, soup, baked potatoes, frozen yogurt, and on weekends, Belgian waffles (remember Saturday waffles, Kelly? Those were the days...), so I lost weight my freshman year instead of gaining the freshman 15. I was so excited that my jeans fit again that I showed Isaac proudly.

His comment with a hint of sarcasm: those are SO in-style, Kyle!

Me: I know that are not cool anymore, but they fit! I'm going to donate them.

Isaac: That's great idea! Donate your out-of-style clothes so someone else can be out-of-style too!

Me: Oh, my gosh, Isaac! Do you think it's bad that I donate these?

Isaac: No, someone who needs a pair of jeans will wear them...they aren't that out-of-style..hehe

I hope whoever ends of with my old, loved, cared-for jeans appreciates them:)

Here are the after pictures...I actually washed all of the hangers because they were so dusty...and we won't even discuss the dust on top of the closet organizer...let's just say, somebody has been cutting corners while doing his weekly dusting chore at our house...

Ahhh...I can actually see my choices now...

May 17th, I finally finished the project. I feel lighter and not so bogged down with stuff that adds nothing to my life. I'm hoping that my wallet will be fatter after my clothes meet eBay.

Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge Trip 2011

We went up to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge for our annual reunion with several of our college friends back at the beginning of March. We had an absolute blast, but decided the weekend was way too short, so we'll have to plan on at least a 3-day weekend next year and more rooms with bunk beds for all of the kids!

Andy and Dana made the *big* announcement of the weekend during our first night at the cabin...they are adopting a baby boy from Russia!!! We all were so thrilled and excited to hear that Joshua will be a big brother hopefully within the year!

Josh and Kelly and Hallie are waiting on their little boy from Ethiopia. Hallie was sweet as can be as always...her "I just love you"'s just melt my heart!

Traci and Mark enjoying dinner out with the group at Apple Barn...yum! Mark was supporting the Cats in Vol country:)

Isaac and I love the Apple Barn...great country cookin' and the best company too!

The girls (top left to bottom right) Leanne, Kelly, Me, Traci, Hallie, Alexa, Dana...somehow, I didn't get a picture of the Rogers family all together...Alexa belongs to Leanne and Nic and is big sister to Blake.

The guys (top left to bottom right) Nic, Mark, Josh, Isaac, Andy and Joshua (sleeping baby Blake not pictured)

Mark, Isaac, and Nic at Newfounder's Gap...the snow/sleet whited out the scenery....but they got their "adventure" in for the weekend.
Isaac and Alexa reacquainted and became fast friends...this picture of Alexa and Isaac with Josh and Hallie cracks me up because the girls got so tickled pulling on the guys' ears. Then the guys got to laughing too, even though they were stuck shopping at the outlets and then banned to Chick-fi-la with the kids while the ladies dined at Conners Steakhouse for lunch. They were good sports.
My mom surprised Isaac with a homemade strawberry birthday cake-his favorite!-for an early birthday celebration. The cake was a surprise all the way to the fridge, and I even had it hidden in the fridge until Isaac rummaged through the fridge to see what snacks everyone brought! He tried to play it off like he was surprised, but I wasn't buying it...he looked too guilty.
Isaac distracting Alexa from eating her dinner...all of the parents on this trip will be "paying back" to Isaac all of his "fun" with their kids...I had to remind him not to get the kids in trouble with their parents!
Alexa introduced us to baby Blake as soon as we walked in the door...she is so proud to be a big sis and Blake is such a sweet baby...we all enjoyed passing him around...I mean, stealing him from Traci!

Movement!

Isaac and I went away for part of the weekend with our friends, the Chaneys, to their family's lake property where there is zero cell phone service, so when I didn't see any referral updates before we hit the dead-zone and had received an email from Gladney stating that they were furiously updating all the documents so that referrals could go out but didn't say that any referrals would go out by the end of the day, I just thought that nobody got a referral last week...until this morning when I rechecked those at the top of the FBI waiting list and saw that yes!, one referral squeeked by on Friday!

Check out this baby girl referral at http://www.journeytomeskelsquare.blogspot.com/.

Congratulations!!! Can't wait to see some referral pictures!

We are excited to see some movement happening and are anxiously awaiting more referral posts in the coming days...and we are hoping to see our family move up the Gladney FBI list. Somehow, we did move up the list during the referral pause from #23 to #19...not sure how that happened, but we'll take it! Hoping for the top 10 in the next couple of weeks!

I was saddened to read another twin-only Gladney family's blog (http://www.beneaththeacaciatree.com) this morning who were hoping, praying, and praying some more for a referral last week and didn't receive one for their babies. I've been praying so hard for this family that they would get their babies soon~honestly, partly out of selfishness since if they get their referral then we should be closer to getting ours, but also out of true empathy for their broken hearts and longing to have their children become a part of their family.

I was thinking about this family and our adoption while I was in Sunday School this morning and was comforted both for them and for myself by Col. 1:17, "He (Jesus) is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Through all of the waiting that seems never-ending I have to remind myself (and God has had to continually remind me) that He has gone before me and is going before me to knit our family together and He is holding us all together so I don't have to worry about our future...easy said, not so easy in practice! Please pray for this family, Jamie and AJ, as they wait for the children God has for them...I'll keep you updated when those prayers are answered!

Six Months Waiting!

As of today, we have been waiting for our referral for our boys for 6 months! I'm still praying that we have 3 months or less to go until we get to see their sweet little faces...still praying for that July 11th "due date"...

...and now I'm really praying that they will be home by the beginning of December so that they can be at their Uncle Sammy's wedding (Sammy and Alyse got engaged last night!!! Congrats, lovebirds!) and meet all their Treesh Aunts and Uncles who live so far away (Japan, Germany, Alaska, Kentucky) who will be descending on Paducah, KY right before Christmas!!

No Gladney referrals went out today as far as I can tell...hoping to see some seriously HAPPY, JOYFUL, MUCH-ANTICIPATED referral pictures and videos online tomorrow!!! I'll keep you posted!