The Daily Verse on Thankfulness

I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 69:30

Look around you and be thankful. We want for so much, yet we have so much to be thankful for. Take the time to do that today, and allow your thanksgiving to magnify God in your thoughts, actions and witness. {via}

Does your family have a Thanksgiving tradition?

You know, besides the turkey and gravy part??

Mine does. And this year, I am so happy that I am able to partake in this crazy Owens family tradition. For the past several years, my parents have hosted Thanksgiving at the Farm.

Right after we have stuffed ourselves silly eat an early dinner, we head outside to hike this mountain:
I don't even remember how or why this tradition came to be. But we have all come to enjoy this brisk hike up the mountain and look forward to the trek every year. I think it's because once you get to the top, your that much closer to eating a slice of pecan and pumpkin pie!

Thanksgiving 2005 taking a hay ride to the base, if you will, of the mountain {we should really come up with a name for the mountain. I think I'll make that my goal this trip}

Thanksgiving 2006 {on the top of the mountain} Even my Grannie made it up!

Did I mention that I CANNOT WAIT to hang out with this little man?!
{Liam and me, December 2008}

I hope you have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome to the World Campbell Elizabeth!

One of my girlfriends from college, Jill, gave birth to a sweet little girl this morning!

Campbell Elizabeth
7lbs and 19.5 inches
She has RED hair!!
{although you can't really tell in the picture}

Mama and baby are doing great!

Don't you just love the bow?!

What an amazing blessing right before Thanksgiving! Welcome to the world Campbell Elizabeth!

“I sing for joy at the works of Your hands.” – Psalm 92:4

Go Cougs!

I just love that ESPN did a commercial about the Washington State Flag at every College Gameday!

Kjell and Elise's Wedding

{This is going to be a long one folks, feel free to skip if you're sick of hearing me talk, err write, about Weddings}

Now onto the Kjell and Elise's Wedding day. We woke up and had a huge breakfast with the Groom. Then we started setting up for the Wedding. I lent a hand anywhere I was needed and helped some of the bridesmaids set the tables and put the decorations out. Can I just say that Elise was hands down the most organized and laid back bride. She had planned out everything to a T, down to the seating chart labeled and printed in colors. The guys did all the heavy lifting and later set up the ceremony chairs that Kjell, Elise, and Garrett used to rent out to vacationers on the beach.

The beautiful tables. For the seat placement Elise decided to make Christmas ornaments out of sand dollars and write each couple's name on a piece of paper and attach it to each sand dollar. I'm happy to say that our sand dollar made it safely back to Seattle and I can't wait to hang it on our tree in a few weeks!!

The delicious cupcakes came in three different flavors: Almond, Red Velvet and Carrot Cake! YUM!

The programs/fans {love} and I tried to get a picture of the Shorebeach Chairs that the lifeguards rent out to HHI vacationers. This was one of my favorite personal touches of Kjell and Elise's Wedding!

The gorgeous ceremony! Did I mention that the weather was a perfect mid to high 70s with the clearest of blue skies the entire time we were there!

Mr. & Mrs. !!

After the Ceremony there was a cocktail hour on the rooftop deck of the house while the Bride, Groom and Wedding Party were taking pictures on the beach.

Garrett and I with our toes in the sand!

All the groomsmen and their Rainbow flip flops that Kjell bought them all to wear! {Notice in the background, the 'new generation' of lifeguards breaking down the chairs}

I caught a few pictures of the Bride and Bridesmaids/Groomsmen getting their pictures taken. Wedding + Beach + Sunset + Umbrellas = Stunning photos, can't wait to see the real things!!

The Newlyweds at the reception... and Elise got Kjell good with cake in the face!!!!

Garrett giving his heartfelt speech!!

Instead of throwing a bouquet of flowers to all the single ladies, Elise decided to invite anyone and everyone up to catch a bouquet full of scratch off lottery tickets!! LOVE this idea!

Cognac and Cigars

A group photo of ALL of the Shorebeach Lifeguards & Staff, new and old!

What a beautiful/breathtaking wedding, Garrett and I felt so blessed and honored to be a part of Kjell and Elise's special day!

Kjell and Elise's Wedding Weekend Part 1

Garrett and I headed to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for our final Wedding {out of 11..I know, crazy} of 2009. Kjell asked Garrett to be a groomsman shortly after he popped the question to Elise while they were on vacation in Seattle last November. Kjell and Elise were two of Garrett's best buddies from his days spent as a Lifeguard on Hilton Head Island so, of course, Garrett was thrilled to be a part of their special day.

Kjell and Elise were the most amazing hosts. They rented a fabulous mansion house on the beach for the week leading up to their wedding and asked us along with some other members of the wedding party to stay there and help with the Wedding day set up. They also hosted a low country Oyster Roast at the house a few days before the wedding.

A friend of Kjell's steamed the oysters in a turkey fryer and served them in buckets. Then we put on gloves and pried them open with a 'shuck-er' {see tool below}

Here I am with the perfect oyster - SO delicious!

Some of the guests enjoying oysters... this table was specifically made for hosting oyster roasts, complete with two holes on each side of the table for disposing of the shells!

Adam {groomsman}, Garrett and Kjell at the oyster roast!

They took a different spin on the traditional Rehearsal Dinner and decided to invite their families as well as the wedding party to the Hilton Head Heros Annual Gala and Silent Auction. Kjell and Elise tell the story best... here it is via their wedding website:

In lieu of a traditional rehearsal dinner, we have chosen to honor Hutch Hutchinson, a very close friend and patient of Elise, who passed away earlier this year. Hutch invited us, as his guests of honor, to a charity event for Hilton Head Heros last fall. It was an amazing, beautiful and heartwarming event. Hilton Head Heros provides all expense paid vacations for families with terminally and chronically ill children. Hutch played a key role in this organization and made a large impact in Elise's life. We would be honored to have all family and bridal party members attend this event as our guests.

We later learned that in 2008 Hutch was the top ticket seller to this event and that this year he did the same thing, thanks to Kjell and Elise. It was a wonderful evening and represented how truly generous and caring Kjell and Elise are. Here is one of the board members toasting Kjell and Elise.

Here are all of the groomsmen playing some pool before heading to the Rehearsal Dinner.

Stay tuned for part 2 - the Wedding!

Sorry for the lack of posts...

We were on vacation at this beautiful place....

For their breathtaking wedding....

You can read their engagement story here.

I will post about Kjell and Elise's fabulous Wedding as soon as I catch up on work and sleep... I think I'm still on Eastern time!

A Roaring Halloween Affair

You might remember last year when my sister and I dressed up as flappers for Halloween... Well this year our friends, Mike and Erin, decided to add a theme to their annual Halloween party. What was the theme? The Roaring 20's! Since everybody saw my flapper costume last year and I just love an excuse to shop for a dress, I decided that I would find a cute 20's{ish} style dress and play up the accessories from last years costume. I ended up finding the perfect fringe dress at H&M that I plan to wear again. Garrett rented a 1920's Golfer costume complete with a bow tie, knickers and spectator shoes! 

It was a fabulous evening and all the costumes were very glamorous!

Mr. & Mrs. Winston Dunhill III

 

Flappers and Ganster

Mike and Erin

Hope you had a wonderful and safe Halloween!