IT'S A GIRL!!!

I would like you all to meet our new little niece, Rylie Elizabeth Lawrence! Her proud and brand new parents are my sister Abby and brother-in-law Kevin. Isn't she adorable?! She was born early yesterday morning and she is doing great, and so is mommy! She is just a little peanut, she weighs 5 lbs 15 oz...full of love and joy:) She has already brought so much happiness to everyone who has met her. I am very proud of Kevin and Abby, they are going to be wonderful parents. Praise God for a healthy little baby girl! Which was such a surprise by the way..we didn't know if she was a girl or a boy, so it was an a amazing surprise! Girls are what we do best I guess!

Congrats to mom and dad too..or shall I say Grandpa and Grandma ;) I will post more pics later because of course MY camera died right away so I need to retrieve pics from other camera's. Hope all is well with you! (yes, we are still alive...we haven't posted in a while!)

Way to go Erik!

Well this years hunting weekend was a success (twice)! Yup that's right, Erik came home with two deer on Sunday and one of them was a whopping 8 point buck! We go up every year to Honor Michigan with some friends..it's a lot of fun. The guys go hunting and all of us girlies somehow find ourselves downtown Traverse....great shopping...I like hunting weekend;) This one was memorable though, because for the past three years all of us have been putting money into the "buck pot." The deer has to be a 6 pt. or higher to win the money and no one had got one yet....except this year! So it was really nice to get that pot. Here is a picture with Erik and his deer. Not that all of you may want to see this but some of you might....I think I should take up hunting if it makes me this much money! Anyone like venison because we have a TON of it?! I don't mind it but I would rather have something else, but Erik loves it. We just have way too much of it right now. Let me know. Hope all is well with everyone!

Hey guys, so I have been MIA for the past 2 months. School has been absolutely nuts but I have been able to do some pretty fun stuff (love-hate relationship) and I guess it's worth it..right? Also work has been about the same. We added on 5 new attorneys this week (that's a lot) and the behind-the-scenes work for that to happen takes a ton of time (marketing tools etc.)..so needless to say when I do have some free time, I want to spend it with Erik and with my preggo sis (who is due in about 8 weeks.. and with my best bud who is getting married soon ( I am doing her invites so that is pretty awesome..) so add that all together and it means 2 months of not blogging. But I'm sure you all get what I am talking about..it's called life right?

But on a much more serious note..I had all intentions of posting some pics of the past two months but my mind is elsewhere. I keep thinking about my friend Angie and her husband Kyle and the struggles they are facing. Please pray for them as their family is going through some pretty hard times right now. Kyle's dad has been battling cancer for the past 4 years and the past couple of weeks have been really tough. I love them both and can't imagine what they are going through, please lift them up in prayer this week.

There's a new puppy in town!

Meet Rudy, the newest addition to our fam! Erik and I took him home with us last night and we couldn't stop taking pictures of him...isn't he adorable?! He is a mini goldendoodle and should grow up to weigh about 30 lbs or so (so hard to tell)! He is a mix between a golden retriever and a poodle, which means he is hypo-allergenic. Great news for me! Anywhoo here are some pics of Rudy during his first night with us. The overnight part was just the opposite! Pure little stinker didn't sleep and neither did we...I felt so bad for him. We did take him out of his crate at around 5:00 and slept on the couch...I needed a little shut eye...we weren't going to take him out but hey....we did great 70% of the time ;) Let's hope little Rudy sleeps better tonight!

This was just a great pic of Erik basically saying "Yup..I like him!"

I think he was checking out Sammy - my parents cat..looks a bit scared in this one

He is a ladies man what can I say!

BLESSED

Tonight Erik and I watched a touching documentary called "God Grew Tired of Us". It was a pretty tough movie to watch but it meant so much to us. It is the story about the journeys of Lost Boys from Sudan coming to America to live. You may already know about who they are but I have found that many people do not.

For the past 4 1/2 years I have had the pleasure of working with and getting to know a "Lost Boy" from Sudan. He has really changed the way I look at life and has taught me so much. He is 27 and not so much a boy anymore and in my opinion, he lost that title years ago at the young age of 6. He was forced to flee his village on foot because it was being ambushed by enemies of war. He was working in the fields at the time and they were told to run..to flee..to get away because they were killing everybody. So he ran. With all of the other young boys (ranging from 5-13) he started a very long journey from their village in Sudan to Ethiopia and then arrived at a refugee camp in Kenya...with no food and nothing to help them survive. Their stories were filled with death and starvation, and not knowing what the next day or even hour would bring. Some have been able to come here to live, which hasn't been easy! Many of them are still in the refugee camp waiting to come to America. They are very strong people and understand what loss/misfortune really is. Never have I seen Michael complain and often times I find myself complaining about such small issues that are pointless to complain about..does it really matter that some of my flowers have died in my yard or that the coffee might taste burnt in the office sometimes??

I have been meaning to write about this for awhile but after watching the documentary tonight I couldn't ignore it any longer. We are so blessed in America to have opportunities and have the chance to know at least ONE family member, an experience many of them do not have. I am not going to get into the whole "I am proud to be an American" thing, but I am thankful to know that my family is living and I even to get to see/talk with them regularly. We are all so blessed here in America and many ignore that..I am guilty as charged sometimes. We take so much for granted..like a trash can, shower, house, running water and something so small as a pillow. So I don't really know where I am going with this but I know that sometimes those rude awakenings (like tonight) can lead to very long blog posts! Check their story out. They need our prayers and our encouraging words...Erik and I have been touched and have learned so much! Here is a link to the documentary website..there are several websites out there that explain details but this one talks about the documentary that we saw tonight..God Grew Tired of Us.

On a lighter note..Labor Day weekend has come and gone but it was awesome. Filled with family and friends! I never got around to posting about about it! The VanDeRiet girls went to Chicago this weekend and we had a great time. Pics to come! Thanks for the past couple of weekends..we are blessed to be able to celebrate and enjoy time with people we love:)

What a Weekend!

What was so awesome about this weekend? Love was in the air!

A wedding and a proposal all in two days!

Our friends Bob and Kendra got married on Friday and we're happy we were able to be a part of their special day. We love Kendra to pieces! The wedding was in Indiana and the reception was in Illinois. Crazy huh? They were actually only 5 minutes away..kind of cool. We love the Overbecks and we are anticipating another great wedding with their family in September. Here is a pic of the happy bride and groom!

The guys came in from the side before the bridesmaids entered so it gave me time to snap a quick one of Erik... handsome isn't he? Dave on the left is pretty tall I realized...and should we tell the lady in the back that we can see her?

AND last but certainly not least...I was sooo floored to get the call on Saturday from my great friend Dana to hear that her and Brett got engaged! Brett and Dana are close friends of mine (and Erik) and we have been anticipating this day for some time now and couldn't be happier! I already gave her one of those huge mammoth bride magazines for her to explore. When Erik and I were planning our wedding I had fun looking at those and sure enough..there we were last night...diving into it on the floor! Congrats you guys!

Precious Puppies...hmmm

After many discussions, Erik and I are now on a puppy prowl. I know are we crazy? We both love love love dogs but I have to admit, it's a bit scary and fun at the same time!

I am trying to push for a non-shedding dog but this is the picture that I get today at work from Eriks lunch hour adventure....I think he's up to something. Don't you! Those are little baby golden retrievers right there...aren't they adorable? Check out Erik's face. It's saying "Come on please????" I think they are adorable and everyone says that they are the best family dog to have and are VERY loyal. But they do shed a lot and Erik calls me today and tells me he is just going to go "look" at them..we all know what that means!

We both understand that owning a dog is a huge commitment and we are so busy right now because, well, we can be! These particular pups are only 3 weeks old and we wouldn't be able to take one home for a month yet so that works out great. I can finish my night classes and have nights free to play and train, although I do know that it takes more than nights but you know what i mean! OH my my my..decisions. We might just be adding to the family this weekend. I really thought the roles were going to be reversed in this whole puppy planning process but Erik is like a little kid in a candy store. I love it!

Tag you're it...

I have been tagged! Thanks Jessica, no seriously this is nice because it gets me blogging...not that I need a reason too! Ok so on to the tag.....I am supposed to share with you all some quirks that I have....I have a ton but I am only going to list 5 for sake of sounding like a weirdo!

1. I am afraid of the dark. It doesn't matter where I am, if the lights are off and I'm by myself, I am not too comfy. I know...pathetic huh? This also goes along with sleeping by myself, when Erik is gone I always keep a light on, do I think that people are going to break into my house and get me or what? Some of you may know this about me all to well!! I know when we have kids I am going to have to overcome this, and most people say that you don't have a choice...but I am such a baby when it comes to this stuff.

2. Apparently I can't do homework for the night without going somewhere other than my house. I have noticed that I can't do homework at home, at all, so I tend to skip my way on over to Barnes & Noble (which is about a mile away from our house..bad) or JP's to do it. This doesn't sound like a bad thing but then I proceed to buy a coffee when I'm there....I have A TON of homework lately (because I can't seem to get done with school) so that equals out to a lot of coffee and alot of money spent on the coffee. This is a quirk that Erik has pointed out to me several times....way too many times too count.

3. I wash my hands alot..which is usually a good thing, but I don't need to wash them this much. I was a waitress for 5 years and I think that is where this need comes from. I always had to wash my hands, gunky food everywhere, not too mention other people's gunky food everywhere, so I constantly washed my hands. It hasn't stopped! I am not OCD or anything, so no one has to worry, but I think I could stand to hold off sometimes. At least my hands are always clean!

4. I can't say the word "frustrated". Kinda wierd I know. It is the f and the r combination that gets me every time. I have to really focus when I am saying it...so please don't ask me to say it, I look wierd.

5. I used to be obsessed with horses! I had a horse blanket, pillow, sweatshirt..you name it and I had a horse on it. I still really think it would be fun to have one, but it's a ton of work and it costs a lot. Plus I don't think our backyard can fit one, unless I get a mini one and those freak me out a little bit. So you know when little kids ask their parents for a pony? I used to all the time and I never got one. Am I bitter still???

OK so now I tag you (I don't know how to tag, but I will just write it out) judge me!

Jenna
Betsy

We're Back!

So after many months of no activity on this blog, we are back! Why you ask, have we not updated it since August? Well....we've been a bit busy, as I'm sure all of you are too. With moving into our home (pictures are on the way), wrapping up the final semester of school (yes I am STILL not done) and just plain life, the blog got put on hold for a while! This year, we celebrated our first year anniversary (june 8), bought a house, added a brother-in-law to the family (we love ya Jut!) and most recently found out we were going to be an uncle and aunt! We can't wait to meet Lil Baby Lawrence. We have truly been blessed this year, God is Good!