Jacob & Laura's Wedding

Jacob & Laura are finally married! Yay! Friday, July 27th at 2:30, Jacob & Laura tied the knot, while Jacob was sick with pneumonia! Yes the groom came down with pneumonia on Wednesday before the wedding. But that didn't stop the wedding. It was beautiful! Here are a few pictures from it. Sorry the ones of the ceremony were dark. I didn't want to use my flash during the ceremony and Janelle and I were sitting in the back. Not the best combination for good pictures. But it does give you an idea of what took place. Enjoy!

Clinicals are starting!

Guess what? Randy is starting his EMT clinicals tomorrow! Yay! This means he gets experience in an ER, riding along with an ambulance, and any other adventures that may arise. Please be praying for him. I know he is a little nervous. He has done so well with his classes so far. God has definately been blessing us. I'll keep you updated!

Randy's Birthday Cake

So this is the story of Randy's birthday cake. I thought I would be really productive and creative and make his cake this year. I mean, how hard can a birthday cake be? I've done it before, so I didn't have any hesitations about it. Wednesday I came home from work and made dinner. While dinner was cooking, I decided to start his cake. I followed the directions on the box and mixed the batter. Then I greased the 2 round cake pans I had. I poured in the batter - split evenly between the two pans, and then put them in the oven for the specified time and temperature. I checked them about half-way through and they were fine. Then I took them out, checked to see if they were done (they were), and left them to cool.

Then about 20-30 mins later I took the cakes out of the pans. I sat the first one on the cake stand and poured icing on top of it. I spread it out and then sat the other layer on top of that. I went to get the rest of the icing and turned around to see my cake cracking! What was happening? Here is the conversation that followed:

Rachel: "I think we have a problem."

Randy: "What?"

Rachel: "The cake is cracking."

Randy: "Oh just put some icing on it and cover it up."

Rachel: "Um, I don't think icing is going to cover this up. You better come see it yourself."

(If I had only had the camera at the moment he saw his cake. It was priceless!!!)

Randy: "What happened?"

Rachel: "I don't know, I did everything the directions said to do."

Randy: "Well, it doesn't look that bad. We can still eat it.:

Rachel: "Yeah, but it looks like the San Andreas Fault!!!"

Randy: "Yeah, it does. But I bet it still tastes good."

(This is where I just had to laugh. It looked awful, but Randy still thought it was ok to eat. And it was. We are still eating on it!)

Here are the pictures of the famous cake:

Oh, and here are the flowers brought me the other day! Aren't they pretty?

Summer Update

Here's some pics from our summer so far. Oh, and someone has a birthday on Thursday! We started celebrating early!

Rain, rain, rain, rain, and more rain!

It seems like it has been raining here all summer. I know we desperately need it, after the drought last summer and a dry winter. Still, it hasn't felt like summer here yet. We did have a cookout with our small group from church this past Sunday. That helped. We were able to eat outside on the patio and swim. Randy, Chandler, and Kayleigh even entertained us with a diving show. Quite comical!

For those who were wondering, Randy made a 97 on his test last Thursday! Yay for Randy! He is doing such a good job with EMT school. His classmates have even started calling him Valedictorian, because he has had the top grade on almost everything. My smart husband!!!!

Tomorrow is July 4th. We both have off from work and are excited about getting to relax. It is supposed to rain here most of the day (80% chance) so we may be stuck inside. Oh well! We are free, and so blessed. I asked the kids at church last week what July 4th meant. One little girl very clearly and articulately said that it was a day to remember all the people who had died to give us freedom and to celebrate the freedoms we have. Out of the mouths of babes! She also mentioned our flag and what it stood for. She is only 4!!! Makes you stop and think about what July 4th really means. Is it just another day off work? For a lot of us, that is what it has become. A day to relax, get together with friends and family, shoot fireworks, and cook out. None of these things are bad, I will be the first to say I enjoy them all. I just think that a lot of the time, we forget what the day really stands for. Freedom. Such a small word, such a large meaning. Wikipedia dictionary defines freedom as "the state of being free, of not being imprisoned or enslaved." This applies to us both in our freedom as citizens of the USA and as Christians. Just as the Revolutionary war was fought to bring freedom to the colonists, Jesus fought sin, death, and Satan to bring us freedom. Freedom to have a relationship with Him, freedom to live abundant lives, freedom to not live in guilt because of sin. We are very blessed with freedom.

So I'm in a contemplative mood today. As you can tell. :) I just challenge you to stop for a few minutes tomorrow and thank God for all our freedoms - as citizens of the USA and as a child of the King. We are very blessed!!!