Graduation and the beginnings of a Courtship

On Saturday the 25th of June, Justin had his graduation party. It was perfect timing for all his grandparents, Aunt, Uncle, and cousins to come and celebrate with him and also for me to meet all of them. :) I was so excited that morning, I could hardly eat! I couldn't wait to meet these people who are very important to Justin. In this first picture I am meeting Mr. Ryken's parents for technically the second time... 

Meeting Justin's cousin Waylon who's being held by Mrs. Fennema. 

Playing ping-pong while waiting for all of the guests to arrive. 

Once everyone had arrived Mr. Ryken and my Daddy gave the announcement that Justin and I were courting. 

Going through the food line.

My sweet and wonderful friend, Jesi. <3

This picture makes me laugh! :) Daddy really was happy with this courtship but that doesn't mean it's easy to figure everything out. Dad is blessed though cause he has at least 3 more times to practice doing the courtship process right. *grins*

I had to sneak this picture in again cause I love it so much. :)

My amazing family. *happy sigh* I love them so much and couldn't live without them in my life. 

The rest of our week is going to be spent getting ready for the 4th of July party we are having at our house. *excited* We don't have much left to do but it's the little things we put off that start to pile up. It's such a joyous time to get ready for though so I don't think any of us are complaining. ;)   

Until next time have a great week!

God bless,

~Meli

Announcement!

This past Sunday the 19th of June 2011 dawned like any other Sunday in my little world. I had no idea why it would be any more special than all the other Lord's Days I had gone through. Little did I know there was someone in this world who wasn't as relaxed or clueless about what this Sunday would mean. Unbeknownst to me, Justin had asked my Dad if he could "talk" with him after the service. Dad of course told him 'yes'. So after church and the fellowship meal were done I suggested Jesi, Mama, Mrs. Ryken, and I all go on a walk around the church neighborhood. All the while, Justin and my Dad were in the Deacon's office at church talking. If you haven't figure out yet what they were talking about I'll fill you in now; Justin asked my Dad to court me for marriage. *happy grin* To which my Dad replied with a tentative 'yes'. Once I got back from my walk my Dad told me he needed to see me and my mother in the deacon's office ASAP. I seriously thought I was in trouble! *laughs* Once the door was closed my Daddy then tells me that someone has asked to court me. I don't think Dad even had to say the name of this person because I figured it out by the happy expression Dad had on his face. :D When he told me that he had given Justin a tentative 'yes' I said, "Well why didn't you tell him, 'heck yeah'?!" *laughs* I had a few questions for Justin so when we got home from church Dad wrote him an email with those questions. My parents and I were completely satisfied with his answers and impressed. So that night we made it official. :) The next day was a rainy stormy day so Justin didn't have to work. I asked Dad if we could have his family over just so we could talk all of this relationship stuff through. So Monday afternoon the Ryken family came over and had dinner with us where we discussed everything we expect to see happen with this courtship. 

We all decided to wait until Justin's graduation party on the 25th (today) before we would tell anyone (except family members) about this new relationship.   

The happy courting people...

Well there ya have it, our "courtship story". For those of you not able to make it to Justin's graduation party I'll be posting pictures of that soon. ;) 

Until next time!!

~A-very-blessed-girl

Strawberries and golfing

Summer is here, people! And we have all been blessed with an absolutely beautiful one. *happy sigh* 

Fruit is always in abundance at our house, which is something I absolutely love. And the other day while we were out grocery shopping Mama found these delicious HUGE strawberries! So here's an artsy picture of one right before I cut it to go in a fruit salad. 

Since the weather is gorgeous outside, all of us have been going out to soak up some Vitamin D as much as possible. One of my siblings new favorite thing to do is tee-off on the back of our property and see how far they can hit the golf balls.  They are somewhat lacking in the correct form for hitting a golf ball. But who cares? They're having tons of fun. :) 

An artsy picture of the golf ball taken by-yours truly. 

Adrianna likes to be the caddy. 

Elaina with he golf ball and golf club...

"And she goes for the swing!" Watch out when Rebecca's swinging cause no one knows where that ball is gonna go. *laughs* ;)

And thus ends your little peek into our totally none busy life. Hope you enjoyed it! Have an absolutely lovely rest of your day. 

Adios! 

~Melinda

Poor little worms...

Today I discovered I have a new appreciation for worms. *nods* The poor little things get stuck on a hook and then drowned in the water, all for the fun of the fisherman/woman. But don't get me wrong even though I feel sorry for the little guys it doesn't stop me from having a great time with my siblings fishing till our hearts content. :) 

 Our neighbors are so sweet to allow my siblings and I the use of their pond anytime we want to. 

It really is such a pretty little thing...

Nathan the expert fisherman coming to the pond.

The guys lined up... not really on purpose but I figured it was a cool shot anyway. ;) 

Okay I know for some of you this is a nasty shot but bear with me. I noticed before getting my worm that two of the worms were making a heart. It's just too funny to pass up. 

Flip-flops and sunshine. Ahh the joys of warm weather! This is me enjoying the sunshine after fishing for awhile. The breeze was just enough to make it almost pleasant outside today. 

My sister... *shakes head* Most people catch fish but Rebecca catches pond-scum. *laughs* You gotta love her for having such a happy expression after being so disappointed that it wasn't a fish!

Another piece of news in the Sanford family: we found a hurt bird in our yard and have been slowly nursing it back to health. The cute little thing will only let you hand feed it by dropping the food in it's wide open mouth.

Here Peter and Rebecca feed it worms and some berries. It opens it's mouth right up for them both and makes a ruckus until they drop the food straight down it's throat.  

Annnd that's all for now! I hope each and every one of y'all are having an amazing and absolutely splendid Summer! God bless. 

~Melinda

Lazy Spring Day...

So today has been super boring and we've had nothing to do all day long. So my sisters and I decided to go get a photo shoot together cause ya know, we just don't have enough pictures of us girls. And it's sad... so today we did something about it. *cheesy grin*

Yours truly...

Adrianna looking as gorgeous as ever...

Rebecca being beautiful...

  

Elaina being very pretty...

All of us girls squish into the picture so we can get one together. <3

~L.O.V.E.~

The end.