Mr. and Mrs. James Blakeman

Our family had the honor and privilege of being a part of a beautiful beach wedding this weekend.  A young lady who attends our church, has been our family's hairdresser and has taken care of both Bentley and JennaBeth in the nursery got married and we couldn't be more happy for her.  Both Mike and Bentley participated in the ceremony.  Mike sang both during the ceremony and at the reception and presided over the "sand ceremony" and Bentley was the ring bearer.

Thank you so much Lena and Kiera for keeping JennaBeth for us!  We just knew she would NOT make it the whole evening and would be much happier playing and getting in bed by her usual time of 8 o'clock!

Now, I will give you this warning right up front about this post - if you don't like wedding pictures or pictures of very handsome little 5 year old boys in tuxedos, you might want to skip to the next thing on your to-do list.  This post contains LOTS of pictures, because like I've said before - a momma with a camera is a dangerous thing!

I took a few pics of Bentley before we left the house on Saturday evening:

Be still my beating heart!  We had to go by the reception venue before going to where the ceremony was being held and I took this picture of Bentley and my oldest Cecily...

I know I'm a little partial, because they are mine, but I just happen to think I have some of the most gorgeous children!  And these two really love each other!  I think big sister was a little smitten with her baby brother all dressed up!  I got this next shot of them after arriving at the beach while we were waiting on the ceremony to get started...

I am so very proud of Bentley!  He was very patient with waiting and all of the picture taking by both me and the photographer for the wedding, which happened to be the groom's parents.  They have a photography business for all you locals - Waite Photography.  Here he is after getting his boutonniere...

By the way, there was a bride involved and not just a ring bearer!  And here she is as she was coming out for the ceremony...

I think that is just the sweetest thing...father and bride just beaming at each other!  Jessi was an absolutely stunning bride.

Here is the pretty little flower girl and that handsome ring bearer again...

I think the little stinker held his head down most of the time during the ceremony and he was perfectly still.  Several people commented on how well he did, but said that he looked scared.  I commented that fear can be a good thing some times!!!  It is probably what kept him from shuffling around and kicking sand everywhere!  The weather was absolutely perfect for this wedding.  The lighting the sun cast on the wedding party was amazing.  Here is the father about to walk his little girl down the isle...

I don't think I've ever, well I know I have never enjoyed a wedding ceremony in my bare feet.  It was nice to enjoy the breeze off the water and dig my toes in the sand as I watched two people who obviously love each other commit to spend the rest of their lives together.

See my little guy...stiff as a board with head held down, but he sure was cute and was making this mama's heart flutter all over the place.

James and Jessi had the practice of "hand binding" as part of their exchange of vows.  I've never seen this before, but liked it.  Here is the best man, James brother, "binding" the bride and groom's hands together...

My sweet husband presided over the "sand ceremony".  If you are familiar with a unity candle or water ceremony at weddings, this carried the same concept...the blending of two lives into one...

And of course the big kiss...

Now you officially have Mr. and Mrs. James Blakeman...

Don't you just adore the smiles on their faces?  And you'd adore the smile on the ring bearer's face if you could see his face...

The sunset was beautiful for all the pictures taken after the ceremony...

Mr. and Mrs. James Blakeman

Jessi and James with Jessi's brother and parents.

The wedding party.

Bentley and Brenna...ring bearer and flower girl.

I just love the bare feet in the sand!

Jessi and her brother, Jeff.

The wedding party with family of the bride and groom.

First sunset stroll on the beach as husband and wife.

One of the nice perks we got to enjoy was a limo ride from the beach to the reception taking place at Nervous Nellies.  Bentley thought this was really cool...

Outside the front of the restaurant was a huge beach chair, which made for another perfect photo op...

The reception was lots of fun.  Jessi had the cutest little favors for her guests.  They were little wedding dresses and tuxedos filled with personalized M&M's with the bride and grooms name and wedding date...

The wedding cake and topper was just adorable...

Bentley and Brenna were "officially" announced to the reception guests...

Bentley had become rather smitten with the flower girl by the end of the evening and was asking if he could sit by her!  You might can tell in the picture, but she slid her arm in his...too sweet!

Mike sang Steven Curtis Chapman's "I Will Be Here" for the bride and groom's first dance.  It was really special hearing him sing this song, because he sang it to me at our wedding!

Yep, that sure brought back a lot of sweet, sweet memories!  I don't know what Randy and Simon or JLo or Steven Tyler (American Idol judges) would say, but I just don't think there is no other voice like my husband's!

The reception buffet was WONDERFUL!  Poor Bentley was so thirsty and hungry by 8 o'clock, he was fit to be tied!  He sure was happy when the drink and food time came around...

Don't worry about the Miller Lite cup!  His had Coke in it!!!  And mine had sweet tea and Cecily had Coke and Mike had Sprite...just so ya know :)

It was very touching to watch Jessi take her father/daughter dance with her dad...

I had asked Bentley if he would dance with me and he said "NO!".  Cecily asked him if he'd dance with her and he said "NO!".  Then he said, "But I'll dance with Ms. Jessi!" - with a big smile on his face!  Well, when he had the opportunity, he chickened out, but he did take this sweet picture with "his" Ms Jessi (that's what he used to call her when she was keeping him in the nursery)...

We got ready to go home and I realized I had gone the entire evening without getting not one picture with my handsome little man!  So, as we were leaving, Mike got this one of us in front of the water fountain next to the restaurant...

James and Jessi,

Thank you so much for allowing our family to be part of your special day.  We were honored to be there and witness the miracle of God binding two hearts together.  May Christ always be the center of your life together.  We love you guys and pray God's richest blessings on your marriage!  You are truly special to us and always will be!

Blessings,

Jennifer

Yo Ho Ho

Bentley and JennaBeth were invited on Saturday to a Pirate birthday party.  Cecily helped me take them since Mike had a sound board training he was attending.  The little birthday boy was Nicholas, who was turning 3 years old...

Isn't he just the cutest little thing?  He really is such a sweet boy.

The kids had such a good time.  Brandi, Nicholas's mom, organized such a fun little party for them!  All the little ones had an opportunity to dig for hidden treasure...

They also "walked the plank" and if they were successful snabbed some loot (a.k.a. candy!)...

JennaBeth would occasionally wander away from the activities and jump on the swing set.  Every time I turned around she had Nicholas's "poppa" (grandfather) pushing her...

Or she was climbing...

That girl thinks she can do WHATEVER the big kids are doing!

Bentley made a pirate's telescope...

Brandi had stations set up where the kids could make the telescopes or color a pirate treasure map.  Bentley and JennaBeth also got their own pirate vest, eye patch and hat!  After a little while outside, it was time to come inside and have chicken nuggets and homemade mac-n-cheese (Mac- a -cheese according to JennaBeth!)...

As you can tell Bentley (looking straight at the camera) had a mouthful!  That boy would live on Mac-n-Cheese if I would let him!  And then they had the cutest little cupcakes with a treasure chest on top of them...

Brandi told me she baked cupcakes and iced them.  Then she took Little Debbie Swill Rolls and piped some extra icing into them and added jelly beans and other candy to make it look like jewels in the chest!  They were almost too cute to eat, but of course you know we did :)

After Nicholas opened up his presents, the kids all went outside on one final "treasure hunt".  They had to look for clues written on different colored pieces of cloth.  Bentley found the green one...

At the end, all the kids ended up with bags of pirate lute...candy, beads, gold coins...JennaBeth was really proud of her find...

She is still toting that bag around today with her "gold boons" (what she calls the gold coins) in it!  Although most of the kids there were young, Bentley did have one of Nicholas's cousins to hang out with, so I had to get a picture of the big, bad pirates...

Thank you Brandi for the invite.  The kids had a wonderful time.

Arggggggh maties,

Jennifer

Indivisible

I have just finished the best fiction/suspense novel I have ever read!  Indivisible by Kristen Heitzmann was absolutely amazing and Ms Heitzmann is a brilliant writer.

Jonah Westfall is the Police Chief in a small Colorado town.  He not only has found two animals grotesquely maimed, but is holding onto past pain and an unbelievable secret.  There is also a growing drug problem involving the husband of one of his fellow female officers.

Then there is Tia who runs a candle shop and Piper who works at the bakery next door.  Tia and Jonah have a history that goes back several years when Tia was just a teenager. She was abandoned by her family and Jonah is part of the reason why.

This story has more twists and turns than a tightly wound pretzel!  I was completely drawn into the story from page one.  Ms Heitzmann writes in such a way that you can not help but to keep turning pages.  I took this book with me everywhere - the carpool line, the laundry room (I'd prop it open and read while I folded the clothes!). 

The thing I really liked about Ms Heitzmann's writing is that you become intimately acquainted with each character because she tells you what they are thinking and feeling. She reveals just enough along in the story to keep you hooked completely until the final page.  And what you learn in the end will shock you to the core!  I hated for the book to end and was not at all ready to be done with Jonah and Tia's story, or Piper and Miles, or Sarge and Jay or Liz or the coydog giving birth to her pups in Jonah's closet!

Here's the trailer for the book:


You can order Indivisible from WaterBrook by going HERE.
Or you can order from Amazon.com by following the link below:











This book was sent to me by WaterBrook Multnomah for the purpose of this review.

Happy Reading,
Jennifer

School Days, Golden Rule Days

There's my little classroom of two!  Bentley (age 5) is telling JennaBeth (age 2) the story of Goldilocks and The Three Bears using some figures he made in his Speech class he attends two afternoons a week at one of the local elementary schools.  He is learning about story structure:  beginning, middle and ending.  It also helps that he had to say "bears" a lot as the ending "s" sound on words is something he's had a little trouble with.  I am so proud of him!  He has really improved so much since he started these classes in November of last year.  He is even self-correcting on some words that have given him a great deal of trouble.

Bentley's penmanship has really improved as well.  He now recognizes his first and last name in print when he sees it and can write his first name without having to copy it.  We were working on another word ending in "s" here with writing "sisters".  He can now say "sisters" rather than "tister".


Banner of Truth was very gracious and sent me a copy of Alison Brown's A Bible Alphabet and its companion A Bible Alphabet Activity Book.  

Alison Brown, a former primary school teacher and now full-time mother of five, lives with her husband David in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

I am so thankful to have been able to review these amazing resources and am blessed to be able to incorporate them into our little school routine each week.  

 

A Bible Alphabet includes large and colorful illustrations which catch the eyes of little ones right away.  The story which corresponds to each letter of the alphabet is told in two to three sentences making it perfect to keep the attention of the very young learning the alphabet; however, the full scripture passages are included for each story at the end of the book, which gives the parent the opportunity to go a little more in detail with older children.

A Bible Alphabet Activity Book provides a coloring/writing page that corresponds to each letter and story in A Bible Alphabet.  Children have the opportunity to color the scene given with the Bible story and to write the word using the letter being emphasized.  The sheets are perforated making them easy to remove from the book.

These two resources used together are the perfect way to not only teach a child his/her letters, but to teach biblical truth as well.  Ms Brown's books would be perfect for Sunday School or Vacation Bible or Backyard Bible school use.  Grandparents would find them useful to have at their homes as well.  Anyone desiring to educate preschool to early elementary age children would find these books a great help.

Instead of sitting the little ones in front of the T.V. why not grab these two resources from Banner of Truth and open up a world of fun and discussion with the little ones in your life.  You will surely be blessed!  Just visit their website by clicking on the words "Banner of Truth" in the previous sentence.

*I was sent these resources by Banner of Truth in exchange for my honest review here on the blog.  I was compensated in no other way.

Grab the little ones in your life and these resources and have some fun,

Jennifer

Scars of a Chef

Tyndale House Publishers sent me a copy of Scars of a Chef:  The searing story of a top chef marked forever by the grit and grace of life in the kitchen by Rick Tramanto with Lisa Jackson for the purpose of review.  I was compensated in no other way and was expected only to give my honest review of the book.

I am a FoodNetwork and cooking show junkie!  My daughter and I love to watch Cake Boss and all those shows where cooking challenges are happening.  So, when Tyndale had the opportunity to review Rick Tramonto's memoirs in Scars of a Chef, was excited to have the chance to read his book. 

Where can a guy with 24 different tattoos running up and down both sides of his body, no high school diploma, a background of drug abuse and abandonment by his father, a mother with extreme emotional problems, and a job at Wendy's possibly go in the culinary world?  In Scars of a Chef Rick Tramonto tells the amazing journey God guided him through from flipping hamburgers in Wendy's to cooking with some of the top chefs around Europe and opening his own four star restaurant.

Mr. Tramonto's story is fast paced.  In so many autobiographies and memoirs, you sometimes get into pages and pages of unnecessary details; not here!  Tramonto keeps the story moving and you get a true sense of what his life really must have been like.  It was very hard to put this book down!  I devoured it in two days simply because I had to know what happens next! 

Tramonto doesn't soft soap his struggles with anger and drug abuse as ways he employed to cope with the stress and emotional troubles he experienced in his attempt to work his way into the heart of the culinary world.  I appreciated his transparency in the book.  You get to peak into a life transformed by the grace of God and see someone living it out for real.  You get to see what can become of someone, who by human standards deserved to go nowhere and be a nobody, but surrendered to the grace of God in his life has opened up his own restaurants and authored numerous cookbooks. 

What you get in Scars of a Chef is not just theology, but doxology; living day by day dependent on the amazing grace of God.

And an added plus is the amazing recipes of Chef Tramonto included at the end of each chapter.  These are signature recipes he created and some he adapted from his Italian heritage.  This book is going right beside some of my favorite cookbooks in my kitchen!

Scars of a Chef can be purchased at Amazon.com by following the link provided bellow.














Happy Reading and Cooking,
Jennifer