Summer

So now that you are all caught up from our wedding and honeymoon, its time to catch up on everything else. We had a very busy summer filled with several outdoor volleyball tournaments for Matt, including another very successful JWI, despite Matt being a little under the weather that day.

Highlights of our summer included an activity packed trip to San Diego to celebrate Matt’s parent’s 40th wedding anniversary. The whole Weaver family was there with their significant others, children and even some in laws! We stayed in an amazing rental house, and surprised the Weaver parents with decorations and matching shirts for everyone. We went to Sea World, The Wild Animal Park, and Soak City, a waterslide park. The Wild Animal Park was very hot, but we agree that it was our favorite attraction. The waterslide park, which Janelle was very much looking forward to, was poorly run and did not live up to expectations unfortunately. But overall the trip was great; there was lots of time in the pool at home and some competitive rounds of Tripoli.

We also spent a weekend in Leavenworth at Janelle’s aunt Carolyn and Uncle John’s cabin. The weekend started out a little rocky with Matt losing his wallet before leaving for the trip, but we decided to press on and still make the best of it and had a quiet, relaxing time hanging out at the cabin and browsing the shops in town. Upon his return to work, Matt found his wallet that he had misplaced in the lab and we were both relieved for that!

The annual summer camping trip with the Parker parents fell on Labor Day weekend this year, which ended up being one of the worst weather weekends of the summer. We headed up to Orcas Island anyway and had a beautiful site in Moran State Park. We braved the elements and tested out the waterproofness of our new tent. It passed with flying colors! We also had new sleeping bags which kept Janelle warm all night which is a tall order, so we were very pleased with this purchase as well. Luckily we brought Matt’s volleyball canopies which saved us from getting soaked. We also were able to fit in some nice hikes/walks in the area and drove up to the top of Mt. Constitution. It was freezing up there, but worth it to see the amazing view. Janelle was especially pleased that we were able to do this, since earlier in the year, we took a trip to Orcas and the road was closed to the top. We tried to hike all the way, but Janelle got a migraine in the middle of the hike and was “defeated by the mountain”. She vowed to be back to see the view and now the mission is complete.

Tony, the new addition our family has continued to slowly warm up to us and will now sleep on the couch with us, but not on our laps! He is a night owl and has unfortunately caused some nights of disrupted sleep with his galloping up and down the hall after toys, chases with Missy, and attempts at opening cupboard doors. He is also a bit of an escape artist and has bolted out the door and through a window to have some adventures outside. Luckily he came back and we were able to get him back in the house, but we aren’t ready for him to be an outdoor cat since he is so scared and skittish still.

Whew, so now friends and family you are caught up on our lives!

Honeymoon

The day after the wedding consisted of a wonderful brunch hosted by Matt’s parents at their rental house in Bellingham and another opportunity to visit with friends and family. Then we headed home for some needed rest time and to say good-bye to Missy before heading off to PUERTO RICO! We left very early Monday morning, feeling very glad that the morning commute was not taking us to work but rather to sandy beaches! After a somewhat long travel day, we picked up or rental car in San Juan and used trusty Garmina (Janelle’s couldn’t live without gadget, the GPS navigator) to get us to our vacation condo.

The next morning we woke up to our amazing view from our high-rise condo and were very excited to hit the beach (and Starbucks, which as you can see from the pic was spotted from our balcony). We spent our week long vaca relaxing, relaxing, seeing some sights and did I mention relaxing?

We were a block from the beach, so we spent time there often, but we were also able to make some trips into Old Town San Juan, Clara Caves, and the rainforest. It was a very nice break from our busy lives and then it was time to return to our crazy cat Missy, who had been cared for very well by cousin Amy.

Five Month Anniversary

Its hard to believe it has been five months since our wedding! Last Friday was our five month anniversary, so in honor of this we're finally posting about the actual day itself! (Plus we obviously got very behind in our blogging, so this gives us an excuse to catch up.)

After the rehearsal party in the morning, celebrating Janelle's birthday, and getting all dressed up, we took pictures with our amazing photographer Laura Totten. It was beautiful and sunny, and the pictures turned out awesome! Janelle then was chauffeured to the ceremony location, the Squalicum Boathouse, in her generous Aunt Kris and Uncle John's minivan. Her dress took up the entire back seat! Pictures continued with Janelle getting colder and colder, so she had to go inside and warm up before the ceremony.

Then it was on with the show! The bridal party walked out to an instrumental version of Imagine by John Lennon and one of Janelle's most cherished memories from the day was getting walked down the aisle by her dad Bruce. We joined in the ring of flowers and exchanged vows. It was a short and sweet ceremony with Matt's dad reading a beautiful poem, which was another very special moment for us. The location and view were exactly what Janelle had envisioned for the day, so we were very happy about that. The weather could not have been more beautiful (although the sun was in Janelle's eyes the whole time!) and again made for gorgeous photo ops!

Then the ceremony was over, Janelle breathed a huge sigh of relief since this part of the day she was most nervous about, and we got to spend a few moments alone taking in the fact that we were now husband and wife!

The quiet did not last long though and then it was time to par-tay! There was great food, the best music anyone could ask for since Janelle put it all together meticulously for weeks, and lots of laughter, catching up with old friends and family that hadn't been seen in awhile, and even a little dancing. In honor of Janelle's birthday tradition, there was homemade pie made by her mom Lisa instead of cake, and there was a slide show in her honor. The night went by quickly, and Janelle crammed her dress into Matt's decorated jeep and we were off to the Chrysalis hotel.