Saturday, June 21, 2008

Wedding Silver








I somehow inherited my Grandparents wedding silverware. That sounds pretty impressive I know, but actually it has more sentimental value than function, it is not a full set (not even close) and some of the knives tips are cut off, but nonetheless, it is beautiful and it really likes the camera. This is our anniversary week and I get all giddy remembering the fuss and craziness that was going on at my parents house 15 years ago. I was the first grandchild to have a big wedding on both sides of my family, so it really became a family affair. I am sure that whomever bought this silverware 60 some years ago never imagined that it would be uploaded to the internet via a blog! It sure makes you wonder what life will be like when we celebrate 60 years!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Father's Day Ideas

I struggle with finding the perfect Father's Day gifts for the men in my life. I always have 3 major occasions in a row that I need to find gifts for Mark, his birthday, Father's Day and our anniversary are all within a few weeks of each other. He is easy to please but I never feel like I get just the perfect gift for him. I have done pretty good this year though and I thought I would share my good finds in case you were struggling to find a good gift as well.




The first great gift is Mark's new GPS unit. We just bought it last night and we are already in love with it! He actually was smiling while he was driving on a busy highway in a rainstorm! Good gift! He doesn't even mind that another woman's voice is telling him where to go and giving him directions! Bonus! We purchased a Garmin wide screen Nuvi 250 from Dick's Sporting Goods. They are on sale this week. We ended up finding this one to be about $50 cheaper than the same exact model at Target, plus I have a Dick's score card (not a credit card, just a rewards card) so I had a $20 off coupon! They can be a bit pricey but if you shop around you can find a good deal. This was Mark's 40th Birtday "big gift". You can find it here.




I love my man to smell nice, so I am always excited to find a scent that I like. Besides, he is wearing it for my benefit to begin with right?! I was in Bath and Body Works the other day and they have a really nice line of men's products right now. I bought Mark this one and he loves it too. I even got him the body wash and he has been using it. It is the C.O. Bigelow Blue Elixir cologone, it smells very nice! They also have many great mens products right now.









Another special gift is this book that we have had in our house for a few years, Mark's older brother Scott used it and passed it on to Mark. It is called Letters From Dad and it is by Greg Vaughn. It encourages men to write special letters to their family members as a keepsake. It is a wonderful idea and I know that Scott's family appreciated the heartfelt letters that they received, I am working on gettting mine!! There is a whole curriculum that men can follow to help them create this beautiful gift for their family. Here is a description taken from the website: "Learn to write the things you have always wanted to say but just didn't know how.Leave treasured letters of love that will be read long after you are gone.Learn to speak and write these Blessings to your family.Build deep and lasting relationships with other men in your Legacy Group.Store, in letter form, the only 3 things that remain: Faith, Hope and Love.Finally, you will deliver your letters in our personally engraved, mahoganyTreasure Boxes (purchased seperately). Here the treasured letters you leave will be stored for your children and your children's children.
Our Heavenly father left us a book of love letters called the Bible. We invite you to leave your book of love letters called... Letters from Dad. "



Wouldn't you love to receive such a gift? You can find it by going here.


We love playing board games together as a family. Mark and Dayton love to play Clue. We used to have Clue Jr. as well and we played it over and over until he was old enough to play the older version. A few other favorites are Scrabble, Boggle, Yahtzee, Taboo, Uno, and Skip Bo. A great game for older kids is Balderdash. We love to eat popcorn and sit around playing any of these fun games. There are some really nice book editions that are out right now that I saw at Target, they would look nice on a book shelf.









We bought the Planet Earth series for Dayton as a Christmas gift and we all have enjoyed it. Any man in your life would love this! You can buy it most anywhere these days. It is put out by the Discovery Channel.





Our house would not be complete without sporting equipment. We have footballs, baseballs (and gloves), basketballs, volleyball net and balls, horseshoes, golf clubs, air soft guns, and fishing poles. All great ways for Dad's to spend quality time with the family. I know Mark loves staying active and being outdoors is something he really enjoys. It is also a great way to relieve stress after a long day! They even have a huge line of pink equipment now so that the little ladies in your family can join in! Myah has a pink baseball glove that lights up when she catches it. Mark is hoping this will encourage her to play softball and not ballet, hmmmm, we'll see about that one!










Lastly, I love this new cd from Steven Curtis Chapman, it features the hit "Dance With Cinderella". I think this is a perfect daddy/daughter song, surely will bring tears to any Daddy. The Chapman family has just lost their youngest daughter in a tragic accident and I will pray for his family this Father's Day, I am sure that this song has a whole new meaning to them.




I hope this helps jog your mind a little bit when it comes to finding something for that special man in your life.