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| For everyone who wants an update on our life the past month and a half, please go check out our webpage... if you need the address, send me a message!
This post is going to be about something that was laid upon my heart this weekend.
Our church had an event this weekend that allowed us to learn more about human trafficking. It is really an awful problem that is occurring all over the world, even here in the states. Women At Risk, International is a wonderful ministry that is focused on rescuing women of all ages from these horrible "jobs", teaching them skills to allow them to make a living in a dignified way, and teach them of a loving, forgiving Savior who values them as the wonderful women they are. It is hard to understand these issues, but I ask that you check out their webpage, and learn more about these women in several different countries that are being reached. There are many ways we can help even from our homes. We can PRAY. Pray that these women will chose to make a good decision and come to these safe houses. Pray that they would come to know Christ and share Him with those around them.
We also have the opportunity to host WAR Chest events. This is the type of event I attended this weekend at church. We had a time to browse the beautiful goods that were being sold. Then there was a presentation that helped us to understand more fully what a growing problem this is. Then we had a time we were able to make purchases. They sold beautiful, fair trade goods; bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings, handmade scarves, skirts, pajamas, keychains, toys, books, cards, etc.... they had so many goods available to us. All these products were handmade by the women in the safe houses. All the money that they receive goes right back to the women to produce more jewelry. All the gems are genuine. The cost is low in comparison, because there are no middle men. You will get quality jewelry for a fraction of the price. If your church is not able to host an event, they also offer home jewelry parties... as well as an online gallery where you can purchase all of their goods. If you are in the Grand Rapids area, check out their store location! All the info and much more is available on their webpage that I have linked to above.
Please keep an open heart when reading over the information, they really have packed a ton of info onto their page. It is a very hard issue to face, but we need to know about this and we need to help in any way we can to stop this tragic situation. I look forward to sharing this ministry with everyone when they ask about the jewelry I purchased. Every opportunity to share will be a blessing! Thank you for your kind attention!
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|  Brittannie and Manny are married! It was absolutely beautiful! We had a wonderful time! It was crazy busy and stressful the past few weeks, but it all came together and it was a perfect day! We started with getting our nails done on Friday morning, then we had a lovely lunch at Mom and Dad's with the Cestari crew! Got all prettied up and headed over to the Reception hall to decorate! We went to the church to quickly practice for the ceremony and ended up with a lovely dinner at La Pizzaria! It was a great time to visit with the family and celebrate the wedding weekend!  Saturday morning, the girls got ready very early and headed out for our hair appointments! We were up at 4:30am so we could all get done in time for the 11:30am wedding! Brittannie was so excited to see the covering of snow on the ground! Enough to be beautiful, but not enough to make travel too difficult! We all were transformed, then we headed to get some coffee at Starbucks! When we entered, there were many older men enjoying their morning cup of joe, and they all hollered out their well-wishes to the Bride-to-be! It was awesome! Britt really enjoyed it! We headed straight to Mom and Dad's house to get all made over and dressed! We had just enough time, then we packed all our stuff up in the Cadillac Escalade that Dad got for Britt and Manny for the weekend! Got to the church, then took a few pictures and then the music started! It was a lovely ceremony and we were able to get some beautiful pictures! It will be great to see the pics the photographer was able to capture!  The reception was beautifully decorated! The Cestari gals made the table arrangements. Britt, Brenna, Mom and I made the candy cane name holders and the Rosies made the monogrammed soap favors! It was gorgeous! They had two large ice sculptures! One was hearts with their names in the center and the other was a large column with a C carved into it! The golf course was coated with white snow and it was a beautiful backdrop for our dinner! It was beautiful! We had a blast! Afterward, we stayed and watched Manny and Britt open their gifts before they headed to their Villa for the night! It really was a perfect day! Congrats to you both! Enjoy married life! We love you so much!
Merry Christmas to All, Love The Richmonds!
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| We have been really busy since we came home from Maine... sorry I have neglected this. Here is a hopefully short update for you all! (ok, maybe not so short... sorry!)
In September, we went to the airshow on Lake Erie with the kids, my parents and Britt and Manny! We had a great day to watch most of the show, but the rain came in and washed us out pretty well! Everything was drenched! Good memories! Hannah and Mason really enjoyed watching the planes buzz over our heads! Pretty neat to watch them!
The rest of the month was spent finalizing details for the shower, and preparing to move into a place of our own! We found a cute little house to rent in a small neighborhood, with a great backyard! It was a major factor in choosing this house! The yard is all fenced in and is wonderful for the kids! We are very happy here, and it should be great for a few years! We are very close to just about everything we could ever need! It is nice! The kids are sharing a room now, which is interesting, but they really do love it! Hannah says that they are having a slumber party every night! We saved the 3rd bedroom for a TOY ROOM! It is wonderful! We have the TV and DVD player up there, and we don't have to have the toys in the living room downstairs! It works out great!
At some point after we got home from ME this summer, Matt found a new hobby for our family! It is called Geocaching! We go treasure hunting with our GPS! It is a huge scavenger hunt! It is pretty fun, but with the planning of the wedding and details to be attended to, we haven't had as much time to go out and do it as we would like. Maybe January and February we can get back into it, if there isn't too much snow!
 October brought Trunk or Treat at church again! This year we had the Princess and the Bee! Unfortunately, they were in too big of a hurry and too excited to let us get a good picture of them! They had it indoors this year, and it was great! Hannah once again enjoyed the bouncy slide and the bounce house! Mason was tired, but he did enjoy getting all his candy at all the decorated cars! It was a fun time! The shower, as I said, was at the end of the month! I planned a luncheon for Britt at Mulligan's Pub! It was so wonderful! She really believed that I wouldn't throw her a shower, so when Manny brought her in, she was just in comfy clothes and no make-up at all... so we know that she did not have one clue! I was glad, I wanted it that way! I asked her about it afterward, and she said she would have wanted it to be a surprise and she wouldn't have changed one thing! It was a lovely day to celebrate her upcoming marriage! November brought Hannah's 4th Birthday. Wow, how time flies! She asked for a cake with a pink teddy bear in a pink tutu... not funny, considering I was going to be doing her cake this year! But it did end up coming out very cute... and you could tell it was a teddy bear!! The weekend after her birthday, Matt scheduled a getaway for just the two of us to celebrate our 7th anniversary! He even got the sitters and took care of everything! He surprised me with 2 days at Kalahari (an indoor waterpark in Sandusky!!)!! We had such a fun time, it felt like we were teenagers again... even though we didn't know each other until after our teen years! We had 2 full days on the slides and we really wore ourselves out! Each time we rode a slide, we had to climb 4 stories of stairs! We climbed as many times as we could, then we took a lap on the lazy river, then went and climbed until we couldn't feel our legs anymore! We had a wonderful dinner at one of the restaurants at the resort, and the best breakfast buffet I have ever been too! It was great! Matt even let me pick out some fun jewelry at one of the stores! We had a great time, and it was just what we needed in the middle of a crazy long bookfair season! THANK YOU HONEY for planning that for us! It was great! THANK YOU, JALYN and MOM for watching the kiddos, we couldn't have enjoyed it without you both... we appreciate your time and willingness so much! You are wonderful! Last weekend, I went to Columbus for Britt's Bachelorette Party! Never been to one of those before, Brenna did a great job! We had a fun time, and a great dinner at The Melting Pot! Yummo!!! Drinks, dinner, dessert, and dear friends! Britt opened her gifts, then some of the guest had to leave, but Brenna and I spent the night with her. We played Wii Sports... haha. I have never done that before, but it was pretty fun, and I guess I did pretty well! I won some medals, but I hurt for 3 days afterward, not sure it was worth it! Britt and I went shopping for some wedding things on Sunday! Then we had a lovely lunch with Manny at Skyline! Never a bad day, when there is Skyline! Thanks Manny! Thanks Britt for sharing the weekend with me, it meant alot to me! December holds the Alpha Delta Pi Luncheon with Grandma and the Gals! The Christmas Concert with Jimmy at the Chapel in Akron. Maybe an ABF Christmas Party if we can fit it in! Aultman bookfair for the week before the wedding... and then Britt and Manny are getting married! End up the month, and the year, with Christmas, Mason's 2nd Birthday and then hopefully a trip to New England! We are really excited about all the fun stuff this month, but it will be great to just have some good old lazy family time again! We have all been pretty busy! It will feel good to relax again! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful start to the New Year! I most likely will not have time to updated again before that! Until next time! Merry Christmas, from our family to yours! | | |
| The family at Parker's Maple Barn Mason,NH
Summer has finally joined us in Maine! It took a month, but we have had 3 beautiful days in a row of sunshine and warm weather! We are so glad to see the rain give us a break! We had a lovely Sunday two weeks ago and we were able to head to Bar Harbor for the day! It was really nice to see the views from the top of Cadillac Mountain. I would venture to say that it was our most perfect day there yet! We walked around the town for a little bit and enjoyed the sights with the kids! Hannah was able to dip her feet (and her shorts and shirt) into the ocean for a few minutes! It is really hard to get her out of the water! She was glad to be in the ocean again! Last weekend, Matt's parents came up for an overnight! We were able to spend a few hours at the Cole's Land Transportation Museum with the family! It seemed to be a small building, but they packed it full of interesting information and antique vehicles! We really enjoyed our time there and hope to get back again someday!
Yesterday, we all went for a dip in the pool because the weather was finally warm enough! Today, the kids played out in the driveway having fun with sidewalk chalk, tonka trucks, and some old puddles that were left from all the rain we have been having recently! They were super dirty when they were finished, so I deposited them directly into the tub and got them all cleaned up just in time for them to poop out and take their naps! Very long ones too!! The kids have been enjoying all the "Big Boy Toys" going up and down the road! There are lots of construction vehicles going up and down the street all day as they are replacing all the water pipes in town!
We are just about out of time here in Maine, but we have had a great time visiting with Bob, Kelly and Matthew and we will sure miss them when we head back to Ohio. This weekend we are heading to NY to visit with the Roots! We are looking forward to spending some time with their family! I know the girls can't wait to see each other again and have another slumber party together!!
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|  We have been having such a whirlwind of a summer! The family has been holding on for a wild ride the past month and a half! We have been involved with Vacation Bible School at The Chapel in North Canton, and then we headed out for a week at a cabin on Dale Hollow Lake! The sun was out and the warm weather welcomed us! We had a great time! Headed for Maine via Columbus to pick out our bridesmaids dresses for Brittannie's wedding! Then to Canton for a quick overnight and to pack our winter clothes! Headed out for Albany after we grabbed a quick lunch at Skyline Chili! A short but very sweet visit with the Root family! Then jogged through New Boston for boxes for the insulation domes and a quick Hello! Finished the long 4 day drive from TN to ME just in time for Matt to head out early for work the next day with Bob! We are here for the entire month helping out Bob with all the work he has! Mostly mowing so far, but they will be cutting and assembling the domes for the next few weeks! Hannah was able to get involved with their VBS for the last two evenings, she really loves being included in the programs! We had a lovely 4th of July! Kelly grilled chicken out in the rain for us, but by the time we were all done eating the sun had finally come out! We took a walk to a small waterfall the following day! We were mostly indoors the first week because of the down pour of rain that graced Maine! It has been unbelievably cold and wet... especially so after the 96 degrees we had adjusted to in TN! The few sunny days we have had were spent outdoors! Doing all you could think to do outside! We took the kids for walks, went to the park, ran around in the backyard, the kids went swimming in the pool, name it we were enjoying the sun! Not really sure when we would see it again! But we have had a few nice days mixed in and it has been getting much warmer too! This past weekend, we headed to NH on Friday afternoon after Matt finished up his work with Bob. We took Route 1 and enjoyed the ocean views and the scenic little towns! We were able to go to Parson's Beach for our traditional family picture! We ran around in the water for a little bit, it was actually warm enough to run in! Shot some great pictures and then headed out for supper! We ate at a cute little place called Mainiax! Matt and I have eaten there before and we were excited to be able to eat there again! Hannah was thrilled to end with their specialty dessert, Roasted S'mores at your table! Fire and everything... it was pretty fun! Saturday was a great day! We were able to spend the day with Matt's family! Annie was able to come up from camp to visit! It was a nice visit! Great Grammy couldn't believe how much fun the kids have together! They just keep each other company... they really are great friends! Sunday we packed full of visits with friends! We started off with breakfast at Parker's Maple Barn with Dave and Larissa! We had a lovely visit and enjoyed seeing them again! Afterward, we went over to our old neighbors' house to visit with the Remellas!! We were able to cuddle with their new baby girl, Maya! She is just adorable, only 2 months old! Hannah and Mason had an absolute ball playing with Jay! We really miss them, but we are thankful for the friendship with have with them and are so glad we were able to spend most of the day with them! It was great! We finished off the day with Matthew and Elizabeth at Kimball Farm for some great dinner off the grill and some amazing ice cream! It was great! The kids were like little hungry birdies with their mouths hanging wide open waiting for their next bites! It was hilarious! We enjoyed our time with the Matthew and Elizabeth and hope that we are able to see you both again very soon! We had such a fun weekend! It was crazy busy, and the kids had no naps, and very little sleep, but we had such a great time as a family visiting with family and friends and doing so many fun things in a short amount of time! We really enjoyed ourselves! Now we are back in ME and we are going to try to squeeze in a few more touristy things in the next few weeks! I will have to keep you posted on those though as we have nothing really scheduled as of right now! We hope you are enjoying your summer and if it is sunny, enjoy every moment of it... New England has not seen enough of the sun this summer.
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