Family Love

Well Garrett William Foulk was born on Thursday, June 24th at 9:05pm. He was 7lbs 1 oz and 19 inches long. I unfortunately haven’t been able to meet him yet with going away last weekend but here are some pictures I “borrowed” form his proud Daddy! He is the first boy among the Angelo clan of girls. He also has red hair, which he gets from his Daddy, Todd had red hair until he was 3. Congratulations Foulk family! You are as beautiful and precious as can be. Many prayers are with you as you face this new adventure with two little ones to look out for.

There was so much excitement happening last weekend. Friday Ellia and I left with Aunt Jen, Mimi Ollis, Alex and Samantha to head to Greensburg, Indiana. This was just 25 miles outside of Indianapolis and took us 6 hours to get there. What an adventure! This was Ellia’s first real trip out of state and first time in a hotel room. Ellia just loved my king sized bed in the hotel room. The kids were really good (for being so little) and enjoyed being together. Alex and Ellia sat in the very back of the van and Samantha next to me. Alex and Ellia like to hold hands sometimes, play G.I Joes and read books together. Samantha kept me busy feeding her snacks...like the whole 6 hours.. haha.

We made a couple stops on our way down and one of the best ones was at a BP gas station that had this sign offering free clothes!!! So weird I had to take a picture of it. I guess BP feels bad about the oil spill and maybe this is one of the ways they are trying to help???!!!

We actually stayed in Shelbyville, IN where the reception for the family wedding we were attending would be held. All I have to say is there’s a lot of corn and flat land around this area! Ellia also had her first Cracker Barrel experience. This was the first place we ate at when we got to our destination.

Saturday before the wedding we went to the hotel pool. The kids were so cute together swimming around. There were geese that would wonder around outside a lot at the hotel and Ellia was fascinated by them. She called them ducks (of course).

Then it was all dressed up and ready to go!!!

The wedding was for my cousin Matt Braun and his bride Kelly. Matt is related to me on my mom’s side. His grandma and my grandfather were brother and sister. Pap used to take my sister and I down to Indiana in the summer to visit with all our cousins. We developed a tight bond with them and unfortunately growing up caused our visits to become far and few between. We were extremely grateful and excited when we got the invitation to Matt’s wedding. How wonderful it was to see everyone and reconnect. Last time we saw everyone was at the Pittsburgh airport when the Braun family had a layover. I think that was in 1999!!!! Leah is engaged now and her and her fiancé Josh make a really cute couple. Her and her mom will be coming to visit Pittsburgh this August. We are excited about that. Adam played the guitar in the wedding, did a great job walking the grandmas down the aisle and gave a wonderful toast to his older brother. Matt and Kelly are a true inspiration since their relationship and love stood the test of time when Matt had cancer 3 years ago. Praise God he is okay and got to enjoy marrying his bride.

The weather was extremely hot and humid but the lighted dance floor at the hall made up for all that!!! Haha. The kids loved the live band and danced the night away with their 3 year old redheaded cousin Madison. Madison is the daughter of Kristen Saxton's (another cousin) who will be married in September. Jason Saxton is 17 (he was 3 or 4, if I remember correctly, when I saw him last) and just became enlisted! The kids had doodle pads to keep them occupied and running around the hall and dance floor drained their energy. Ellia danced so much that she laid down on the dance floor at once point to take a break. I have included a video of the kids dancing that is just too cute!

Ellia and Samantha had matching pj’s that night (thanks Aunt Jen) and looked too cute going back and forth between the rooms watching the TV’s and eating their breakfast the next day. We left after brunch (at Cracker Barrell) and made it home safely. What a great weekend! We were really happy to see our guys again and realized how much they come in handy on trips when there is a lot of luggage involved!!! Just kidding. We love and missed them for more than that!!!!

Well Happy July 4th to everyone. Hope you get to enjoy a nice long weekend with your family. Kevin and I are off all next week for our annual Staycation!!!! So again, I will have many fun stories and pictures to share with you all. Thanks for listening and God bless!