Our Violet Girl is 17!

I'm definitely in a state of denial about this fact, but regardless of my feelings, the fact remains that my Violet girl is 17 years old today!! We began our celebration last night by letting her choose her birthday dinner. She chose "Mexican Restaurant, but eat it at home." It gets a little loud for her in the restaurant, but she sure loves her rice, chicken, and queso.

Then this morning, we did our traditional birthday pancakes. I can't believe I'm shaping pancakes into a number 17.

Make a wish, sweet girl!

We've left the house decorated from the girl's party so it has felt very festive the past couple of weeks. Time to open up her gifts!

She got her favorites: a new cup and new PJs!

Then it was time to get ready for school -- such a pretty girl!

She requested I bring her A&W for lunch. She's easy to please with both of her meal requests being in town -- I can handle that!

Russ and I joined Vi and her sweet friends, Kaylee and Nora, for their lunch hour. I'm so thankful for the wonderful friends she is blessed with.

When she was done eating, she went to work in the Eagle Snack Shack, where she served a couple of her other friends, Tavin and Morgan.

Russ and I went back in the afternoon to bring birthday treats to her class. She requested cookies for this one. I love that I still get to do birthday treats with one of my kids!

She handed them out to all of her friends and then we sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

Before I left her classroom, she wanted to show me Baby Liam, who she has been caring for as part of her child development class with Mrs. Leintz. She did such a great job changing his diaper! Of course, he was a good boy and held really still for her. 

At bedtime, Violet was super-pumped to discover that her new birthday jammies were matching with Evie's!  Aren't they the cutest?!?

What a fantastic day celebrating my favorite 17-year-old!! She is truly the gift I could never deserve, and I thank God for the joy she brings to every day. We love you, Violet Joy!! 

Violet's Rise & Run Track Meet

 Violet was excited to participate in a new event this year sponsored by our Wellsville FBLA chapter called "Rise & Run" track meet.

We found signs cheering for Violet all over the stands!

Baldwin, Eudora, and the Bridges program (kids between 18-21 who have graduated high school) were all able to come and compete. Violet was SO excited when Hannah, Max, and GraceAnna pulled up -- she kept saying, "All my friends are here!!"  It was super sweet, and you can tell how much she misses them at school each day.

The day started with a welcome and the National Anthem, and then the field events began. I was in charge of the Softball Throw, and the kids did great at this one!

Violet's softball throw looks curiously like her bowling throw and her bocce ball throw. I mean, why mess with a good thing??

When she had completed her throws, she tried out a few of the extra activities on the blacktop, like cornhole. . .

. . . and the parachute. 

She wasn't so sure about actually getting INSIDE it. She just enjoyed laughing from the outside.

She did a little sidewalk chalk with Piper. . .

. . . and then found herself in a little trouble! Officer Pelts loves Violet and she thought it was hilarious getting in the back of his Police car.

She also kind of  played the part of the firefighter. She somewhat put on the uniform and barely sprayed the firehose.

After lunch, Violet did a little YMCA and Macarena on the track with her friends.

Then it was time to start the running events.  Grandpa Kermit was recruited to be the "starter" and he's very experienced in getting runners organized on a track.

Violet ran the 25m and the 50m, and did great on both of them! On your marks, get set, GO!

She and Max showed off their matching ribbons after their running events.

She had such a great day and I'm thankful she had so much family there to cheer her on! (Grandma Cheryl & Grandpa Kermit were also there all day.)

Here are Violet's well-deserved ribbons for the day:

The FBLA members, and especially Nora, did a fantastic job organizing this event! I look forward to helping with it again next year. 

Old Kinderhook Wedding with the Deterding Family

 Since we've missed our Lake of the Ozarks Deterding Family reunion the past two summers, we haven't seen our extended family since 2024. We were SO excited to get invited to Luke's wedding at Old Kinderhook, a golf resort at the Lake of the Ozarks. Mom rented an Airbnb that could hold the whole family and we made a fun weekend of it!

This house was really nice with plenty of space for everyone.

It had great indoor AND outdoor space, with our own personal hot tub downstairs and putting green upstairs!

It was also right on the golf course.  I decided I don't think I'd like this full-time. There were golfers teeing off right below us as we sat on the back deck.

At one point, those golfers were our boys.  I knew they wouldn't be able to sit and watch for long.  And, of course, they found plenty of lost balls in the rough on the hill to bring home as souvenirs.

I went with the "middles" on a short drive to the hotel where the wedding would take place.  It was all so pretty.

It had been raining all morning, so we were thankful when the rain finally stopped.  We could see they already had the chairs for the ceremony set up on the 18th fairway.  They actually shut down the back 9 for the wedding!

The wedding flowers all around the property were SO pretty!

We had a fun afternoon getting ready. They requested "black tie", so we did our best!

They had golf carts to transport guests from the hotel to the ceremony, but we decided to just walk it.  Over the bridge we go!

We found lots of Deterdings as we came closer.  It was so good to see this family!

Such handsome cousins!

Almost time for the ceremony. . .

Here are a couple of pics Avery shared. It was really beautiful!

We took advantage of the beautiful backdrop to get a few more pics after the ceremony. We were just missing my girls and Syd, who was in a friend's wedding that same day.

Golf cart selfie with my oldest on the ride back to the reception :)

It was a very fancy reception, with a very unique "favor" -- Old Kinderhook's famous Sweet Onion Creamy Vinaigrette. 

We enjoyed the hors d'oeuvres and cocktail hour while the wedding party finished their pictures.

I love that these boys still love their Shirley Temples :)

Keith and Russ were joking about the hair discrepancy between them and their sons.

Such a gorgeous cake table!

Then it was time to find our table for dinner.  The reception was held in the ice skating rink, which was also really unique.

It was threatening rain all evening, so we were hopeful to get through dinner at least before the rain started.

And what a dinner it was! There were so many servers taking care of all of us.

The boys ordered the filet and I ordered the salmon. Both were really delicious!

And as it turned out, the weather was perfect for dinner! Check out that sky!

(And I just had to include this pic because he's so handsome)

After dinner, the party commenced.  There were so many "extras" at this wedding, like the fireworks on the dance floor. So cool!

We also especially enjoyed the ice cream cart with a specialty "affogato" (espresso-drenched ice cream). 

We had tons of fun on the dance floor and when it finally sprinkled just a little, it felt really good! The weather ended up being really perfect!

I love that Luke invited all of his 2nd-cousins to his and Avery's wedding. It was a fantastic reunion for all of us!

As excited as I was to see my extended family, I may have been even more excited to have a whole weekend with my boys, who I've missed SO MUCH these past 6 weeks.

And I'm always thankful to excited to spend a fun date-night with my forever wedding date.

What a wonderful weekend spent with family in a beautiful setting, celebrating a beautiful couple! Congrats and may God bless your marriage, Luke and Avery!!