our past 2 weekends!

Well, it's been a couple weeks since I wrote on this. Things have been very busy for us it seems. The last 2 weekends have been packed with fun, family, and friendship! The weekend of the 23rd we had the BRAD PAISLEY concert (which was my present to matt for his b'day- yeah yeah yeah... i know it was back in April..... but i knew with the wedding coming up we probably wouldn't have wanted to spend the money on concert tickets so close to the wedding!). So Chuck Wicks and Jewel opened for Brad. They were pretty good, but i was just ready to hear and see BRAD!!!! And of course, he did an amazing job, just like last year!


LABOR DAY WEEKEND - This past weekend we had another fun filled couple of days. Friday night Matt and I went a little mini-date!!! It was nice to do that again. We first met with our DJ (Matt Rivard) at Monical's and went over some song choices/preferences and then we headed out to Lowe's and then to the movies!!!! We ended up seeing "Step Brothers." It was decent.... I love Will F.'s humor, but it was more of a renter than a theater movie. But either way.... my baby was happy because we went to see a movie and I got to spend time doing something with him that he loves!!!!


Then SATURDAY was another busy day! We had our 4th Shower (Nietfeldt Shower) at the Bennette Curtis House in Grant Park. It was a beautiful day out and the whole atmosphere of the Bennett Curtis house is just beautiful! (I wish I could go take photographs over there all the time... it would be a beautiful set up for senior photos or even engagement photos.... maybe i should look into that!)


But after the shower, we loaded up all of our stuff and prepared for the LONG TRIP back home... haha..... i mean the very quick trip home to unload all of the stuff into the extra room. We had a little time to recooperate.... matt took a nap, I organized some stuff (imagine that! haha) and then I (YES, JENNI) fell asleep to take a NAP! (I know it's a rare thing, but something just must have caught up to me and I need was so tired!). Then after we were a little rested it was time to head over to Bryan and Ash's house for their 2nd annual LABOR DAY PARTY!!!! We had some GREAT food and saw some people i haven't seen in long time. Good times!

Then it was onto SUNDAY. We went to church in the morning and after church we surprised Dad Hoekstra with FLYING LESSONS for his b'day present. He was definitely in shock and couldn't believe that it was going to happen in just a few hours! So we had a quick lunch and headed over to the Kankakee airport for his big adventure. Matt was able to go with Dad up the first time, and then when they came back after about 30 minutes.... the instructor said that he would take up some others for a couple of minutes if we wanted.... so Amy, me and IAN were able to go up there. Let's just say that was a HUGE HIGHLIGHT for Ian. Of course i was a little nervous having him sitting next to me, which not really knowing how he was going to react to flying... but he loved it. He just was soaking it all in and had a nice on his face whenever I looked at him! And so after that big adventure for the day... it was time to go home for a little while to re-cooperate again! Matt took a nap (surprise, surprise) and I got to do a little food preparation! Then it was off to Mom and Dad H's for a little b'day dinner for dad too! AND THAT WAS SUNDAY!!!!!!

And then there was MONDAY....(see I told you a LOT went on this weekend... it's not even over yet!!).... Then Monday was the THRESHERMAN's SHOW in Pontiac, IL. Matt really wanted to take Ian... so i wanted to tag along so that Ian could teach me about tractors & combines (you think I'm kidding? That kid could REALLY teach me a LOT about EVERYTHING FARMING!!) So, that was in the morning for a couple of hours and then we went to a couple's house from church for a "pool party!" That was a lot of fun. I haven't been swimming in a long time and that just makes me get more excited for HAWAII where we will be able to go swimming in the ocean and the pool and just be beach bums all day long!!!!!!!

Now onto something different....
On the job front for me... I am back to working 5 days a week. I will be taking some days off to get stuff done with Matt's house and with some dress fittings, but it's nice to know that I have something to go to everyday again. But we'll see how long that lasts! Matt is staying busy with work.... might even get pretty busy right before and after the wedding too!!! So, that is nice to know.

And with the wedding... we are getting closer.... only 6.5 weeks.... the RSVP's are due this Saturday and then we'll see what the next plan of action is... whether we need to start calling people or if it's not too many, then hold off for a little bit and wait it out a little bit... giving 'em a little more time.

Well, i think that's it for now.... I really should go to bed....