Dedication

Amelia's dedication at our church was this past Sunday and we were lucky to have Dan's parents fly in for the occasion. Life has been busy preparing for the festivities - and just busy in general lately - but we're hoping to get back to normal (whatever that is, we're still not sure that we've determined what our new normal is) soon. In the meantime, here's a photo tour of the beautiful dedication day.

Mom and Amelia awaiting the dedication service and both wearing hand knits. (Yes, that's the shawl that was to be a gift for my midwife. I was right to hold back on giving it; it was way too short and very irritating to wear. Amelia's wearing her Angel Sweater.)
The proud parents after the service. Amelia was also wearing the heirloom baptism/dedication gown that my siblings and I wore. (I was frantically embroidering her name and birthdate on the undergarment right up until the weekend. Photos of that another time...there's still a bit of embroidery left to complete!)
Jackson was with us during the service and held his sister's dedication rose for her. He wore a hand knit sweater too. Daddy's hand knit socks (not pictured) rounded out the hand knit theme of the morning for our family (grin).
Brunch at Spoonriver followed the service and we had a perfect time (as perfect as you can hope for with three 2-year-old boys at the table of a dozen people!). Jackson devoured his gourmet French toast and my farmers market omelette was a dream.
It was doubly nice to have all of the grandparents with us to celebrate since it was Grandparents Day yesterday. We completely forgot to give them cards or make a toast or something, but I don't think any of them minded. Their smiles were pretty big as they all watched their young grandchildren carry on. (My parents are pictured first, then Dan's. Yes, green seemed to be the "dress code" for the morning, though none of us planned it!)
I couldn't resist including this photo since I do believe it's the very best photo I've ever seen of Daniel. His mom and I were going through his baby photos last night (looking for resemblances between Dan and Amelia of which there are MANY) when we found a 2-year-old photo of him with this exact same smile. Nice to know that the happy-go-lucky Dan is still in there somewhere and he's not all crochety old man just yet.
After our delightful brunch and a good long nap for Jackson, we went to Lake Harriet to enjoy the absolutely perfect late summer day. Jackson brought his bike and hammed it up pretty well.
He loved showing his Omi and Opi how he coasts on his bike. (And they got a work-out too - the kid goes fast!)
A stop at the playground with a big bag of Lake Harriet popcorn was next, though I swear that I had nothing to do with the unfortunate spill of said popcorn bag resulting in a snack for the squirrels. Never mind that I can be linked to at least two large popcorn spills in our car for which Dan still has not forgiven me and reminds of often. To this one I say "I am innocent. It was the wind." Let's just focus on this adorable baby girl, shall we?

We dedicate this child:
...to family...to friends...to the Earth...to our ancestors...
...to love...to life...to adventure...to future generations...

We love you, Amelia! Thank you to everyone who helped us to celebrate this special day!
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Special Delivery:

The kids' new t-shirts for this election season autumn arrived on Saturday and I'm in love with both (the shirts and the kids). Get yours here!
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Last thing, I promise. Notice any other resemblances here?