Barn Dance

August 16, 2012 // Our FIRST EVER Barn Dance.

ever.

Since I already went into raptures upon raptures on my blog and outlined all the dances and told the whole background story on the dance over there... if you want to read it, go ahead. If you just want to see the pictures from the glorious night, keep reading. =)
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Ohhhh but I'd better explain this a bit. This is NOT Sarah dancing with the hose. This is Sarah getting the barn ready to dance in. Just a clarification.
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This is Hannah taking a picture of her tired, wet feet and Sarah putting her toes in because she felt left out.
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And this is us.
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and THIS is them... Abby, Cherie, and Sarah, all dresssssed up and looking absolutely gorrrrrrrrrrrrrrgeous.
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Grand March!
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A very unusual, very FUN kind of dance. NOT what you think. Not.
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Virginia Reel
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Sarah and Zech looking verrry professional as they "strip the willow." Just getting you used to dancing terms. Free lessons, and all that.
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Oh, Johnny, Oh!
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that's all for now, friends and neighbors!! =)

have yourself a merry little mid-August week. =)

Goodbye, 2011...

Well, folks, this is it! 8757.81278 hours have gone by in 2011, and it's only 7 hours and 8 minutes until 2012. 365 days... almost all the way lived.

Anyway, that WAS true, at the time I wrote this. But by the time it publishes, we'll only have 7 hours and 7 minutes left.

Hope that y'all make the *most* out of the rest of the time left in this year... and have a

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I can't wait to see how God's going to use this new year... wow. 2012. I feel old, haha!

Much love!
Hannah for the Ps

ps - don't let the picture trick you, okay? This New Years wish is from ALL of us. lol! =)

Merry Christmas!

From our (loud, messy, silly, crazy, wonderful, blessed... and.... a lot of other things!) home to yours...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hoping that you had a splendid holiday... a house filled with laughter, the scent of fresh cookies, twinkling lights, family, and Christmas music... and remembering the REAL reason for this beautiful time of the year - the birth, life, death, and sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Much love!!
The Pittelkow family

Our Fair

Believe it or not, it's fair time again!! You probably remember the fair from years past. Well... here it is again!!

Well, this year was kinda different for us.

You see this pretty girl right here?

Wait a second. She has sunglasses on. Hang on...

THAT pretty girl, right there?

Or shall I say gorgeous?!

She's my sister. And she's FAIR PRINCESS!!

YES! Believe it or not.

You believe it.

How could you not?

Is that cool or what?

The beautiful girls!! Don't they all look awesome?! The two in the purple are last year's royalty... and... well... you know that one in the blue. The princess, remember? =) And that's her queen - Hannah.

Really cool, right? Hannah and Sarah. =)

Hugs all around!

My loving, adorable sister and brother.

Did... I... just... say... loving? And cute? Well...

Daddy and his princess.

One of them.

Cherry Limeades were the order of the day. Days, shall I say? I think I had one all four days. hahaha!!

Welllll, when it's that hot, who's counting carlories?!

Oops, I forgot to mention something...

Sarah did performing arts this year!! Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the 4-H Reserve Champion?!

It was weird... being "too old" to perform. Yikes. I would if I could!! But I graduated a little too early. I was still in my prime, guys! Har, har. Just kidding. I am super proud of my little sis!!

This kid was SERIOUSLY little. I think he was about a foot tall. Serious.

Some of these girls ride SO well. I'm super jealous. They ride better than I do!!

25 Years

So SOME of ya'll (not all of ya'll because only some of ya'll have good memories, obviously...) knew that Mom and Dad celebrated their wedding anniversary recently!! These pictures are SERIOUSLY overdue, my friends. But I thought ya'll might enjoy seeing some pictures of their celebration!!

Oops, how did that get in here?

As you can see, this is NOT this year's celebration. But twenty-five years ago.... yep, those were my cute, just-married parents.

And they're still cute. Despite the fact that they aren't really "just married..." sometimes they can still act like it. haha!

Abby didn't think Dad was smiling "big enough."

Hey, everyone!!

Oh, and those two strangers next to Sarah? Those are my aunt and uncle... the very ones that were there twenty five years ago when Mom and Dad said "I do." Awesome, yes?

Mah mama and me. =)

How do you like my Southern accent? haha!

This restaurant is the most **gorgeous** spot in the county. It's a super beautiful old farmhouse overlooking the valley. Mmm...

And their gardens are so pretty!!

Happy, happy...

Sistas...

...and another sista (me) and her brother (Joe). But you didn't know that did you?

You see, folks, this is what happens when you get married and stay that way for 25 years. You get some pretty awesome by-products, and they're called kids. We kids rather think it's a good return on investment.

This is a heavenly thing... creme brulee made with farm fresh eggs and blueberries. Mmmmm... You've never tasted such amazingness.

Speaking of amazingness, there was this beautiful sunset that night.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for everything... like, most especially, staying together for 25 years. Needless to say, we appreciate it. The sleepless nights of child raising, the long deployments and separations that the military life brought... even the kisses that make Abby blush a shade barely lighter than scarlet.

But we especially liked that creme brulee.

=)

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!!

This touching song is guaranteed to make you cry, so get your tissues handy! It's especially meaningful to us military families. =)

Thank you to all of those who have given their lives, and to all those left behind. Wives, parents, children, siblings - this is as much for you as it is for our fallen soldiers. You have our undying gratitude. We will never forget.

This is a recording of the ALERT Chorale's performance on one of their tours in 2009. Joe had the awesome experience of singing with them, and he's one of the bass singers in this video!!

ps - if the video is having trouble loading or is taking forever to show up, try clicking here... and if THAT doesn't work, click here!

Brand New!

Easter Sunday - Resurrection Day - dawned bright and clear. It would have been a beautiful morning for a sunrise service - except that it was somewhere around 30 degrees! So our church skipped the sunrise service, but we celebrated with special music and, of course, an awesome message on the resurrection of Christ.

It was a beautiful, sunny day. Very much like what I imagine the *real* Resurrection Day would have been!!

On our way home from church, we swung by the barn instead of pulling into our "usual" driveway, so we could check on Clover - our verrrry, verrry pregnant Jersey cow.

Lo and behold - a CALF!!

Everyone squealed and hopped out of the car, still in their Easter finery - to inspect the brand new arrival.

After changing into "real" clothes... aka barn clothes... we did some calf handling.

Very soon, our new little bull was up and at it - and he still is!! It's really funny how different he is from the girl calves that we've had. Kind of like the difference between little boys and girls... the little princess and the rough and tumble cowboy.

But Mom won't let us name him. Because... well... it is only a year before he gets introduced to the freezer. *cough, cough*

BUT, until then... we're going to enjoy this little buddy!!

Joe's Birthday

Guess who will turn 22 tomorrow?

Yes - our favorite big brother, JOE!!

I can't believe that he's 22 already. Well, not technically 22 yet. But since Dad was leaving, we celebrated his birthday a few days early. I don't think he minded... who doesn't want their birthday drawn out as long as possible? =)

So we started with a yummy Mexican dinner by the birthday boy's request. =)

Uh-oh. There's a Burrito Bandito at the table!