{Merry Christmas!}

 The week has full. It started with the annual family tradition of Christmas caroling around the Marion neighborhoods - with all 45 members of Jordan's extended family. I have to admit...before I met Jordan I never knew that people still went Christmas caroling. But now it seems completely normal to me. I absolutely love it. 

Besides caroling, we have spent most of our time eating, relaxing with family, singing in the church choir together, and playing with baby Oliver. This morning was a typical Christmas with jammies and gifting. We finally got done opening presents at 3:00pm with a giant breakfast to follow. Now we are committed to watching Parks and Recreation and playing board games all night. It has been such a blessing to have all 10 of us Shepherds together for an entire weekend. We have too much fun together. 

And tomorrow we head to the mitten for another round of celebrating! Hello snow and Dowell family madness :) 

  

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

- John 1:1-6

We never get bored in Indianapolis.

This weekend Jordan's parents took us for a little getaway to Indy. The city is only an hour away, but it still felt like a big vacation. Indianapolis is one of my favorite cities, so I was happy just to go regardless of what we ended up doing. I think I could spend an entire day just driving down all the neighborhoods admiring the beautiful old homes, or visiting all the cafes and unique places Indy has to offer. It really is an amazing place that is the perfect size. It is a city with character.

Friday night we drove down to Mass Ave, an artsy area filled with galleries, theaters, shops, and restaurants. This is the area where we experienced Indy's finest improv. I had never been to a comedy show before, so I really didn't know what to expect. But this was a fun, clean, performance that was extremely entertaining. We liked that it was set up as a competition between two teams. It was nice to have a good laugh.







The next day was my favorite part.


The Children's Museum!


I love an excuse to act like a little girl. This museum is overflowing with fun toys and constant stimulation. We went from one exhibit to the other doing all the kids activities and experiments. Barbie was the best one in my opinion. What a flashback to the past.



















On Monday Jordan and I went down to Indy AGAIN to see our friends Hannah and Santiago. They took us to a delicious Cajun restaurant in broad ripple. I was so thankful to see my lovely Hannah at least once over the summer. The good thing is, we will be roommates this year at IWU and I'll be able to see her everyday. Just another reason to be excited for school to start.

Fireworks and ice cream

Our 4th of July had quite a bit of variety.

Our major activity at the beginning of the day was IKEA. It was one of my highlights from the weekend. We spent three hours exploring all two floors of the store. It was a workout, especially when walking through perfectly designed rooms followed by more rooms. We just had too much to look at! I have never seen so many fun and cool things all in one place before. All I could think about for the rest of the day was how badly I wanted a house in Cincinnati that I could decorate with IKEA pieces and call my own.

How could I not want to live there when all the houses look like this?






We did suffer through some hot weather.
And what is perfect for a hot summer day?
Ice cream.
Jath and Aaron took us to a local ice cream shop in one of the cutest areas of Cincinnati.







The Fireworks show in Hyde Park was amazing. We did walk for about two miles to see them, but it was worth the sore muscles.
I do love the explosion, and somehow I am always surprised when the next firework goes off. I jump every time, even when I know it's coming.





After twenty minutes, it was over.
And Monday it was time to drive home to Marion. Vacation comes and goes so quickly.
But I have discovered a new place, and I have memories to go with it.





I love Jordan, and I love his family. I realize this more and more everyday.

Can I live in Cincinnati please?

I love Cincinnati. I wouldn't mind if I ended up there someday.
After being here only two days, I have already found that it's a great city with everything I could want and more.

Jordan and I made the three hour drive with his parents on Friday. We came to visit his oldest brother Aaron and sister-in-law Jathniel in their new house. We pulled into Hyde Park, the most beautiful neighborhood I had ever seen, and we found their cozy house right away. Jordan's brother Mark and sister-in-law Lauren were already here when we arrived. Scott, his other brother, got here only an hour behind us. It was a full house by midnight.




On Saturday we went to Newport on the Levee. It was a perfect place to see the view of downtown Cincinnati. We saw street musicians, a guy on stilts, and a man tossing fire. We went to Brothers for lunch, and then cooled off with iced coffee from Starbucks.
















We waved goodbye to Mark and Lauren Saturday evening, and the rest of us sat down for some Cranium Turbo. The game was intense, but mostly just filled with stomach aching laughter





Listen carefully to Jerry as he guesses...












...Jordan decided to draw while he waited for his turn...




After a great but exhausting day, we said goodnight.
And I slept wonderfully on my air mattress.

The flea market was a success. I found so many things that I loved. I even bargained with the man behind the counter to get a better price on some Coca-Cola glasses.















Today we went to Mark's graduation baccalaureate service. The whole Shepherd family is in town, and we all had dinner together afterward. Marcia's chicken and rice casserole, salad, bread, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. The evening flew by, and everyone is exhausted from all of the socializing. But tomorrow is the actual graduation ceremony with an even bigger celebration party. I think I may gain a few pounds from all the food this weekend.

The weather has been so beautiful this week. It just reminds me that summer is here and there are so many new things happening in my life and in the lives of people around me. Just living in Marion and being close to Jordan and his family is a wonderful experience in itself.