Greenville Summer Visit

Hi everyone,

This is Brent writing a post again. Katie asked me to write this post because she thought it was only fair for her to write about Cincinnati with her family and for me to write about Greenville with my family. I'm eager to please my wife, so I complied. (Note from Katie - if I knew it was going to take this long, I would have done it myself! Yeesh!)

First off, I just want to say that I think the pictures that Katie took on our visit back to the States may be my favorites she has ever taken. She is getting so good at photography and editing pictures. (Aw, now I feel bad about my earlier comment.) Take a look at this shot of Pressley. All the nieces loved to wear the "glasses" even though they look painful and didn't stop water from getting into their eyes.

I love this next picture. These girls are so blessed to be living near each other and growing up together. We spent most of our time in Greenville at Lorren and Cole's new house in order to take full advantage of the pool. The three-year-old girls are amazing swimmers and can jump off the diving board and swim to the ladder without any flotation devices! I was impressed. The one-year-olds also love the water, but needed a little more attention.


One night we hired a baby sitter to watch the kiddos while the adults had some grown-up time. we played games, ate lots of food, and drank lots of drinks. This lead to deep conversations and some very enlighting confessions. :)


Cole let Savannah pour the blue raspberry syrup in her slushy. I think she used half the bottle which resulted in a very blue tongue and a very cute picture. I love how kids do weird things with their hands...


We LOVED spending time with our nieces and nephew in Greenville, but it was also nice to get some more laid back time. Mom and Dad took us to their favorite new restaurant in Greenville for a great dinner. It's not hard to tell these two are sisters, huh?


Hailey has been a hard nut to crack for me on our previous visits (such a momma's girl), but this time was different. I think we really bonded. Isn't she adorable? She is such a girly girl.


The rest of these pictures are from a day at the park. We did all the usual activities - swing on swingset, slide down slide, and ride bikes/wagons. This particular park even had a train that we could ride.


Shouldn't this kid by a child model (even with blue chalk all over his face)? He really ought to be in catalogs or Gap kids commercials.


I love to play with these kids and I'm pretty sure they like to play with me too. But, they LOVE their aunt Kiki (Katie). Sometimes I get a little jealous because I try so hard for those kids to like me (read: "smother them") and Katie just lays back, plays it cool and watches them flock to her. It must be because she is a girl.


Here is Lorren and Cole with Hailey riding on the train. Great shot of Hailey's "confused" face.


Me with Savi - doesn't she look 6 years old?


We had a great trip in Greenville, from the time that the ENTIRE family picked us up at the Greyhound bus station with "welcome home" signs until we got dropped off at the airport. Thank you, Dad, David, Cole, and Michelin, for taking vacation days from work everyday we were in Greenville.

My sincerest apologies to Katie for never taking the camera and actually getting some pictures of my wife. I will do better next time.

Thanks for reading. Love you all.

Cincinnati Summer Visit

When we discussed moving to Grand Cayman, the thought of being in a different country than the rest of our family was very...unsettling. I am incredibly close to my family, they are my very best friends. I made Brent promise that we could travel home at least once every 6 months, which netted out to two Christmas trips and one summer visit. The first stretch between October and Christmas seemed long at the time, but in actuality it flew by. Then the long stretch - January to the end of July. We were thinking about making it an even 6 months, but when Jocey set her wedding for July 29th, I knew I had to be there. Man oh man, 7 months is a long time.

I can't tell you how happy I was to see my parents and the Swartzentrubers at the airport. They were waiting with cupcakes, signs, and balloons. It made me feel so special! Joy was busy with maid of honor duties, but Amy met up with us after work that evening. It was just the reunion I had been longing for.


The week flew by with wedding events, random errands, and a special day celebrating our next bride-to-be, my sister Amy. My favorite part of the visit was the little amount of down time at home - catching up with my sisters and mom, playing with my nephews, and getting lots of dad bear hugs.

The Behlert girls cooking dinner together


My dad got an antique croquet set for his birthday. We couldn't wait to try it out!


Love Jack scrutinizing my shot


With such a busy five days, we weren't able to see many friends while we were home. That's always hard because I greatly miss those people too! Thank goodness for facebook. I can't wait to be reconnected with everyone once we move back. Jess and Ben made the drive from Indy to Cincinnati to do a quick hour lunch with us. By our Christmas visit, they will have a new little man in the family!


All in all, it was a wonderful trip, but it went by way too fast. I am comforted by the fact that our next visit is only four months away. Cincinnati - we love and miss you!

Jocey's Wedding

I've fallen off the face of the blogging world for a while, but don't worry, I'm still around. We were in the States for about 12 days, and once we got back I had SIX new wedding album orders. Then in the four days we were home, I got three more orders! I am ecstatic, of course, but very busy. In the evenings I've been trying to squeeze in some photo editing while Brent sits nearby doing mock fantasy football drafts. Luckily I didn't go too crazy with the pictures on our trip, so I'm almost done.

When we got to Cincinnati, the first two days were busy with my cousin Jocey's wedding activities. I was so glad I got to be there for her big day. Jocey is my only girl cousin, and is practically another sister to me. She's beautiful, smart, funny, and has the most bubbly, contagious laughter. I just adore this girl.

Here's the four Behlert sisters with Jocey in the middle:


The rehearsal dinner was at a picnic area by the reception site. It was so good to reconnect with all my family. I've really missed them in the seven months since Christmas!


Next to be married! Amy and Zach, December 17th


Before the wedding, me and my lovely momma:


Couple outdoor pictures of my sisters before the ceremony started:


Jocey and Jesse say "I do"


Candy bar at the reception - you couldn't keep me away from those york peppermint patties


Behlert sisters with the bride once again:


First dance:


My aunt Mary Jean watching the father/daughter dance:


Me and Jack-pot:


The other adorable ring bearer:


Pictures from the rest of our time in Cincinnati and Greenville are coming...I need to catch up before we have more island adventures!