breathe in, breathe out, breathe in...

sorry for the lack of posting around these here parts. i have been under enormous pressure at work and working late hours.
not many developements on the wedding-planning front, but we did celebrate william's grandfather's 90th birthday this weekend in south dakota. he is one of the cutest men alive. and with the sharpest memory ever. he weas a farmer up until just a few years ago, it seems, and he showed me photos from his earliest days--literally--to his anniversaries to his birthdays, complete with details. but possibly one of the most important things i took from the weekend was another happy, long marriage. these two are so cute. they still hold hands and talk sweet to each other. betty, the grandma, wrote him a sweet little essay about how she still thinks of him as 28 years old, that a wink from him made her day, all the sacrifices he made for her and how few she felt she made for him. they told funny stories of raising nine children on a farm--and throughout all the stories--how much laughter and joy they found. betty has sixty-two years of calendars set aside--each day she wrote what the weather was like, how many fish they caught, or some other fact of the day. all that history. i could listen to them talk for hours.
we also celebrated the impending birth of a new baby in october, with william's sister's baby shower. it was a surprise, and it was pretty clear she had no idea that it was coming. so that was fun. the next day, she asked william and i to be the godparents for the baby. how sweet. we are honored, of course. we can't wait for him to show up! yes, it's a boy.
with that, i must run. lots to do. just wanted to check in.