Home of the Free

Because of the brave

Happy Memorial Day, everyone.

Off the Market

This photo has nothing to do with the wedding weekend, except that it was taken in the motel. It just makes me laugh. My kid piced an interesting back pack.

On to the rehearsal dinner - here's the groom's (and my) parents.
The happy couple with a few more hours of freedom.

Kat & me
Saturday morning, Kathryn and I attended the bridal luncheon. We dressed up expecting a dressy luncheon, like mine & Katy S.'s. Yeah. About that. The bride & her maids showed up in shorts & fuzzy flip flops. If I had only known, I would have happily brought my flip flops and left the Easter dress at home! Ah well. no big.

After some marathon naps & another clothing change it was off to the ceremony. Here's Laney & Mama Janie:

We met my brother on the way in: Lauren (Aunt Lala) found us in the nursery. Ladies, I have got to tell you having a nursery at a wedding rocks! Elena was obsessed with Lala this weekend, if she had been in the ceremony, she would have followed the bride down the aisle.
The obligatory family photo. Proof that we clean up nice.

Mom, me, Elena and my grand parents (Granddad is not looking at the camera). We hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving 2006. It was touch & go as to whether they would make it to their last grandchild's wedding.
Laney & Mama Janie make a toast.
Awwwwwwww

My parent's "Prom" shot Rob & Kathryn's prom shot

This kinda says it all - fun, dressed up, party time
We had to head home before cake, due to:

All is right with the world though. We have left over strawberry cheese cake (Groom's cake!) in our fridge.

I got this from my dad's camera. Rather than rice or bird seed or bubbles, they used sparklers for the getaway!
And the whirlwind weekend ended up with a few more minutes with family.
Thanks for putting up with 17 photos plus text!

Mother's Day & more

My Mother's day got started a week early - Rob, Kathryn & Elena took me to Olive Garden for lunch on the 4th, since Kat spends Mother's Day with her Mom and rightfully so.

On Saturday, we visited my parent's who are staying in a campground about an hour from our house. My future sister-in-law, Lauren graduated from college on Saturday and then she & my brother are getting married this coming weekend so my parents are camped out nearby to save gas. (Check out the wedding website on my links)

Our first order of business after a little lunch was to hit the playground. Here Elena tries out the tire swing.

She learned to climb the ladder up to the slide and come down on her own.
After a nap, we're headed to the pool. I put the hat on for the picture only. First, she's not keen on hats. Second, it was very overcast. We slathered on the sunscreen, 'cause you can still get burned but I didn't see a need for the hats. Oh, and check out the cutie-patootie bathing suit Elena picked out herself.
We did some swimming. This kiddo never fails to suprise me. We tried out the baby pool & it actually scared her a bit. I never would have guessed, but when you think about it, it's harder to walk in water, even if it's only a foot deep.
That was the majority of the weekend, but I did get the gift I asked for. A nap! Elena was so tired after her day with the grandparents she took a 3 hour nap on Sunday and I got a 2 hour nap. I also got 2 dozen red roses & some great cards.

This is it for a few days. Kat's final Junior High band concert is tomorrow. That's right, this is it. At the next concert, she'll be in HIGH SCHOOL. Holy Cow! Then the above mentioned wedding consumes our lives for a weekend. I'll try to have wedding pics up early next week. Have a fabulous weekend.