Leela's wedding

My "little" cousin got married in May. Due to the fact that it was the week-end before all our baptism company was arriving and Jared was already working in a different state we were not all going to be able to make it. Thanks to a free airline ticket Jared had and some wonderful friends who helped watch kids and pick me up from the airport, I was able to go.

Leela dancing with my dad

                                                      

Leela and her husband Sean

Leela wore this traditional wedding attire to honor her Hindu heritage.

Some of you may remember the Little Black Dress story from Asha's wedding (Leela's sister). What you may not know is that Natalie and I almost bought the same dress again for Martin's wedding. That time was completely my fault as I had forgotten what the dress she wanted looked like. So for Leela's wedding we were ready. We talked and made sure our dresses were not going to be the same or even similar. After the wedding and luncheon reception, we went back to the hotel to rest before the BBQ Leela and Sean were hosting that evening. I was sharing a room with my parents and happened to be the one who opened the door when they came to see if we were ready. Nicholas just started shaking his head and muttering. I looked behind him and just started laughing. Natalie and I were dressed almost identical. Like Jared pointed out, its hard to find affordable modest dresses and since Natalie and I have similar tastes its not too suprising that were are drawn to the same dresses. However, of all the different options one might wear to a BBQ, what are the chances we'd pick the same thing? I think Nicholas was more upset than we were, but then evidence is mounting that he married someone exactly like his sister!

Pierogi Fest

The town Jared works in had a Pierogi Fest the last weekend in July.  A festival with polka music and kielbasa, halupki, and pierogis!!!! What more could a Ukrainian girl ask for??  It was hard to keep my feet still with all that Polka music.  The food was excellent.  (in fact, when we went to a popcorn festival a few weeks later, the kids were upset that no one was selling pieorgis).  The parade was really funny.

They closed one of the main roads in town

 Jared was a little confused as to why there were bagpipes, but I thought it was a great way to incorporate another part of my heritage

 This group had pedals attached to eat seat so they could pedal down the street while drinking

 There was a lawn mower group.  This was the best one.  Its an actual riding lawn mower

 The hats were supposed to each symbolize a pierogi filling

 Mr. Halupki and Ms. Paszki (spelling?)

 The Babuska Brigade

Fun with Family

While Grandpa and Grandma Reed and Great Grandpa and Grandma Reed were visiting, we had some fun!

We squeezed in a trip to the zoo also, even though it was sweltering.  Poor Great Grandpa and Grandma had come from cold temperatures in Idaho to 100+ degrees.  It was quite a shock for them.

Newborn

My little monkey got tuckered out

We walked across the foot bridge that crosses the Mississippi River.  The annual Route 66 festival just happened to be taking place.  Jacob enjoyed seeing all the old cars, especially the ones that resembled CARS characters.  We all enjoyed the sno cones booth half way across.

On the way home, we stumbled upon a Lewis and Clark museum.  We decided to check it out.  It was a cute little place tucked away along the river.  We didn't have a ton of time since we needed to get home, change in order to make it to St. Louis for Megan's baptism.

Great Grandpa introduced the kids to Family History.  They had fun looking at all his charts and photos.

We also went to Bully's so Grandpa and Grandma could determine whether it was as good as Pappy's.  And, of course, no visit is complete without a trip to Bobby's!

Summer Fun

Summer Fun in Valparaiso

Zoo Trip Bookends

When we first moved to St. Louis, the first time we got together with the Morrisons, we met at the zoo.  It was only appropriate then, that our final get together was also spent at the zoo.  Both dads had to work, but Elise and I took the kids.  We needed to use all of our passes on our membership.  I had enough to let us all ride the carousel and the train.  We also got to see a sea lion show.  During the sea lion show, child volunteers are picked from the audience to help feed the sea lion.  Katy has always wanted to be chosen.  She stategically placed herself right by the aisle.  When they asked for volunteers her hand shot up so high and fast....and she got picked!!!  She was beaming.  She gave the sealion commands, and then threw fish to him as a reward.  She also got to pet him and pose for a picture.  The trainer told Katy that she could pick a fish or squid to eat also, but Katy declined.  I'm not sure Katy was convinced it was a joke.

Paul recently had a b-day and had some money with him.  He decided to buy everyone a souvenir.  It was very sweet and generous of him. We shared a funnel cake before leaving.  It was a bittersweet day.  We had a ton of fun but were sad that both families were moving and in opposite directions. 

June 2011

Look at how much they all grew in 3 years....

September 2008

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