The Story of How I Gained a Sister-In-Law

The wedding weekend has wrapped up, and it was really wonderful. It was great to see all my family and friends and celebrate with my brother and Leann. The pictures speak for themselves, so I'll let them do that (with brief captions, too, of course)

Day One: Bridal Luncheon, Spa, Dinner with Bridesmaids
The table set-up at the Bridal Luncheon


I love Hydrangeas


The gift boxes I made for each guest


Leann looking at her rehearsal dinner bouquet - each of the guests wrote a Wedding Day wish on a card and attached it to the ribbons on the bouquet. It turned out pretty cute!!


The guests at the Bridal Luncheon


Day Two: Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner

Rehearsal Dinner Site - Love & War in Texas




Good to be back in Texas....



Gifts for the bride and groom - furry coozies (made these), passport holder, key chain


The & Theme was alive and well (remember the invitations??). I was really pleased with how it all turned out...






My Aunt Kathie made Bryan and Leann a wedding quilt. Each family member was asked to submit a quilt square. Of course Marcy and I had to include an & in our square. Can you see it?? :)

The happy couple


My cousin's daughter, Clara, and I were attached at the hip during the rehearsal dinner. She's such a cutie pie!!


The bridesmaids


The cousins (only 5 of the 15 were able to make it)


Day Three: Wedding Day

Bryan and his groomsmen - I hadn't seen some of these guys in several years, so it was great to be reunited. Bryan has known all of his groomsmen since high school, and he's known his best man since 3rd grade.


Family photo


My mom and her sisters...they don't look anything alike do they??? :)


My Aunt Karol, Uncle Brad, Trisha, and Clara


Me with my baby brother - can't believe he's married!!


Bryan getting kisses from the bridesmaids


The Wedding Party


Bride and Groom


Our new family


Groom's Family Photo


And now, the funniest ending to the whole weekend. Everyone came over for a nice brunch this morning before returning home, and Bryan regaled us with his tale of the wedding night. He lit some candles by the bed, and later in the evening he knocked a pillow onto the candles. The pillow case caught on fire, and then the pillow caught on fire. Luckily, Bryan was able to throw it into the bathtub and turn the shower on before the smoke alarm went off. He put the burned pillow on the bed with a $5 bill attached to it, and a note that said "Sorry for the mess." What a great story that will be for the kids some day :)

2 jam packed weeks...

I think I may have taken on too much when I offered to do all the decorations for my brother's rehearsal dinner and Leann's bridal luncheon. It's been fun to make everything, but I've been extremely busy. I'm sure you can tell I'm excited about going home - it's all I seem to talk about lately. I haven't been home for more than one night in over two years, so it's pretty hard to hide my excitement :)

Last weekend I took some of my girls from Girl Scouts to camp. They had a great day, and despite being at "work" all day it was pretty relaxing for me (with the exception of the extremely noisy bus ride home - don't those girls ever get tired??).

Yesterday we went to the beach and laid in the sun, and I've got the sunburn to prove it - ouch! We also met Luke, my friend who is in town for a few days, at the Mariner's game. Mariner's lost, but it was a really close game with beautiful weather. I'm loving this gorgeous weather pattern - it rains during the week, which I don't mind since I'm inside most of the time, and then it's sunny and 70 degrees on the weekend. I'll take it!!

Well, those decorations don't paint themselves, so I better get back to it, then it's off to the dog park, and a barbeque tonight. Have a great week, and I'll see some of you SOON!! Can't wait :)

Making lanyards at camp...


More lanyard making...definitely the girls' favorite part of camp (well, that and singing!!)


The girls during their outdoor education lesson


One week later....
Safeco Field


The sunset from Safeco Field


Ken Griffey, Jr. - he's back, and everyone is SO excited!!


My new Vera Bradely bag - I had to show it off because I was so excited when it came in the mail. It's definitely my favorite print...of this season, anyway :)

Happy May Day!

I can't believe that in just three short weeks I'll be home for my brother's wedding and Whitney's wedding reception. My week at home is packed full of seeing friends, spending time with my family, visiting one of my oldest friends, Justin, in Houston (I'm missing his wedding because it's the same day as Whitney's reception), and hopefully relaxing a bit...I can't wait!!!!

This week I've been busy making Whitney's wedding present (I'll post pics later - can't spoil the surprise), making a treat for Paige's new baby Kylie (pics later), and finishing the Rehearsal Dinner invitations. They turned out pretty cute - I had to modify them a bit after the first one proved to be too bulky for the mail. I had a knot in the pink ribbon and the & sign placed at the bottom at first. Then, I changed them to this....






What do you think??

Have a great weekend! I think we're going to visit Leavenworth, WA (it's about an hour away). They're having a Recycled Art Show there this weekend - everything is made from junk. It's supposed to be pretty cool, and the town is this cute little Bavarian town with wineries (yum!) and cute shops!!

I'm slightly obsessed...

...with pretty peacock feathers!! I've also been rather obsessed with Etsy ever since I got a really funky scarf from my friend Whitney that she found on Etsy. Today I was looking for something fun to wear in my hair to jazz up my plain blue dress for Leann's bridal luncheon. Whatcha think??

It's from an Austin artist, which made it even cooler - love supporting those Texans!! :)

Spring is in bloom

Sorry for the delay in posting, but the sun is out, and I'm loving the opportunity to spend my afternoons outside!! We had our Girl Scout meeting (with my volunteer troop) two weeks ago, and one of our Junior Girl Scouts brought in her pet bunny as part of the Pet Care badge. The girls LOVED it!! Easter weekend was pretty low-key and rainy, so we just hung out at home. This week was Marcy's birthday. I took the day off of work, and we went out to lunch at this quirky little midwest restaurant. We also explored the Ballard Locks, enjoyed massages, explored a cool Winery, went to the beach for the sunset, and ate dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. It was a really nice, relaxing day!!

It's Standardized Testing time in Washington, so Girl Scouts is cancelled for the next couple of weeks. It's nice for me, because now I get a chance to catch up on paperwork, planning lessons for the end of the year, and take advantage of working from home (my favorite!!).

I'm in the middle of several craft projects - I was inspired by my friend, Paige, and her CUTE nursery, so I'm creating something for baby Kylie!! I think it is going to turn out super cute, and I can't wait to finish it. I'm also knee deep in supplies for my brother's rehearsal dinner, working on the invitations, and working on favors for the bridal lunch we're having for his fiancee. I can't believe their wedding is only 5 weeks away!!!

I hope everything is going well in your corner of the world. I am planning on getting out this weekend to take pictures of all the cherry blossoms in bloom here. I'll post those soon - they are spectacular!

Seattle in bloom - tulips are everywhere!! Reminds me of the Tech campus.


The Kaper Chart at our troop meeting - Each troop task is written on a branch, and the girls names are on the leaves. Definitely one of my favorite creations. You know me, I can't do anything ordinary :)


Lindsey with her mom and their bunny, Pear, at our troop meeting.


Easter decorations - I love these little bags!


Our Easter Tree - the ornaments are felt - I've been collecting them over the years, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out this year. We just used a branch we found outside, and it worked great!


Marcy opening the birthday present she got in the mail from my brother.


It was GUITAR HERO, so the classic rocker face was definitely necessary!! Hopefully we won't get complaints from our neighbors like Bryan and Leann have for rocking too hard....we'll see

Hike to Wallace Falls

Spring Break finished with a spectacular weekend - gorgeous sunny weather with highs in the 60s. It was the first day with weather that good in 188 days!! I couldn't believe that when I heard it on the news. We took our troop (the one I volunteer with) on a hike on Saturday to Wallace Falls. It was a great trip, and the girls really had fun on our first outdoor excursion as a troop (we did, too!)

Wallace Falls


It was a Girl Scout field trip, so of course we had a craft - lanyards, what else!?!?


Billy got to come along, and he had a blast (he's still tired!!)


Marcy asked each of the girls to find a rock, and then explained what type of rock it was - Girl Scouts, remember...everything is done with intentionality...(and hopefully earning a badge or two...)

Spring Break

Last week was Spring Break for Seattle Public Schools, and that meant a couple of days of rest for me, and then two full-day field trips with my 4th and 5th grade troops. The 5th graders voted to go rock climbing with the money they earned during cookie sales. We rode the city bus to the indoor rock climbing gym, enjoyed a sandwich lunch (also their choice - as long as I brought hot Cheetos - they are obsessed!!), climbed for a couple hours, and then rode the bus back to the school. Everything about the day was great - except the freezing rain....ahhhh!!! The next day I woke up to see snow falling (are you kidding me with this???) as I prepared to take the 4th graders to the Space Needle. None of the 4th graders had ever been to the top of the Space Needle, so it was quite a thrill for them. We enjoyed a picnic lunch at the top (complete with more hot Cheetos!!) and the girls did a scavenger hunt finding out facts about Seattle. The next stop was the Seattle Center, which was turned into a giant bounce house. The girls had a blast.

One of the 5h graders making her way to the top of the rock wall


5th grade girls after an afternoon of climbing


4th graders at the top of the Space Needle


Our spectacular (ha) view from the top. It was so foggy and cloudy that day that we couldn't see beyond the city limits. Big bummer!! (See the Pepsi sign? Below it and to the left there's a brown building - that's the Girl Scout office!!)