The Month of Love, Continued...

Joel and I just returned from our last wedding of the "season" and the foreseeable future. We have no more close friends or family that are currently engaged, so we will probably have a bit of a break before the next one.
Hachee's wedding was absolutely beautiful! She looked lovely (of course!) and you could just tell how very in love she and Tim are. Here are Mr. & Mrs. Esser, the new happy couple:

It was also wonderful to get a chance to see everyone from back home again so soon! I had a chance to catch up with many of them at Xavie's wedding at the beginning of the month, and we all had a blast at this wedding as well. Meeks actually figured out that there was about 6% of our graduating class (of 256) at the wedding. You do the math and figure out how many that is. :) Here's the group pic (including many significant others):

You may be wondering why Gus isn't in the picture... We left him here with Lacey and Rich and his friend, Ally for the weekend. But before we brought him over there, we gave him a much-needed bath. He looked so cute in the bathtub that I couldn't resist taking a few pictures. I will leave you with those. Have a great week!

Go Bison!

Today we watched the bison defeat the "big ten" gophers in a tense, but exciting game in the metrodome. Post game activities included a well needed nap (all that yelling makes a person a bit drowsy) and a trip to the town hall brew pub for some tasty eats and savory brews in good company. The night has not yet come to a close, so who knows what may come....

Look at all those beautiful Bison fans! 30,000 strong in the Metrodome. No big deal... Except it was a huge deal! I'm so proud of this team... and I'm proud to be a Bison!

Some QT with Adam John

Joel and I got to spend some quality time with Adam John on Monday evening while his Mommy and Daddy were at a meeting and a good time was had by all. Here's what we did:

Adam got his diaper changed - My first diaper change ever!! Joel only had to offer guidance once (they don't exactly come with instructions...)



We did some walking around and bouncing. Pacifiers are a gift from God. :)


Finally, we got some puppy cuddling time in and did some napping.


Then Adam took his first steps, said his first word (incredibly his first word was "Rikki"... weird, huh?), and made a beautiful watercolor to hang on the refrigerator. It was amazing! He must've been inspired by his time here... :)

October - The New Month of Love

October has been a little bit crazy so far... Joel and I have attended a total of three weddings so far and we have one more to go before the month is over. Last weekend Joel attended our friends, Lacey and Rich's wedding in Minnesota, while I attended our friends, Xav and Amy's wedding back home and went to another wedding with my Mom the next day for one of her neighbors.

Joel said that Lacey and Rich's wedding was a blast! They served breakfast for dinner at the reception and had the ceremony and reception at a camp that Rich used to work at that had a beautiful view. We had the pleasure of watching their pup, Ally, while they were getting married and enjoying some well-deserved downtime together after the wedding. Ally and Gus had LOTS of fun together - there was romping day and night. Literally... we finally had to separate them so they could get some sleep.

Here are Gus and Ally in an unusual peaceful moment.

While I was back home, I got a chance to catch up with a bunch of my friends and it was GREAT to see everyone! I'm excited to see them again at Hachee's wedding at the end of the month. We usually only get a chance to catch up around Christmas time at our annual party or at weddings, so this is a treat. I also had a chance to go to Hachee's bachelorette party and hang out with the ladies. There are some incriminating photos and video clips involving several women, nylons, cucumbers and tennis balls... pictures coming soon. :)

Here's a portion of "the group" from back home. We all clean up pretty nice.


Xav & Amy... and their cake with a fountain in it!

Congratulations to the newlyweds - Xav & Amy and Lacey & Rich!! Be Happy!!!

Baby Gus

If you use the cell phone for perspective, you can see how little he was!!

P.S. The Bison won that game... and the next one... I love that team!!

It's GAME day!!

I am SO excited. Today is the home opener for Bison Football!! Many of you may know that I am a huge Bison Football fan - I didn't miss a single home game for four years when I was an undergrad. I was a member of the Gold Star Band, which was a lot of fun - there is a ton of enthusiasm that comes from the band during the games. Anyway, lets hope the Bison can pull it off today - I'll update soon! In the meantime, here are some pics of those fabulous (and flattering) wool uniforms that we wore:

This is my friend, Jenny, and I at the Bison-Sioux game in 2002 (?). This picture was actually posted in the local newspaper. We lost, and as you can see, both Jenny and I were unhappy about it. :(

This pic is from my senior year GSB concert.

Isn't it nice when you marry someone who gets along with your family? :)

GO BISON!!

Pile O' Gus

Pile O' Gus

Snuggly Gus (please ignore how awful I look in this picture and focus on the Gus)

Gus is tuckered out.
He had a long, tiring weekend of playing with his "aunts", Nellie and Sophie (golden retrievers) and the kitties at Joel's parents' home. He was so tired that he was practically non-responsive when we got home on Monday night.
We had a great time with everyone at the house - the whole family headed down to the cities to celebrate Deb and Steve's 30th anniversary (wow!!) and Jenna's 20th birthday. We went down on Saturday and came home yesterday about 10 pounds heavier. While we were in the cities, we had the chance to check out the Walker Art Museum's Picasso exhibit, which Joel LOVED and go shopping at Banana Republic, which I LOVED. We also had lunch with Meeks and got to catch up on what is happening in her world. Her pup, Jasper, is HUGE. I can't believe how big he's gotten already. And, of course, we got to spend lots of quality time with the fam, which is always great.