- New York in a [not so nut-like] Nutshell -

Part II of said roadtrip = NEW YORK, bay-bayyy! The family wedding was in Jamestown, which is [I'll save you the burden of pulling out a map and just tell you] no.where.close to NYC.  But it IS close to Buffalo and Niagara Falls and a bunch of other cool things.

Buffalo chicken wings + pizza for lunch in Buffalo because obviiii.  La Nova is the largest independent pizzeria in the U.S. and we could see why, because da-yummm that food was delish! 

The Friday night rehearsal dinner was at this quaint adorable perfect little country club in the middle of nowhere.  The dock leading out into the lake was a huge hit for friends of all ages, and we had several photo sessions using our grossly developed iPhone camera skillzzz. Loved that romantic sunset! 

And finally, onto the main course.....

WEDDING TIME!!!

Beautiful mother of the groom with her twin nephews + Brian and his crazy cousin Pete:

Happy wedding weekend, Aria and Bridget!  You are a stunning couple and we wish you a lifetime of love and all the happiness the world has to offer!

Oh...

Last leg of the trip...

"Road selfies! Send us yours!" ;) 

- Clips of Cleveland -

Long story short: Brian's cousin Aria was takin' his bride to the chapel, and that chapel was in New York.  We cleverly made a weeklong roadtrip out of the vows: part I was a stop in Cleveland to visit my long lost college BFF/bridesmaid Meghan and part II was exploring New York [Niagara Falls and wedding festivities!].  

So...

First things first...

Clips of Cleveland! 

Brian: "I heard short shorts were the new fad for guys this year!"...  No, baby.

Made it to the city!!! Reunited over one of our favorite pasttimes... ;)  Tequila all around! 

Downtown exploration while Meghan had to work or something like datt...

Breakfast lunch BRUNCH with Cleveland's finest... Brian always knows how to sniff out a classic local city diner dump! #nomnomnom  

[Cross me before this cup goes down and die.]

Edgewater Park selfies:

...And ice cream for the masses at some famous creamery place that I forgot the name of...

Cleveland = shopping and eating and exploring and having the BEST time with the best friend!! Thanks for showing us your city, Meghan! 

Oh, and somehow [???!?] there are no pictures of our dinner out with Meghan's arm candy, Bert, buuut he's a huge sports fanatic and he and Brian were chit-chatting everything baseball annnnd rest assured we will be back to Cleveland sometime to hit up a game at Progressive Field!  ...Go Cards!!! 

- Bill's 90th -

Happy 90th birthday, Great Uncle Bill!  We love you! 

- May the 4th Be With You! -

Sum-It-Up Sunday

Happy Independence Day from the Fleming brothers and their awesome firework show! 

May the 4th be with you! ;) 

 

Other week highlights: 

-- The Band Perry at Fair St. Louis! 

-- Fireworks galore! 

- Reunited!... -

Sum-It-Up Sunday

...with THIS GIRL in Cleveland!

Tons of pics coming! 

Other week highlights: 

-- Roadtrip to Cleveland/New York! Stay tuned!

- Montgomery County Pageant -

Sum-It-Up Sunday

Another year...

Another summer...

Another county fair season...

And another Montgomery County Fair Queen!!! 

Congrats to our county's new beautifullllll 2014 royalty, Shayla Grosenheider! :) 

This was my third year having the best seat in the house...back stage left on the emcee mic! Nothing beats having a front row view of the competition!  Steal/borrowed a couple pics from the always amazing Studio 131 Photography:

--George and I emceeing!

--Summer warming up for the Star-Spangled Banner!

--2014 Miss Montgomery County Fair Queen Shalya and 2013 Miss Montgomery County Fair Queen (annnnd 2014 Miss Illinois County Fair Queen) Summer!  Two beauties!

--Missy and her new queen!

Once a queen, always a queen!!! The Montgomery County Fair is so big and generous and loving, and we "has-beens" are so honored to be a part of this fair family forever! 

Surprised by a couple of my 2010 county fair queen loves! Montgomery -- Edgar -- Georgetown! Four hours in 95-degree humidity ain't got nothin' on us! Love you ladies!! So great to see you!! 

Congratulations again, Shayla! You rocked the stage and stole the show! So well deserved and so proud of you. Welcome to the crazy county fair club...you're in for the best summer of your life!!!

Other week highlights: 

-- Pageant practice practice practice makes perfect! 

- Father's Day -

Sum-It-Up Sunday

Semi-ironic that today is Father's Day since I'm mostly just doting over all the mothers......

...but we'll just take one hot second to pretend the whole labor/delivery/pushing out a watermelon process is actually about the fathers.

I mean, it sort of is.

Turning men into dads...it's what we do best! ;) Bring on the Father's Day bay-bayyys!

But really.....  Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there, especialllllly mine who is off spinning his bike wheels somewhere in between Oregon and Wyoming! Love you and so proud of you always, Dad!!!!!

Other week highlights: 

-- Brian had a 4-day conference full of meetings and eatings in St. Louis this week, so Purina sprang for hotel rooms. Mini STL stay-cation on the company credit card? Yeah, sure! It was super convenient to drive 15 minutes in the mornings after work instead of the normal 40+ back to the Illinois side, so I slept in the hotel all day while Brian worked. Loved it!...minus the housekeeping woman that knocked on the door 3 times mid-morning in spite of the "DO NOT DISTURB" door hanger. Brian said they probably were starting to wonder what was going on in that room by the third day of having the hanger on 24/7. Ha! Just a super sleepy night shift worker passed out, duhhhh.

-- Dueling pianos at Mt. Olive Homecoming! 

-- Brian's family reunion! 

-- Irish Days in Farmersville! 

- Fam Fotoz -

We had some extended family pictures taken a couple weeks ago at my grandparents' house, and while our little nuclear family of 4 [+ 1 son-in-law + 1 dog] was all dressed and primped for the occasion, we extended the photo sesh in the backyard.  Mostly an opportunity to mess around with our fancy camera and new tripod, but also a chance to capture a little family fun. ;) 

Meet the newest member of the family slash broski's dog, Sarge. 

[The Sargeant was a photobombing maniac...]

Just a little lighting testing... They really don't hate each other. ;) 

 Love this family God chose for me!!

- Strawbaliciousness -

Sum-It-Up Sunday

Scored some of Resa's [handpicked!] homemade white chocolate-covered strawberries this week!! 

My FAVORITE!

These are a product of her second trip to the local orchard, and you would never even be able to start guessing all the straw-ba-licious things that have emerged from that kitchen this month. Strawberry pizzas and pies and jams and everything in between and I'm glad Brian doesn't know all of this is going on or he'd be devastatingly disappointed in my mediocre housewifery habits. 

Anyway, my mom is pretty freakin' awesome and these sweet snacks were pretty freakin' delish!  Thanks, Mom! 

A little more [wedding week!] chocolate-dipping funness in momma's kitchen:

• Chocolate-covered spoons

• White chocolate-covered pretzels

Other week highlights: 

-- Happy wedding day, Chris and Stephanie!! You are a gorgeous couple! 

-- TWO nights of the Bachelorette! Be still, my soul.

- Fiona's Baptism -

Sum-It-Up Sunday

Check out Uncle Brian taking his first stab at being a godparent...

You're a pretty calm and accepting guinea pig, sweet Fiona! ;)  Happy baptism day and welcome to God's family, baby girl! 

#thegodfather

Other week highlights: 

-- Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all the men and women [past, present, AND future] who have protected our freedom. We appreciate you!