Colorado Wedding

This past weekend, Ryan, Jonathan and Amber and I drove out to Colorado for a family friend's wedding in Beaver Creek. Ryan's parents drove down from Iowa to stay with Emerson- it was my first time away from her for more than a day or so. Some tears were shed (mine, not hers!) the night before while we were packing but we had a really great time and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

On Friday, we stayed with Nick Bott in Denver. It was great to see him and do some catching up.


Our "welcome bags" waiting for us in our hotel/condo room.


On our way to the ceremony. The views were amazing.


Jonathan and Amber before the ceremony.


Arriving at the reception. Beano's Cabin is secluded on the side of a mountain. It's a private road that we had to take a shuttle bus to get to. It was so private and intimate. (Notice we're being "greeted" with drinks???)


My mom and Nat made the trip out as well.



The view of the reception- pretty fancy.




Our place setting- we chose between salmon, chicken or elk. I guess elk is Beano's Cabin's specialty...


I stuck with chicken.


Ryan got the elk.
Oh- notice the mini wedding cakes? We each had our own mini replica wedding cake. It tasted even better than it looked.








We were hanging out after dinner and Amber pointed out an unvited guest at the reception...



This thing must have weighed 30 pounds- it was huge! The waiter just shooed him out with a broom like it was nothing! I guess porcupines live under the deck at this place but the staff feeds them to keep them around. I'm not sure why.

This was the sign on the deck when we got to the reception. They're not kidding!


The bride, Katie Osborn, and her brother Jason. Jonathan, Jason, Katie and I grew up together. Our parents were best friends and we always took ski trips to Colorado. It was fitting to go to Colorado to see Katie get married.


Ryan busting it out on the dance floor...



A sign on one of the outside doors at our hotel warning us about bears!


The trip was great and it's so good to be back and be with my girl. She did great for her grandma and grandpa and we were thankful we were able to have a little getaway. Back to the ole grind!

Oh, PS, I chopped my hair off!!!

Have a great week!

Audrey's 1st Birthday!

A couple of Saturdays ago was Audrey's 1st birthday party. It was a blast and it was great to see everyone. It was surreal that Audrey is 1 because Stacy and I were pregnant the majority of the time together and so if her little girl is turning 1 you know what that means... If I could, I'd have Emerson stay 10 months old forever. I hear that it just gets better and better but I don't know why I'm dreading her 1st birthday so much. I just love her just the way she is and this first year has already gone by so fast. Is that normal???? (I feel like Debbie Downer- waaah waaahhh...)

I digress...

Stacy, Jeremy and Audrey opening her presents. Note to self, only need to get 1 year olds some tissue paper- no actual gift needed...



Audrey's "Brand New Big Sister" picture frame. Congrats you guys!


Emerson checking out Lily's toys in her room.


Sugar high!!!!


Audrey's big girl chair.








Our poor husbands, they never had a chance...


Ryan and Brandon and their girls.


Congratulations, again, Stacy and Jeremy! I hope you keep feeling good, Stace! I am so excited for you- and thanks for throwing a great party! Hope to see you soon.

Baby's First Halloween!

Okay, so I'm a total copycat and Kelly's blog got me all excited for Emerson's halloween costume. I said I wouldn't spend money on something she'll most likely wear for an hour but who are we kidding? I've narrowed down the field to my favorites and I set up the polling thing on the side so you can vote for the one you like best. More than likely I'll just get the one I like anyway... :)
For the record, Ryan's favorite is the bee because it's on sale for $9.99. Whatever.

Two Birds, One Stone

Both of our babies needed baths the other night so we decided to knock them both out at the same time. I think they were equally confused as to why there was someone else sharing their bath time. It made for some cute pics, though!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend got off to a great and early start since the Hoyt clan was in town. We went to lunch on Friday and then I got to meet the twins for the first time. They are adorable- here I am working my magic on Tyler. Or Tristan. I think it was Tyler. I'll learn, Katie, I swear!



So that would mean Nicole has Tristan... (I've got a 50/50 shot...)



Grandpa Ken entertaining Emerson.


Emerson and Carter.



Our best attempt to get a group picture of all of the kids.


Later that night, we all met down at Power and Light for some dinner and drinks. Katie and Matt had tickets to the American Idol concert so we got to hang out before they left for that.


The Graceland Gang. Steph (Lowry) Merriott, Katie, Nicole, moi, Amber Frisbie, David Stuck, Makenzie's fiance, Makenzie, Zach Merriott, Carl, Katy (Tyree) Zimmerman, and Matt Mac.


Me and my Katies.


Solah Sisters...


Amber watched Emerson for me since Ryan had to work. This was how she was when I picked her up!


Early Saturday morning we left for Iowa for the weekend. Amber and Jonathan wanted to take Will to the Omaha Zoo which is only about 45 minutes away from Red Oak (and Emerson, the town!) We got to the zoo around 10:30 and had a great afternoon. Notice her "lions and tigers" tank???





I'm not sure when it started but it's become a tradition over Labor Day weekend to have a Wood family home run derby. We all go to Villisca, IA, where Ryan's aunt and uncle live and all the guys have a contest to see who can hit the most home runs. It's very official (with a warm up round, then the 10 outs thing and they go in order, oldest to youngest.) Anywho, I was pregnant last year sitting on those bleachers so this year, I was much more comfortable.
Here's Emerson's view of the field.


We took a break to do some swinging.


Emerson with her great-grandpa Wood.



The Wood men (and a VanVark!) in all their glory. Ryan was de-throned by his cousin Bryce- better luck next year, honey.


Emerson was unimpressed by her dad's performance.


Another one of Ryan's aunt and uncles, Joe and Shelly, planted a vineyard on 6 acres in Coin, IA. They had sort of an open house, so after the derby, we drove down to do some wine tasting. It was so fancy and unexpected in southwest Iowa- we had such a great time.





The Wood clan. Ryan's "little" brother, Chris, his parents, Mike and Geri, and his sister, Sarah and her husband Cole.