Laura's Marriage!

Laura's now a Reil!! Rhymes with SMILE! Laura and Lou were married at the court house on May 20, 2010. This wasn't planned... but a week before the wedding they found the pastor made a mistake and they had to get married at the court house!

Pretending their at a church!

In actuality, they're at the court house...

We had a lot of time before the Judge came in...

My friends and I enjoy taking "senior pics".

We all got pedicures and manicures...

More senior pictures! These are behind the church after the rehearsal.

Courtney

I do believe we were supposed to be doing wedding stuff...

Peek-a-boo!

Wendy's family... minus Alder.

At the rehearsal dinner

Roasting a marshmallow over candle light.

I'm not quite sure...

Laura's husband's guy friends call themselves ninjas. We found shirts that say, "girls make better ninjas". The night before the wedding, we wore them out to dinner.

This was all just leading up to the big day!

Laura's Bachelorette Party

We all ventured to Courtney's in Chicago, IL for Laura's Bachelorette Party. I really enjoyed the city and time spent with amazing people!

Right off the bat, when Laura realized, as we were on the subway, "Hey, you guys, that's not my bag. THAT'S NOT MY BAG!" We knew it was going to be a trip filled with laughter!
"Her bag" ended up being a stewardess's bag and she was waiting by baggage claim when Laura returned. To make things even funnier, her suitcase was a carry on!! 

Laura with HER suitcase!

The bachelorette bustin' a move!

We played Hockey! Court, Laura and I played this a little too much in college!

Jaime, Laura and I

Wishful thinking?!

I LOVE this picture! It wasn't posed!

Me and my little Laura Lou in Chicago! (I have always called her Laura Lou and she married a Lou!!)

CHICAGO!

The bride with her bride's maids!

This is how you fit 6 people + the taxi driver in a car! Laura is laying across Jaime, Sarah and Me. 

Poor Wendy is below Laura! 

The second time was a better way...

We thought we were lucky when we got a taxi van! Unfortunately, there was no back seat!

It was a great weekend and Courtney was an awesome hostess!

First Time Camping!!

How old am I? I have finally ventured into the great outdoors and camped out! On June 18th, the YSA had a camp out at French Creek State Park in Pennsylvania. Chad and I drove up after work, stopping at his parent's house along the way. 

This is his dog Blaise. She is HUGE!

We arrived at the campsite after dark. Danelle was so kind to lend me her hands free flashlight to use the disgusting bathrooms. I was thankful I couldn't see how gross they actually were!

There was a good number of YSA. We roasted marshmallows, played capture the flag and hung out around the campfire. 

I ended up sleeping underneath the stars! There were 7 of us... Eric, Mateja, Bishop Low, Bobby, Danelle, Meagan and Me!

Pancakes were made over the fire...

Dutch oven meals were made... eggs, bacon, onions, potatoes and cheese.

After breakfast, some people went hiking, some went swimming and others sat around the campsite. Afterwards, Chad and I went to another YSA activity in Princeton. It was a picnic/canoeing activity. 

Yep, I am a hot mess! ;)

It was a great outdoorsy weekend!

Kirtland, OH and Family Picnic

I have been busy traveling this year. I REALLY need to catch up on blogging. Eventually, I'll post pics from weddings, Laura's bachelorette party and other trips. 

For now, I will post pictures from my Kirtland YSA trip and a picnic at my cousins. It was a great weekend. 

While in the Kirtland area, we went to Historic Kirtland, John Johnson Farm, Isaac Morley Farm (Laura's wedding was less than a mile down the road) and the Kirtland Temple.

This is the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, OH. Here is a link to information about the temple and the other locations also have links attached.

After we did the historical sites, we went to the beach and then into Cleveland. The only pictures I took in Cleveland were of Conor and a fountain. When I got home, I looked up what the name of the fountain is. It's the Fountain of Eternal Life. I thought that was perfect for the end of the trip.

Sunday morning, I went to Ashtabula for a family picnic. We celebrated Daniel's high school graduation. I just love all of the great grandkids and great great grandkids! Not one baby had a melt down all day! That's just unheard of! 

Raegan (14 months)

Riley (14 months)

Rhianna (2)

Troy (1 1/2)

Shaelyn (10 months)

Liyah (5) She didn't want her picture taken!

Cayden (7 months) He wasn't at the picnic but still saw him over the weekend.

Daniel 18

We ate, swam and jumped on the trampoline. It was a beautiful day!

Haircut

So, I decided to get a haircut. I thought I was going to get long layers and side swept bangs. Then, I thought it would be a good idea to donate my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. I was really enjoying my long hair... so why did I get it cut?! 

This was how long it was...

This is how long it is now. It's the shortest I've ever had my hair!

This is how much I cut off!

I have as much hair as I cut off! I enjoy the extra thickness! 

I always do this. I don't care how short my hair is cut as long as it's a good haircut. Which, it is a good haircut but I prefer my long locks. I know I have issues, but I feel like it's a fat girls haircut. I'm sure I'll get use to it! 

Philadelphia

This is Amber and Danelle! I love that they still have their Christmas tree up! Of course, I made them take a picture in front of it! :) 

Walking home from the boys' house, we put plastic bags over our shoes.

Kade apparently thought it was a good idea.

They don't plow the streets!

Amber let me wear her boots! 

See the black dot under the bumper. I lost my phone Saturday night and found it Sunday night. It still works! :) Thank goodness the person never moved their car!

2010 so far...

First off, I have to say, STUPID GROUNDHOG! Yes, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. There's a blizzard happening at this exact moment! The kids are off from school, Bill is off from work and Ellen already had the day off.

What's new in 2010? There's one difference, (As I wrote that comma, it made me think of Professor Bruce David Bruce. I had him for Humanities. HUM 109 Great Books: Modern- A course on Mark Twain and HUM 107 Great Books: Ancient- A course on Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey. When he handed back our last essays, several had a pamphlet on how to use punctuation marks! My sister was in the class and she didn't get a pamphlet! You can always inform me if you see the same mistake over and over!  Here's a link to his free downloads, Good ol' Bruce Bruce! Sorry about that rant....) I transferred my records to the Philadelphia 3rd Ward. I really enjoy it and have started making friends! YAY for friends! ;)

The first Sunday, I sat behind Melonie Bunker and a girl Heather, who is getting baptized on Saturday!! After sacrament, Amber Hopkins introduced herself to me. In Relief Society, Danelle Nielson sat next to me. Come to find out, Amber and Danelle are ward missionaries and roommates. Maybe they didn't want to come talk to me or sit next to me but thank goodness for callings! ;)

Danelle and Amber have let me stay at their place over the weekends. I am so thankful! I don't think they really understand exactly how appreciative I am! They live close to Ben, Bradford, Alex, Kryn and Kade. When I go to Philly, I spend my time between the two houses. In a way, it reminds me of college and I'm enjoying every minute of it! The only problem, I don't want to annoy the girls by coming every weekend. To my surprise, I really enjoy Philadelphia and could see myself living there! The biggest perk would be living close to friends.