Two Wedding Celebrations and a Reunion

July 3rd we drove to Colorado and Utah for two wedding celebrations and a Stapley family reunion. I think I took around 600 pics, but here's just a few so you can see what we did during our week together.

When we arrived in Castlerock, the girls joined in the tye-dying fun. Then it was off to Wendy's for a few family pics...

A, B, and C--the three cousins born in that order a month apart from each other.
Poor Abs was pretty sick in these pics, she came down with strep the next day (wouldn't you know that Kierst did too the following day??).For the 4th of July we had BBQ, lots of cousins around and the best fireworks we possibly could considering city restrictions and the fact that it was only about 50 degrees outside and rainy. Since when is it that cold on the 4th???
The next day was a reception for Chris' parents to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Congrats to Julie and Ron!! And kudos to Wendy for all of her hard work!

The younger grandkids sang a song to Grandma and Grandpa afterwards...

And the brothers joined together for a song accompanied by their sister.

The kids had a blast playing with their cousins.
One night was an Iron Chef competition. Chris helped Kierst and her cousin Brynn make sliders.
A talent show followed all the yummy food. No surprise that my girls were eager to perform:) Lisi did a dance to a Justin Beiber song.

Kierst did a comedy skit with Brynn and then a dance (throughout which Brynn hula hooped, pretty amazing!)
David was a good sport to play prince charming in Abs' and Callen's rendition of Sleeping Beauty.

Lisi was tuckered out by the time the other cousins performed.

Breakfast time! I have to add here that Kierst the big breakfasts every day at Grandma's! At our house we usually only make something special on Saturdays, so Kierst was in breakfast heaven.

The aunts and girl cousins held a shower for the bride-to-be, Coryn.
Everyone went on a hike just outside Castlerock.

A little celebration for Andrew's upcoming birthday.
Our family left Wednesday afternoon from Denver, and got in a little rockhounding on Thursday. Here's the San Rafael Reef, where we picked up jasper.

We also picked up a little pyrite and a lot of wonderstone along the way. It was so hot that we could barely touch some of the rock. By the time we rolled into Salt Lake City that night we were pretty t-i-r-e-d!!

Friday night was a family picnic in Provo Canyon.

Lisi had her older cousins convinced that she needed to be carried around most of the time. She can certainly turn on the charm when she wants to!

Saturday was Coryn's wedding in Manti.

Where are your glasses, J?

Stapleys and Hesses and the newlyweds outside the temple.

Nothing like a wedding to bring out the cheese in me.Coryn's reception that evening was in Provo, at a charming historic home.

Coryn and Joe--aren't they a beautiful couple??

Chris and his mom.

Love David's expression.

The little girl cousins were eager for cake.
If only the cousins lived closer!!

We so enjoyed our time with family, it was over all too soon!! We can't wait until the next time!

New Orleans

Before heading back to Kansas from Florida, the girls and I spent a little time with my friend from college in the South. With the exception of the heat (at least we have until late morning in OP before the humidity is oppressive in the summer) I have to say I really liked it. Friendly people, great food and lots of beautiful trees!

We spent one day in her hometown swimming--the perfect summer day as far as we're concerned--all Kiersten needed was a diving board to be happy:) Then we went to New Orleans for a couple of days.

I've always wanted to go to New Orleans, Chris has never had any desire, so we've never even talked about it. Despite anything you may have heard about it, it's a pretty neat place and I really enjoyed it. Yes, there's the evil, dark side to New Orleans, but there's also a beautiful, historical side, music, art, and great food!

Waiting for the trolley...to take us all of 3 minutes down the street, where we waited for 30 minutes for the next one...make sure you know the schedule before you go, we ended up walking to the French Quarter and saved time.

French Quarter. We stopped in Cafe du Monde every day for beignets. Delicious plates of deep fried powdery sugar goodness, oh, how I crave you! We bought mix to bring home and yeah, it's already gone. Note to self: next time bring lots of wipes for the kids, we were covered head to toe in powdered sugar, thankfully my friend had them!
In the square.


Delicious seafood for dinner. I was tempted to try the fried alligator, ha ha! Not really, although I hear it tastes like chicken...
Throughout the French Quarter are street performers who stand as still as statues. This guy was absolutely amazing. You can't tell very well by this photo, but his pose is extremely difficult, I don't know how he could hold it. He definately earned our money!
Trying on masks, this is New Orleans, after all.
Heading back to our hotel, the girls were thrown beads from a little girl on an upper story balcony.
Doesn't Abs' mask look cool against this chair?
The following day we went to the Aquarium. Although it was packed and loud, it was a great place. It started pouring on our way for more beignets.
Notice the Natchez steamboat behind us on the river, how cool is that?
Next we walked to the insectarium. Abs touched a bug...
My friend's baby went head to head with a white alligator...

Kierst ate bugs...Disgusting...maybe she will be our foodie, she's pretty brave... And Lisi had a ladybug sucker.With the katydids. Our vacation went by way too quickly! It was so delightful to spend time with my Southern friend and her family, to have nothing to do but be with the kids and enjoy new places and new things, I love new adventures!