Joey and Casey's Wedding

Mark's cousin Joey got married in Leavenworth last weekend.
Well....actually.....it was at the Mountain Springs Lodge in Plain (just outside of Leavenworth). http://www.mtsprings.com/weddings.html
You chould check this place out....it was SOOOO cool!

The wedding was AWESOME! Everything about it! There were MANY personal touches which made it even more special.

The wedding began with a gospel choir singing the way out to the meadow where the ceremony would take place. They were phenomenal!!!! (Wish I had gotten video....)


Joey and his parents....Theresa and George.


Mary the Minister (and sister of the groom)....


Avery thought the bride arriving in a carriage pulled by a white horse was the coolest thing ever!! Talk about a fairytale beginning!!!! She looked GORGEOUS!


The ceremony was great....And a good time was had by all at the reception!!!



The newly married couple got things started off right with their first dance. My camera batteries were dying so I could only take little snippets! Which is REALLY too bad because I do believe this was the BEST first dance I've ever seen in person!!! :)

The beginning......



The middle.....



Got it goin on.....



We all had a great time at the wedding!!!
It was fun seeing all of the Jeannots and as always.....the girls loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa and their cousins!

(Don't the little sisters look happy about this picture?! :) )


It was a nice weekend and a wonderful wedding! Congrats to Joey and Casey!

Ft. Flagler

There are LOTS of reasons we love our annual trip to Fort Flagler.

Family, the water, cool stuff to see, fishing, great biking and scootering, good food, etc., etc.
And....once again.....we weren't disappointed. We had such a great week! We were really looking forward to our week with Grams and Gramps! We also had a bonus family member this year!
My Aunt Pat went with us!!!!! She'll be 80 in February....bless her for "roughing it" in the cold for a week!! She's used to Santa Barbara summers.....it was a little chilly the first part of the week....even for us "west-siders"!

The sun did come out and we all warmed up a bit. She and her brother even got to take a little cat-nap in the sun!!! :) (I should have taken video to capture the snoring!)

We had a great time checking out the old bunkers and gun embankments (I think that's what they're called?!). There's a TON of history at Ft. Flagler and this was the first year that Avery was actually interested in hearing about it. :) LOVE THAT! She also liked hearing her ECHO inside! (Her Dad did, too!)



We even went and toured the old hospital.....


While we were there we also got to see the NW Navy Band play. It was pretty cool....way different than I was expecting...it was pretty "Big-Band-ish". Avery thought it was AWESOME! She loved the music. Annalise just wanted to run around the place looking for "DOGGIE"s. Oh...and do some dancing....the girl LOVES music!


The fishing pole had multiple purposes this trip. It served as a LONGER line for the Barbie kite, which meant she could fly EXTRA high! That was great! We only lost her to the ocean once. Luckily some fast moving kids were on the beach and caught her. :) Phew.

Avery also did some fishing on the beach. No luck. Even for the experienced salmon fishermen (Gramps and Mark). Oh well....they always tell me that's why they call it fishing and not catching. Personally....I don't have the patience for fishing....BUT it's part of the beauty of going to Ft. Flagler! :)
Annalise just enjoyed her time on the beach again. And she waits for the perfect moment when you turn your back to stuff a couple of rocks in her mouth. Precious. :)

Our time at Flagler always goes fast and this year was no exception. Although Mark and I agreed that this year seemed even quicker. Oh well. Maybe next year we'll have to extend our stay a couple more days! :)

It was a great trip! Thanks Cotas! :)

Ocean City

We finally were able to take a camping trip with Geoff and Robin! It had been a couple of years so we were really looking forward to heading to the beach! We'd never been to Ocean City/Ocean Shores....well....Robin had....she stayed at the GitcheeGoomee Inn (which is now condemned!) a while back.





Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. So....we did get to spend some time in the arcades at Ocean Shores. Avery thought that was pretty awesome!



It was pretty wet and the first campsite we were in was a little muddy. Our tenting friends ended up leaving a night early. We were able to move out of the mud pit and into a new site.....and the sun actually came out!!!!


The girls LOVED digging and running on the beach!






After a few days on the coast we headed inland a little to meet the Cota's at Ft. Flagler!

Really? 20 Years?

Okay....so another big part of our trip to Spokane was for my 20-year high school reunion. Go class of 1989!!!! I really can't believe it's been 20 years! That just sounds like such a long time!!! And I honestly don't feel that old. A lot has happened between now and then.....but 20 years????? Jeesh.

It was so fun seeing my old friends.....we had a great time catching up!


It started with an early morning round of golf. I convinced my friend Polly to play with me....we ended up partnered with 2 of our other close friends Clay and Dayna. Thank goodness it was a best ball tourney.....Clay carried the team and we ended up 3 under par for the day!


That night we got together for some socializing at a local bar....Fizzie Mulligans. There were about 150 alumni there, it was about 102 degrees outside (and at least that inside), but we had a great time seeing people we hadn't seen in 20 years! Recognizing most....thank goodness for the name tags with the senior pictures on them (there were many comments on THOSE classic '80's pics! Sweaters with funky patterns, mullets, BIG hair, etc!)! :) Best of all....myself and my 3 closest friends from high school got to reminisce. Don't we look good for 20 years? :)

We even got all dressed up Saturday for dinner at the Country Club. A bit more subdued than the night before....okay.....substantially more subdued....but it was still a nice dinner and good to see everyone all dressed up like grown ups!


I'm so glad I went.......