December 16, 2006

4 years ago, Chris and I said our vows. This weekend we celebrated by going downtown and listening to the Kansas City Symphony. We headed to the Mariott right after school and had a little time to relax in our room before getting ready for the night.  We took advantage of a large, flat screen tv and watched Oprah's Favorite Things. When we were ready for dinner we headed to the Prime Rib Grill which is a sister restaurant to the Hereford House. Umm, let me just say...YUM. I ordered cedar plank salmon and Chris had this amazing smothered chicken dish.  The waiter even gave us a free dessert since it was our anniversary!

 Here we are before we left the hotel.

 We have discovered that when there is only two of you, it proves a little difficult to get both people in the picture. Our solution...individual pictures!

After our dinner, we headed down to the Lyric Theater to listen to the symphony's Christmas concert. It has been awhile since we have been to a symphony concert and this one was amazing. They did some fun Christmas songs but also some songs like, Ave Maria. They had the Allegro childrens choir sing from the balcony which was just beautiful. They even had a handbell chorus.

A little blurry...but none the less...

On Saturday, we slept in and then had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. After we checked out we did a little shopping on our way home. Bear stayed at his doggy farm so we had one more night to ourselves which made it feel like a real weekend getaway! No one had to take the dog out at 6am in the freezing cold : ) We both laughed about how having a dog really is the perfect way to prepare for having kids.

I think one of the things that made this weekend so special was that Chris planned the whole thing completely on his own. He finally told me the surprise earlier in the week and I was thrilled. I am so thankful to have such a loving, romantic husband.

Happy 4 Year Anniversary honey and here's to a million more.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year, we hopped on a plane and headed to Houston to be with  my family. It was definitely a climate change for sure! It was in the 30's here in KC and in the 60's in Houston. We had to dig out our shorts from the Summer tubs. We had a great time playing games, visiting with family, and EATING! On Thursday morning we woke up bright and early to do the Katy YMCA Turkey Trot. It was a great way to start off our day and helped us feel justified in eating a little more : )

 Here we are...all ready to go!

 The whole Thompson/Penland clan!

 We are ready to walk!

 We had so much fun walking together. The best part was when my Dad would cheer on the people who were supposed to be cheering us on! Very funny. They didn't quite know what to think of us!

 We finished and grabbed a few freebies before heading back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. After Thanksgiving dinner we took a few official family photos. Here is the whole Penland Family (except Kathy! We missed you!)  with smiling faces and full tummies! We are so glad to add Jenny, Jake and Nick to our family this year.

I think Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays to enjoy eachothers company and just focus on being together. We are so glad we were able to be with my family for this holiday and are anxiously awaiting coming home for Christmas!

Downtown Tree Lighting

Earlier this fall we moved from the Kansas side to Lee's Summit, MO. We are loving our new home and it's cute downtown! It has a real small town feel and they are always putting on fun events. Right before Thanksgiving, they had their downtown tree lighting extravaganza! We got all bundled up and went to enjoy the festivities! Bear even wore his snowflake bandana!

 He got so many compliments.



4th Annual Branigans in Branson

A few weekends ago, Chris and I met up with his family for our 4th Annual Branigans in Branson weekend! This has become a really fun tradition that I look forward to all year. We had a long weekend after parent-teacher conferences and headed to Branson early Friday morning. When we got there we went to the Fish Hatchery and looked at a TON of fish. We even got to watch a educational video about how they get so many fish for the hatchery. Those poor girl fish. This may or may not have scarred me for life.

 After the video experience, we went down to the river so David could do a little fishing. There were lots of people there fly fishing. Later we headed down to the Branson Landing to do a little shopping at eat at Famous Daves. YUM!!

 On Saturday we did a little more outlet shopping and then went to the Dixie Stampede! This is a Branigan Family Favorite. They were doing their Christmas show which is always a delight. My favorite part is after the show when you can go out and see all the horses as they put them in their stalls.

 Oh, and yes we did sport our Texas Ranger gear to the Dixie Stampede. Game 3 of the World Series was on later that night.

 Rangers WIN Game 3!!!

On Saturday night, after we came home from the Dixie Stampede, we built a bonfire and had smores. On Sunday we hung around the cabin, did a little more fishing, and then it was time for us to head home!

Take a Little Trip

This summer we took a little day trip to Weston, MO. Bear had to have a little surgery (cough) so we took advantage of the time and went to downtown Weston.

 We had a great time eating at a little tea room and shopping their downtown main street! It was a great getaway!

 Unfortunately, Bear didn't have as much fun as we did : (  He had to wear the cone of shame for a few days...

 This is what he thought about it...

The funniest part was when we noticed him looking at our torchier lamps like, "how the heck did they get that thing on me?!"

Chicago!

This summer, Chris and I were able to go to Chicago for a weekend trip! We had a Community Life retreat and were able to do some sightseeing too. We had a SUPER early flight and lucky for us, Dianna just happened to be in Chicago at the same time, so we were able to see her for a bit! Not to mention, freshen up in her hotel room! We rode the subway from the airport and navigated the city like pros, pretty good for these suburban Texans.

 We took a trolley/double decker bus tour around the city which was awesome. We were able to stop at many different fun places and get off and look around. Then we just hopped back on when the next bus or trolley came along!

 We were on the top of the double decker bus.

 Here we are at the Navy Pier!

Vintage Pearl Giveaway

The Vintage Pearl is doing a giveaway and I want to win!! You can check out their fabulous stuff here.

So, so, cute!!!

Omaha!

A few weekends ago, Chris and I took a little vacation to Omaha, Nebraska! We had a relaxing, fun filled weekend all planned by Chris. It was wonderful! We left right after school on Friday and made it just in time to see the Royals farm team play baseball. It was Girl Scout night so that was pretty funny to see all the girl scouts in their uniforms at the baseball game. They had fireworks after the game which were really good!

On Saturday we woke up and did some shopping and then headed to the Omaha Union Station. It is no longer a working train station and they have turned it into a train museum. They still have all the benches set up in the main lobby where people would wait for their trains. The also had some actual trains you could tour that were from the 1940's. It was really cool to see the sleeping cars and dining car. We also got a treat from the Soda Fountain.

Don't we just fit right in?

On Saturday night we went and ate at a Japanese Steakhouse for dinner. It was so good!! This was our chef... Kevin...I think...

On Sunday morning we went to the Omaha Zoo. It was voted one of the best Zoos in the nation and it was really cool! One of the best parts was riding this ski lift over a large portion of the zoo so you could see a lot of animals from above.

They had one of the best aquariums I've ever seen. You walked into this large tunnel and sharks swam over your head! Unfortunately it was really crowded and hard to get good pictures through the glass...but we did get a good one of this jellyfish!

We had a really good time visiting Omaha and can't wait to go back again!!!

Mrs. Lindsi Norris!!

First of all...just look at me updating my blog the weekend after the event...I think I'm turning a new leaf...

So this past weekend we flew home to Dallas to celebrate Mr. and Mrs. Matt Norris! The weekend was filled with great friends, great food and a great couple. We basically hit the ground running. On Friday I spent some time with the bride just doing a few odds and ends and then some time shopping with Monica. Here is Chris and I headed out to the rehearsal... They got married at the Irving Arts Center which was just gorgeous. There was a beautiful fountain in the background and lots of sculptures.

I mean...who even knows?

Me and my groomsment partner, Kyle. We gave eachother baseball hand signals when it was time to exit.

The wedding day started bright and early with manicures and pedicures! It was a really fun relaxing way to start the day and get to spend some good time together : ) Here is the bride and her MOH.

Manicures...check! Pedicures...check! We are ready for hair and makeup!

After our nails and toes we headed to the bride's mother in law's house to get ready all together...

Monica and I were jammin out in our bathroom getting ready...

We made it to the arts center just in time to set up for the reception and get dressed for our pictures!

All dressed and ready to go!

Adorable Monica.

It was my turn to walk in!

Here comes the bride! Lindsi had both her mom and dad escort her down the isle which was really special.

We danced the night away. I'm pretty sure Monica never left the dance floor. She was committed.

It was a beautiful weekend, celebrating a beautiful couple. So I wonder who's going to be next...?