Traditions

I love traditions. One of my favorite times of the year is the Fourth of July holiday. It means coming home, the Arlington Parade, Concert in the Garden, patriotic music, BBQ, family, friends and so much more. This year we headed home on Saturday and stayed for 10 days. It was such a nice time to reconnect with friends and spend lots of quality time with both of our families.

On Monday night we went to the Botanic Gardens for the concert and fireworks...it was amazing as usual. We packed a picnic and enjoyed yummy food and good company! 

 On Wednesday morning Chris woke up bright and early to get us some good spots for the Arlington Parade. I am so glad that my husband loves the parade as much as I do : ) We had wonderful seats and were able to enjoy the parade with my family. This is one of my favorite traditions...I can remember coming to this parade since I was little with my Dad and brother. Such good memories!

 One highlight of the parade was seeing our high school mascot...Little Arlie! So cute! Kick'em Colts!

 Chris's mom worked very hard on the float for their church. It turned out really well!

 Gary couldn't decide if he wanted to be the photographer or the driver : )

 After the parade we enjoyed lunch with both of our families at another favorite...Spring Creek! YUM!!

 Logan loves his Uncle Chris!

 Someone ate a little too much BBQ and decided to take a little cat nap.

 On Sunday we were able to participate in Logan's dedication! It was a really special time for our family : )

 After Logan's dedication, Chris preached the sermon! It was one of his best ever and I felt so proud of him. My family was able to come and so did Liz, Kevin and London!

 Logan was so happy after church while we were eating Mexican food...I mean, who isn't happy when you have a giant bowl of chips and salsa in front of you??

We were so thrilled to be able to spend so much time at home. It's hard to say good bye...but we know that good bye's aren't forever!

Life Lately

Wow...I'm not sure how this happens to me...but once again we are just going to pretend that it hasn't been months since I last blogged. Oops. I figured the best way to catch up would be though pictures so here we go!

Chris organized and hosted a Chick-Fil-a Leadercast! It was quite the undertaking and I couldn't be more proud of him! 

 Right after the Leadercast...I jetted off to Dallas for Elise's wedding! Little did Liz know that part of her foot massage would include giving her nail tech. a hand massage...hilarious.

 Elise's wedding was absolutely beautiful! It was such a special day...

 I loved being a bridesmaid with some of my best friends!!

 Later in the month we had a baby shower for Zeke! He is such a handsome boy.

 Royals game!

 I think the people behind us really wanted to be in our picture : )

 Oh Bear...

 We finally made it to the last day of school! This year flew by so fast.

 On Memorial Day weekend...we went to the Celebration at the Station. It was such a fun night with our friends. We brought picnics and listed to the beautiful music of the Kansas City Symphony. The night ended with some awesome fireworks. When it was all over, Chris and I walked right across the street and stayed the night at the Westin Crown Center. I love that my husband arranges specials surprises like that : )

Now that it's summer and I feel like a real human again...we'll see if I can get around to posting more often!

27? I still feel 19...

This weekend we celebrated my 27th birthday! We had a whole weekend of fun thanks to my sweet husband. When I walked in the door in Friday afternoon I saw this...

 He had my present on the table and taunted me with it all weekend...I couldn't open it until Sunday (my actual birthday)

 On Saturday we went to the Kansas City Home and Garden Show, did a little shopping at the Plaza and then met up with our friends Jacob and Whitney for dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse! It was a little warm at the restaurant when we first arrived...hence everyone's pink cheeks!

 They put on a great show and we all enjoyed really yummy food!

 After dinner we went back to Jacob and Whitney's house and had some fabulous cupcakes from our favorite Cupcake A La Mode! Every cupcake they make is a masterpiece and tastes delicious!

 We got plenty of extras so we could share with our small group on Sunday night too.

 After a rousing round of Happy Birthday I "blew out the candles".

 Chris and I shared this one called Chocolate Obsession...it was SO good!

 When I worke up on Sunday I was greeted with breakfast in bed and also my present! Chris got me this cool chevron camera strap to go with my new camera. It is from 3 Divas and a Dude on Etsy.

On Sunday after church, Chris and I ate at one of favorite seafood restaurants. We both had fish tacos and they were so good. We also got to enjoy their awesome patio...the weather couldn't have been better!



I had a completely wonderful birthday weekend and am so thankful for my husband who made it so special for me!

Our Christmas Card



Bahamas!

Well...I think I'll just pretend that it hasn't been eight months since I last posted : ) Let's get straight to the fun stuff!

Chris and I took an amazing trip to the Bahamas to celebrate our 5 year anniversary! Chris booked the entire thing and planned every detail which was so awesome. He even checked with my principal since I had to take a few days off of school. We left on Tuesday and hopped on a plane to Palm Beach. That night we stayed in the Marriott. This was probably the low point of the trip for me because I had a little stomach bug from one of my lovely 3rd graders.

The next day we hopped on a cruise ship and headed to the Bahamas. We sailed all through the night and arrived at Grand Bahama Island the next morning.

We had a wonderful balcony at our resort. 

This was the beautiful view! White sandy beaches and crystal clear blue water!

We literally spent the majority of each day relaxing on the beach...it's a hard life, but someone has to do it : )

Ready for some relaxation on the beach!





They had a cute little market right across the stree from our hotel so we ventured out a few times to try some of the local food! We ate mexican food for lunch one day and italian food for dinner one night.  They had Christmas music playing the whole time which was pretty funny because it was about 80 degrees.

It was really humid in the Bahamas=the reason my cute hat stayed pretty much glued to my head!

Chris braved the many, many bees surrounding this little hut to order us some  pina colodas!

After many days we were extremely sad to leave the Bahamas and head back to chlly Kansas City. What a wonderful way to celebrate the past 5 years of marriage! Some days are hard and some days are easy...but I wouldn't want to be on this journey with anyone else.

There must be a God, I believe it's true,

Cause I can see His love, when I look at you.

And He must have a plan, for this crazy life,

Cause He brought you here, and placed you by my side.

And I have never been so sure of anything before,

Like I am in this moment here with you.

Now for better or for worse,

This is so much more than only words,

And I pray everyday will be the proof

That I mean what I say when I say I Do.

When I Say I Do by Matthew West

Rock the Parkway

This morning I got up bright and early to run my first 10k! Chris, winner of the best husband award, got up with me and headed to the race. A few months ago, I was thinking about how I could challenge myself with running and I just didn't feel like a half marathon was for me. Thats when I discovered the 10k. I think this might be the perfect distance for me. It was pretty tough to make it through those 6 miles but at the same time I wasn't hating my life. I enjoyed running the historic Ward Parkway here in KC and I definitely think I'll do this one again next year!

Yes, I did wear my winter coat this morning...yes, it is April 2nd.

Getting ready to take off!!

This was just before I crossed the finish line.

I did it! Such a good feeling.

After the race they had pizza, Chick Fil A and chocolate milk....yum!