Mexico, Part Dos

Today I'll share some photos from Taylor and Pammy's wedding, the reason we went to Mexico in the first place...

These guys were awesome... They played at the cocktail party before the wedding reception.

Between the ceremony and the reception, we refreshed with cold champagne...

First dance...

Groom and mother-of-the-groom...

M officiated the wedding ceremony... He did an amazing job!

The ceremony was held outdoors on the beach. The white sand and turquoise water provided the most beautiful backdrop!

Mother-of-the-groom...

The wedding party...

The happy couple! 

Pammy was a beautiful bride, and M's brother, Taylor, was a handsome groom. We are so happy for them!

Mexico, Part Uno

Well, we are home from Mexico. It was such an awesome trip, and I'd love to share some of the highlights! I should warn you that all these photos were taken with my cell phone, so they are not the best quality. We decided not to bring out camera... please forgive!

On the way to Mexico... we spent lots of time at the airport :)

Our hotel, the Royal at Playa del Carmen... It was beautiful!

We logged some serious sun time. Somehow, both of us managed not to get burned until the last day. Better than usual! 

Yes, this is a baby panther. And yes, we got to pet him! There was also a baby lion and a baby tiger. The tiger was my favorite... so cute! I didn't take a picture though, because you literally had to pay $20 for a photo op. We had to sneak the photo above! 

This fountain was right in front of our hotel. There were tons of shops and restaurants within walking distance.

These hats were everywhere!

I meant to take more photos, but honestly, we were having such a good time, I kept forgetting to document the trip. Tomorrow, I'll share photos from the wedding, which was my favorite part of all. 

Weekend Recap

Well, it's been another hectic week around here. We had another wedding this past weekend, and then, on Sunday, one of my best friends from college came into town. In between all the craziness, though, we found some time to relax. Some friends of ours discovered these amazing quarry ponds. They are beautiful, but the best part is, they are totally secluded. We spent Sunday afternoon there. Georgia and Sadie had the time of their lives swimming around, while we sat on the bank and got some sun.

Can you see Georgia's little head out in the water? She is an amazing swimmer, but she literally refused to come out of the water. At one point, we thought she was going to swim all the way to the opposite bank in pursuit of this stick she was trying to retrieve.

Not all dogs loved the water. Our friends' dog, Hobie, was less than pleased. 

After a stressful week, a day at the quarry ponds turned out to be just what we needed in order to relax. I can't believe we've lived here almost two years and never knew about this place. Must be Fort Collins' best-kept secret! 

Tomorrow, we leave for Mexico! I am so excited to see Taylor and Pammy get married!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh My!

Last week, we had M's parents in town. We had so much fun with them. It's always a blessing to spend time with family, especially when your family lives so far away. Here's how we spent the week:

Denver Zoo... We've never been before, and it was awesome! We thought it would be small, but it took us all day to get through all of the different exhibits. We were there right up until closing, trying to find the sloth! We didn't find him, but we will next time.

We did get to see the polar bear getting fed...

... and the elephants cooling off in their swimming pools. It was like 100 degrees!

In honor of America's birthday, we wore our most patriotic attire. Everyone kept giving us funny looks, but I think we looked pretty rad.

And, of course, we had to see Magic Mike. Just Juli and I... the boys didn't want to see it for some reason? I don't get it... 

We had so much fun with the Angerts and are already looking forward to another reunion in Mexico for Taylor and Pammy's wedding! We leave next week. Until then, I'll just be here, counting the days until I see the ocean again!

Double Wedding Weekend

This week, we've had the Angerts in town with us. It has been such an amazing visit, and I am so thankful they drove halfway across the country just to spend time with us. We are very sad that they are leaving us tomorrow. I'll post more about their visit soon.

Meanwhile, I would love to give an update on how the Double Wedding Weekend went. This past weekend were both weddings I coordinated independently through my new little business venture. One was on Saturday and the other was on Sunday. You are probably thinking that only a crazy person would agree to do something like this. You would be correct.

 

{My first wedding! The bride's color pallet was purple and green, and the reception was held in this cool old barn. I snapped this photo w/ my phone before the guests arrived.}

First I will say that the weekend was a great success. I feel so blessed and overwhelmed by all the support I had around me. Also, both of my brides were incredible... the farthest thing from bridezillas. They were both so laid-back and fun to work with.

That being said, there were definitely some bumps in the road. We did as much prep work as we possibly could beforehand, but the weekend still turned out to be crazy and full of unexpected crisis moments. For example, the florist for my first wedding (pictured above) was supposed to arrive at the barn at 11 a.m., and did not arrive at the barn until 1 p.m. See all those flowers? We did not have a spare two hours to get all those flowers where they needed to go. Also, we had a bunch of decorations outside, including a large chalkboard menu, when a large gust of wind came and blew everything all over the place, knocking the chalkboard off the easel it was resting on. Thank the Lord for glue guns. For my other wedding, there was supposed to be a sparkler send-off, but it turns out sparklers are banned right now for some reason (something about wildfires?), and so we had to improvise with rose petals left over from the ceremony flowers. 

I got hardly any sleep, I was practically eating Emergen-C straight out of the packet, and I have massive booboos on my feet, BUT I got through it. And I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to gain so much experience in such a short amount of time. It is a great feeling! I am proud of my work, and I could not have asked for a better weekend to kick off what will hopefully one day turn into my career. 

Fires

Well hello there. It's been awhile since we've updated, but we've had a lot going on lately. I'm sure you have all seen the news - the wildfires in Colorado are out of control. Since I posted last, fires have broken out in Boulder, Estes Park, and Colorado Springs. The fire here in Fort Collins is almost contained, and we've had a little rain in the past couple of days. Still, my heart is breaking for the thousands of people who've lost their homes.

{the fire in Fort Collins}

Last week, M was in Estes Park for a youth conference. He said it was amazing, and I think all our kiddos who went had a blast. I got to go up there last Friday, the day of the beach volleyball tournament. Our kids took second place, which was pretty impressive, considering the fact that none of them even play volleyball. 

All this talk of fires and evacuation plans has got me thinking and realizing how incredibly blessed we are. Parents, you will be happy to know that yes, we do have an evacuation plan if this fire, or any other fire this summer, happens to cross the reservoir into our town. We will pack up our dogs and some clothes and maybe a few priceless possessions, get in the car, and drive. There is so much freedom knowing that, while it is so sad that people are losing their homes, we don't need all our stuff in order to be happy. If we are safe and healthy and have each other, that is more than enough. 

Nashville

Hey folks, we're home from Nashville! It was such a blast. I want to go back already. Here's a little recap of the trip...

We stayed in this beautiful house overlooking the lake. The sunsets were pretty incredible.

The groomsmen, doing some rehearsing before the big day. The wedding was held on this beautiful antebellum plantation... it was gorgeous!

Morgan with the groom, one of his roommates from college. Don't they look like they could be related?

Before leaving Nashville, we had to stop by the Opryland Hotel. It was just as I remembered it from when I used to go there as a kid. Frenches, let's go back!

So that pretty much sums up our trip. Back in Fort Collins, they are starting to get the wildfires under control. On the shuttle on the way home from the airport, we met one of the fire fighters who's been working 12-hour-plus days to put out these fires. He says its the worst fire season he's ever seen, but that they are making serious progress and saving lots of houses. Please pray that it would rain soon, so that these brave men and women can get a break and that the fire will go out!