What's New...

Hello all...it's been a CRAZY last couple of weeks and the craziness (sp?) will continue for 3 more weeks! A few weekends ago we were able to see "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" thanks to my Grandma and G-Pop watching the Colester! We went with Jamie, Em, and Brian "Twin" Smitty. It was definitely a good time and I highly recommend the movie. It's a great one and LOTS of action scenes. Johnny Depp just plays the PERFECT pirate, does he not? :) After the movie, Em and I trekked down to David's Bridal and bought (FINALLY) her wedding dress...I can't believe she's getting married. She is going to look STUNNING in the dress she picked out. I vowed I would not tell what it looked like, but let me tell you, she is a BABE!!!

Let's see...we had Mary's bachelorette party on July 22nd and the 23rd up in Ventura and Santa Barbara! What a great time! We drove up Saturday morning and checked into the Country Inn & Suites right off of the freeway. I would recommend this hotel to anyone looking to stay in Ventura...the hotel room was very spacious and they served a full complimentary breakfast (eggs, hash browns, sausage, biscuits and gravy along with all the other "continental breakfast" items) making it worth it! :) We headed up to Santa Barbara to have dinner on the pier at Moby Dick's...and saw a breathtaking sunset from our table. And then we headed to Carpinteria for dessert at, where else, but Rainbow Ice Cream Shoppe! A favorite of Mary's and all us girlies! After that we went back to the hotel and proceeded to stay awake for hours and hours just chatting away! In the morning, we were RUDELY awakened by the alarm clock that went off at 6:30 a.m. with the volume turned to max on a radio station with static. I swear I jumped out of my pj's and then back into them. It scared the *%#& out of me! :) Well, I could not fall back asleep so got up and read and then took a shower, and got all the other girls up and headed down to breakfast. On our way home, we of course, hit up the local Starbucks, and headed to my parent's home where Mary had prepared a Bridal Tea for us! Actually, my mom and Mary's mom did most of the preparations...it was SO beautiful! And the best part of all, we got to keep our teacups as our attendant gift...very cute idea Mary! :)

Here is a picture of Mary's Bridal Party (minus Kelsey) at her Lingerie Shower that happened on the 8th of July!

Our trip to Big Bear!

So, I know...I haven't posted in a LONG time...I've been SO busy. Anyway, we (Mike, Cole, me, Emilie, Brice, Mom & Dad) visited Big Bear for our summer trip. This was about a month ago, so the details might not be there. :) We left on a Saturday morning, and checked in early evening. We headed to "Magic Mountain" which is their version of Mountasia but a little run down and they have this thing called the Alpine Slide. It's this giant track from the top of the little mountain to the bottom and you ride on a plastic toboggan. It's totally fun, but a little dangerous. My husband and Brice thought it would cool to go the whole way without braking and made it down unscathed...the first time. The second trip down, both bailed and HARD. They were hurtin' for certain!! Here's a picture of the boys showing off their wounds from the slide. But we all had a GREAT time. On Sunday, we went out to breakfast at this awesome cafe called The Grizzly Manor, and then hit the lake. My parents rented 2 jet skis and the "kids" rented a pontoon boat. We had SUCH a good time. I must say, Em and I are maniacs on the jet skis. We certainly had fun! My parents even got out on the jet skis and had a blast. The rest of the time we basically relaxed, played cards, cooked a ton of great meals, hit the pool and the spa and relaxed some more. It was a great trip! Here is a picture of Cole, while waiting for all of us doing the Alpine Slide, with the proof of his first header into the cement. The night before we left, we were out to dinner at the Halfway House and my mom took him for a walk outside to keep him happy. Next thing I knew, she came running in with Coley and a bloody face. :( He was just walking a did a face plant into the cement without putting his hands down. I knew it would happen eventually, but very tramuatizing for mommy too!!! He was totally healed by the next Saturday and you can BARELY tell where it happened. What a trooper!!! :)