can't wait to meet this baby girl!

Our friends are due to have their baby within the next month or so. Today was their shower - it was so great to be able to hang out and to finally see that adorable belly! I cannot wait to meet that baby girl!!

the mall

If you ever want to feel old, just go to the mall on a Friday night. Yikes. And if you ever want to feel cool, just hang out with me when I force you to take a picture in front of a fun wall at the mall. : )

I met up with my friends last night for our annual night out. After dinner we tried to do some Christmas shopping but I was the only one who bought anything and it was only an $8 item, so it wasn't a huge success. What was a success though was trying on fur coats in Macy's with Katie! There are some really ugly things for sale right now... Unfortunately Kelly missed out on the fashion show because she had to go home due to a wardrobe malfunction : )

The three of us have been friends officially since senior year of high school but have known each other for much longer than that. I feel pretty lucky to have these ladies living so close so we can still get together! It's always so much fun!

deutschefest

We went to Odessa to join our friends at Deutschefest again this year. It was really fun to be able to visit and stay out past 8:00 since we were both there without our kids. And I scored the raddest winter hat ever! I'm hoping it'll fit Andrew, but it's an adult-sized hat so I'm sure it'll be way too big. There's a good chance you'll be seeing a lot more of me in it. You guys are so lucky!

I seem to like to take the same picture at different times in the day. Wearing my new hat...

well, that was fun!

On Saturday (9.10.11) we celebrated with Alex and Anna as they tied the knot! It was a perfect day, a beautiful wedding, a glowing bride and a fantastic party! And, it was great to finally meet Alex...

Anna walked down the isle with her mom and dad. I'm sorry Kay didn't make it in this picture, but it's such a happy picture, I had to include it!

Enjoying the sunset:

A little after 9:00, they had a surprise set up. It ended up being these lanterns and it was the coolest thing!

So much fun!

dancin'

And then there was some dancin'...

happy engagement!

The future Mr & Mrs Cram.

Practicing for all the pictures we'll be taking on the big day. : )

{Inside joke} There is a blog we read that never fails to crack us up. There just happened to be something at her parents' house that reminded us of our favorite post ever... HA! I love it.

So, on Saturday I went to my friends engagement party all alone. We had planned for the boys to go to the Miller's for the night since the party started at their bedtime, but then Matt had to go help his dad on the farm so I lost my date too. It was crazy watching all the moms and dads chasing their kids around while I sat peacefully with my drink! : ) And then, I came home and had the house to myself. I stayed in bed until 9 (by accident - I woke up at 7 and thought I'd stay in bed for a few minutes - since it was an option - and fell back asleep...) then have spent the morning cleaning and catching up on the blog. Not exactly how I thought I'd spend my free time, but cleaning without interruption is (unfortunately) fantastic! I do plan to go grab a coffee and just sit in there and enjoy some people watching later.

Melanie got some great pictures of their slumber party! I can't wait to share the pictures of the cousins having a fun time together. I love having somewhere to send the boys where I don't have to worry one bit that they're being loved and well taken care of. Love you, Millers! : )

dog park

We met Brooke & Gus at Luther Burbank Park in Mercer Island on Saturday. They let you take your dogs for a swim, so we thought it'd be fun to let the kids and dogs frolic together. Although once we got to the dog park section, we realized that wasn't going to work. So, Brooke and Gus played while we found a different spot. They met up with us after a few minutes and we enjoyed a lovely time on our private beach area. Also, the playground area rocked! The slide goes so fast that Andrew actually caught air at the bottom (landed it perfectly!) and Mason had a look of terror on his face (I was there to catch him and I'm sure he enjoyed it!). It was perfection, really.

Anna!

On Saturday we celebrated Anna, the lovely bachelorette! Welcome to the g-rated overview of a great, not g-rated night!

Part of the evening included a burlesque dance lesson, which ended up to be so much fun!

The end!

Anna & Alex are getting married on 9.10.11 - I'm looking forward to seeing this bunch of crazies again. And I think it will be pretty neat to meet Alex...

"summer"

Andrew has liked Tim since he was very little. Even though Tim has never lived close to us, he always remembers him and it doesn't take long at all for him to warm up to him. It's pretty adorable, really. Today Tim taught him how to swing from a willow tree.

They also spent some time discussing the fact that they have the same middle name. : )

I love this picture for a few reasons. First, I always love pictures taken from behind, especially shoulder rides! Second, Andrew is holding a huge bouquet of flowers he picked, and third you can see the beautiful summer sky... I know I've said it about 193 times, but the weather this summer has been nuts!

ugly Christmas sweater, summer edition

Brooke had us over for another ladies night on Saturday. This time, instead of an ugly Christmas sweater, she suggested we dress for summer. But she didn't really mean it, she meant "be a huge summertime dork".

Ryean-Marie was pleased with her Northwest look - the wool socks were a treat on the first real day of summer weather. : )

It was so fun to sit around the fire! It got me excited for our camping trip this weekend!

Two classy ladies right here.

Thanks again for a delicious dinner and fun night out. And for the surprise birthday celebration. *wink*

happy hour

We finally did it! With Brooke and Ryean-Marie joining the rest of us in the lovely city of Bellevue, we finally got together for happy hour. Here's proof.

Apparently when I go out without my boys, I like a lot of proof, so here I am again... I had to include it though - look how cute RM is. : ) She got there a little late so she missed the first round of pictures. Now you know everything.

burgers & pinatas

A dinosaur pinata filled with candy magically landed on my desk at work this week so we decided to have people over for a good old fashion burger and pinata party! :) It was a wonderful way to spend this beautiful day!!