Tiffany's Wedding Weekend

Last weekend I was back in Kansas for a wedding for Tiffany, a neighbor of mine growing up. I took a red eye and left at midnight on Thursday. Even with the extra leg room that the exit row offers, I still didn't sleep much that night. Mom picked me up Friday morning and we had a nice morning and then lunch in Lawrence. We were hoping to grab a nap, but Rudy (the Copp cat) had to be taken to the vet with a leg injury.

Then it was time to pick the kid's up from Aunt Laura's. Check out these scooter moves.

One leg!!!!
Seth had a ball game that night. Here he is all decked out.
The wedding was in Kansas City, so we headed there in the afternoon and got checked into our hotel. Aren't the kids just adorable!

I love his smile.
Hailie is too cute with the curls!
Aren't the guys handsome with their ties?!!!
Group shot outside the church.
I was determined to get a picture with Tiffany...isn't she beautiful? We have a picture of us as kids with us dressed up. Tiff was in a wedding dress and I was in another dress that Grandma Koch made and we were putting on make up. We had such wonderful times together!! It was also great to see some of the other old neighborhood gang. That is one of the best parts of weddings!!
After the reception we had to go for a swim.
We swam more on Sunday and then headed to Legends so we'd be close to the airport. This water fountain outside the movie theatre could entertain for hours.
Just me with my Mom and Dad!

It was a whirlwind trip, but it was great. Hailie was so upset about me leaving and that really got to me. She said to me in the car..."Cara, it just won't be the same without you" Things like that break my heart every time. I'm not sure when our next visit will be, but I'm already looking forward to it.

Even more Kansas

On Thursday night Kevin went out with his brothers and was hanging out with them on Friday until he, Joe, James, and Scott all went to a Bachelor Party in K.C.

I was fortunate enough to be able to coordinate a day to see all my church girls. Kara drove in from Emporia and we all met up to meet Heather's baby, Avery, and then go to lunch. This was the first time that either Lindsey or I had every seen Avery and I was so excited. I couldn't believe we were all able to get together at once and it was absolutely wonderful to catch up.

I love all these ladies and I love that no matter how long it is in between our visits it always feels natural and we simply pick up where we left off. I am incredibly lucky to have them in my life.


While Kevin was in K.C. I went to Seth's softball game. Although his team lost (I'm pretty sure they don't really care about the score), Seth made two hits and scored a run!!!Saturday morning was designated for bike riding practice without training wheels.

Hailie was doing really well, but I think she may have been a little nervous. It didn't help that it was super HOT!!! We will have to practice another time when it's not as bad.

In the heat was Hailie's softball practice.


After practice we went over to the Kent's again with the kids so they could play and see Bella. I love this picture of Kevin with the kid's on the stairs drinking their kool-aid.
On our way back to take the kid's home a car attempted to make a left turn when they shouldn't have. We tried to stop the car but our collision was inevitable. Luckily everyone was okay...just a little shaken up. The driver of the other car admitted fault and then told me and Kevin she had been in 16 wrecks before. We were pretty much speechless..... She has good insurance though so things have worked out and most importantly we were all left unharmed.

We were late for dinner back with the Kent's, but once we got there we had a blast. I misplaced my camera and didn't find it again until Sunday so I don't have any pictures. All of Kevin's immediate family was there as well as the Watkins' (close family friends). We had a blast playing Cranium and laughing. Later in the evening a few of us stayed up to play Singstar.... a karaoke favorite.

Sunday Kevin and I went to church with Patti and then had lunch and did some packing for our trip home. Before we left, we were able to get a family picture. It is the first one with everyone including Serena, Thomas' fiance. It is going to wonderful having another girl! We are still outnumbered, but we're getting there.

As usual, it was hard to say goodbye. Our week home was wonderful and we are already looking forward to our next trip home.

More of our week in Kansas

On Wednesday of our week back in Kansas Kevin spent some time with his Mom and did a little birthday clothes shopping. My mom and I did a Lawrence trip to have some time for just the two of us.

Mom and I found some clothes but mostly we just played around downtown Lawrence. We ate lunch at Freestate Brewery and just enjoyed our time together.

On Thursday morning Kevin and I had breakfast with his Mom and Dad and we had a lovely day after that. Kevin finally got some new running shoes (his were pretty much falling apart) and I finally found out what the "Dog Whisperer" is all about. (One of Mr. Kent's favorite shows). I took their dog Bella for a walk.....isn't' she cute?The Kent's are so lucky to be so close to some fantastic views! Lake Shawnee is just beautiful this time of year!!That evening we headed over for dinner with the Copp's. We luckily had time to play a bit before dinner.After dinner was our water balloon fight! I think Kevin, Seth, and Dad may have ganged up on me a bit. I'm pretty sure I was more wet than everyone else.

Just another reason why the kids love Kevin. I realize I have way more pictures with the kids than of anything else. I just can't help it. They are just way too cute and I always end up with the camera out.

Some Marbles aka Aggravation. The boys team won be the role of a 1!!!! AHHHHH!

First Days Back in Kansas

I finally got around to loading my pictures on to the computer so I can now write about our trip. I have a lot of pictures and it is always hard to choose which ones to post. It always takes me awhile to take the red eyes out of each one and do any other editing that needs to be done, but I dedicated last night to that since I needed to stay in and go to bed early since I'm at work right now. (on break of course)


We arrived in Kansas on Sat. the 23rd. My Mom, Hailie and Seth picked us up from the airport. It was so wonderful to see their faces! We already knew it had been way too long since we'd been back, but Seth looked shy for a brief moment and that really broke my heart. (He got over it in about 10 seconds though) After getting our bags, grabbing lunch, heading back to Topeka and seeing my dad for a bit....we headed over to Kevin's Mom and Dad's place for dinner!

As usual...the food was great (thanks Patti) and it just felt fantastic to be with family.

Kevin and his Momma.



Jimbo!!

That evening a little relaxing. I love this picture!
On Sunday we kept busy with church, lunch, and play. For Memorial Day we spent the day over at the Kent's. There was a HUGE gathering and we were able to see a lot of family and friends. Some people we'd seen last Sept., but others it had been even longer that. Here is Kevin with some of his brothers playing volleyball. For dinner we headed out to Auburn for a Copp family gathering. We were celebrating numerous birthdays along with our Memorial Day celebration. It was such a beautiful day and we got so lucky to escape any rain. After some people had left I went with Kevin, Dad, and the kids to hit a few balls at the ball field to get in a little more practice for Seth's ball game. Here they are after practice.
Dad let Kevin try out his fancy mower out at the farm too. Seeing Kevin on that thing made me think of the stories I've heard about him riding his grandparents mower into a fence when he was younger :)

We stopped by Uncle David's grave out at the Auburn Cemetery to finish off the day. I had some beautiful shots from the cemetery looking out towards Grandad's and Uncle Wayne's land.
On Tuesday Kevin spent some quality time with his Dad and brother's playing golf out at Lake Shawnee. Kevin didn't have the camera so I don't have any pictures...but I doubt he would have taken any anyway.

I got some quality time in with the kids.

Glam girls!!
Being goofy.

Mom and I went shopping for summer clothes for the kids. I never get to go shopping with them so I had fun picking out cute outfits for them. I love this picture of Hailie. She was giving us a fashion show with her new outfits and I told her to give me attitude.... It cracks me up every time.

This just gets us through the day after Memorial Day, but I'm working on my other posts so they'll be up soon.