Well, hello again.
I recently returned from a trip to Decorah, Iowa where we had a wedding shower for my cousin, Katie. The shower was at a local winery. Great wine, good food and my loud family. It doesn’t get much better than that. Oh, the memories.
While everyone went out to decorate at the winery, I hung out with my dad and all six kids. I hadn’t seen the youngest lil’ gummer, Jack, since the day he was born in May. I don’t like that fact, and I vowed I will never go that long without seeing those guys again.
Blake – 8, Maddie – 8, me, Cale – 6, Henry – 8
The shower was at a winery just outside of town – did I mention that already? And we had so much fun. I love my family. Katie was a sparkling bride-to-be! Here are some pictures from the shower.
My sisters, myself and my mom, aka “Dave’s Angels”
After the shower, we went out for a night on the town. And we shut it down. Literally. We started off by invading the local VFW and trying our hand at karaoke. Rather than actually claim ourselves – remember I said we were loud people and we sometimes draw a lot of attention – my uncle Kevin declared that we were the “Smiths from Arizona.” And so that’s what we told people. Honestly, I kind of expected to see us on the front page of the newspaper the next morning…thankfully, that did not happen. That night we found ourselves at a Luther College men’s soccer banquet, a college night club, the Decorah VFW and everywhere in between. We had a blast. Here’s just a few pictures from that awesome evening.
My cousins Casey and Kristen and myself.
I ran into Bridget, a very good friend from high school and college roommate! …it’s a small world, after all…
My cousin Kristen and I, we were also roomies in college.
The guy in this picture is my mom’s brother who we call uncle dork (Kevin). He’s the one who named us the “Smiths from Arizona.” The other lovely ladies are my aunts and my mom’s cousins.
Leaving the next day was so hard. I always tear up when I have to say good-bye to the kids. Yes, I’m an emotional wreck every now and then… The wedding is in December – I can’t wait! I love weddings, especially the ones in my family!
In other news, Alex and I got free tickets to the Mississippi State – Kentucky game. The seats were in the nose-bleed section, but how do you argue with that price? Mississippi State WON 24-17. It turned out to be a really good game. There were 54,000 some people packed into the stadium, and approximately 90% of them had cowbells. (Have you heard about the Mississippi State cowbell issue? If not, google it.) I nearly got smacked in the face with one – the guy in front of us was…well, a bit obnoxious. But you’ll have that…it’s football. SEC football. I can’t imagine what Alabama games are like.
MSU has the 2nd largest jumbotron in the nation (behind Texas). Now there’s something to brag about.
These guys put up this sign at every home game. The owner is quoted saying, “My sister-in-law went to Ole Miss and she keeps pretty quiet when we have the sign up. It’s kind of nice.” She sounds nice…
Well there is it. Life as we know it.
Have a nice day and y’all come back!
Alison says
It was such a fun night in Decorah 😉 Good wine, good food, wonderful company and fabulous memories. Can't wait to see you again. I, too, tear up and hate saying goodbye, but it always makes the next hello so sweet 🙂 Love you, take care! And keep writing…I LOVE reading your blogs…
cburtnett says
It was a great weekend! I enjoyed your photos!