My Little Brother Gets Married!

This past weekend my brother Thomas got married. Our weekend started on Thursday where we drove down to Oklahoma and helped finish setting up for the wedding on Saturday. That evening everyone went down to Bricktown in Oklahoma City to dinner at Toby Keith's Bar and Grill,
which I do have to say was super yummy. Then we headed over to a piano bar where we got to listen to some fun music and Thomas and Lindsey got to get up on stage and get embarrassed. It was pretty funny.


After sleeping in on Friday myself, my mom, Lindsey and her mom went and got pedicures and manicures. It is always so nice getting pampered. Later that night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. After a quick walk through of the ceremony we all headed over to Linsdey's parents for dinner.
For dinner the had a roasted pig with a top hat and a giant ring. It as so delicious.

And then there was karaoke. I do have to say Lindsey's family rock the karaoke.

I did get up and do a song with my mom, grandma, aunts and cousin and we 'sang' Going to the Chapel. After late night number 2 we headed back to our bed and breakfast.

Wedding Day! It was definitely a lazy morning. (well at lest for me) We got all ready at were at the Route 66 Interpretative Center by 4. There the Bride and Groom did not see each other before the ceremony so they took pictures with the wedding party then waited for the ceremony to start. At 6 the wedding started. It was such a great ceremony and the looks on Thomas and Lindsey's faces when they saw each other was priceless.

Thomas seeing is bride for the first time

Proud parents

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Myers!

Oh, Cake

Now time for the reception where there was lots of food, dancing and a ton of fun. And about 1130 or so everyone said their good byes and the newly weds were off. And then on Monday they were wished away on their Costa Rican honeymoon which was a surprise to Lindsey until they were at their layover for their flight to Costa Rica.

See ya later

Harry Potter!

What can make a Monday better? Going to see the new Harry Potter movie of course! After surviving a week of temperatures of over 100 degrees (yikes) and not being able to wait another week to see it we decided to treat ourselves and have a date night and see Harry Potter. Neal whet over to the theater early and got tickets so we could make sure that we got tickets.

We ran by Chic-fil-A and got some chicken sandwiches, yummy then we headed over to the theater about 45 minutes early since we were not sure how packed it would be and we wanted good seats. So after much anticipation and the movie previews the movie starts! Through out the movie I laughed and  I got teary eyed but was happy with how the last movie was done. It makes me sad to have the conclusion done and not being able to look forward to another Harry Potter movie come out. Now all I have to do is to wait for it to come out on dvd!

Apple Crisp Yumminess

Neal had a great hankering for some apple crisp. So he when and found a ton of recipes from All Recipes for it and chose his favorites then showed them to me and asked if I would make him one. So I gathered a bunch of Granny Smith apple and peeled and sliced them to perfection.
Once all sliced I sprinkled them with cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar, then topped them with an amazing oatmeal, cinnamon, brown sugar concoction (I do have to say that the topping is my favorite part).
 
 
After about 45 minutes in the oven the crisp was nicely browned and ready to be devoured. But at last it had to cool. About 10 grueling minutes later we dive in! So Yummy!

This recipe makes a ton so I halved it.

Ingredients

• 10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
•  
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).
2. Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
3. Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

Up to the Great North over the 4th of July

We had to stop and get pictures in front of  the welcome to signs!

And the one for Minnesota

I thought that by heading up north to Wisconsin and Minnesota for the 4th of July I would get a bit of relief from the unbearably hot weather that we were experiencing in Kansas City. Well I was wrong at least for the first day we were there. That Friday Neal showed be around the city of LaCrosse,WI, there we went and saw Lock 7 along the Mississippi River. Did I mention that it was the first time for me seeing the Mississippi River. It was pretty cool to see such a large river. So I just had to dip my toes in it. Later that evening we all went up to visit Neal's grandparents and have dinner with them.

My piggies in the Mississippi River

On Saturday we headed up to the Twin Cities so we could visit Neal's brother Luke and his wife Elise and meet their beautiful baby girl Vienna. We spent the day hanging out and we all went to the Mall of America. All I have to say is that is such a huge mall. Later that night Elise prepared us an amazing meal. Then we all just chatted the night away. My sister in law introduced me to The Pioneer Woman cookbook and now I think that I found a new favorite cook book.

This was taken inside the Mall of America

Cuddle Bugs

We then headed back to LaCrosse on Sunday morning. But not before we went through Wabasha where Grumpy Old Men was filmed.

Them we went over to Neal's mom's house and then we all weaded up to Hatfield, WI and hung out with Neal's family and went swimming in Arbutis Lake. Ne-J just loved the lake and had a great time swimming and splashing around. Later that evening we roasted hot dogs and made S'mores.

Then after a weekend that went by way too quickly we headed home.