Laboring At The Lake

Our Labor Day weekend was spent laboring at the Lake.  Table Rock Lake - In Branson.  We were lucky enough to score the condo's for the weekend so we had yet another Bell reunion over the weekend.  The first day/night were spent with the Walker's and the Bell's and my mom and very pregnant sister.  We wandered around Branson Landing, and enjoyed a dinner at Joe's "Crab" shack - eating what else?  Chicken!!  Our family isn't diverse in food of the aquatic nature.  And by "not diverse", I mean - we don't let it even touch our lips.  The only seafood diversity comes from my brother-in-law Kendall.  He's the one digging into the crab, shrimp, and lobster, while we all happily dip our chicken strips.  I blame it on my mother of course ;-).  The most exotic fish we got all through our growing up years were fish sticks.  And yes, I drowned mine in ketchup to get rid of the "fishy" taste.  

Our second day was spent lounging around and being lazy.  Some impromptu shopping, some napping, and some dinner at one of the biggest grease joints on the strip (yes, we regret this later).  And then we are off to enjoy a cultured evening at Noah: The Musical.  Michelle, Kendall, my mother, and John and I were rather excited for this opportunity.  Of course the internet has rave reviews and we talk ourselves into forking over the moolah.  Only to walk away severely disappointed.   The stage props were impressive, the acting was overly cheesy, although they had good singing voices, and alas at the end, Jesus comes out looking like Liberache, adorned in his diamonds and glitter and asking all of us to be saved.  It was definitely a scare you into submission type of church event.  Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against church and Jesus.  I think he and it should be in much more of our lives, but the booming voice of the narrator frightening all of us to run the other way, was a bit overboard in my opinion.  So, those who have seen it and liked it - good for you.  Those who haven't - don't.  I've decided I won't see anything less than Broadway type plays from now on.  Much more professional and entertaining.  This.....was neither.  But all in all, it was a nice little getaway with a few of the fam.

Day 3 had us laboring at the lake.  Or maybe that was just me?  It was definitely fun mind you.  But does anyone besides me notice how much work it takes to enjoy it?  Especially with 4 kids under the age of three.  Lugging all the gear, setting up the gear, bathing the kids in sunscreen, hobbling over the razor edge rocks down to the lake with two kids in your arms (WITH lifejackets) and wincing in pain on each step.  I can now say I know what it feels like to walk on glass!!  The kids were adorable though so it was all worth it.  Even though they couldn't quite decide if they wanted in or out of the water.  We got to play on the seadoo, eat some lunch, and relax in the sun.  Preston pooped all up and down his body, and on Grandma - neither seemed phased through all of it.  Cora had a tendency to fall asleep the minute she floated in the water, Ashlyn was a bit timid of the water and fighting a cold but enjoyed being accidentally submerged by her father.  She literally came up cheesing and smiling since we were all trying to make it a "happy moment" and divert her from the tears.  And Kayley was a chatterbug as always telling us all about Ariel and Jasmine and asking what each of us were talking about, eating, etc.  She's quite the curious little one and it is adorable.  

Needless to say, after three days of spoiling the babies and swimming and sleeping on uncomfortable beds, and enjoying a great grilled steak, John and I were pooped and ready to head for home Sunday night.  Nothing like a vacation to relax and tire you out all at the same time.  A great time was had by all!!

Headin' Back to Ma Roots

So technically we tapped into our family roots a few weekends ago.  But since we've been booked busy since then, I haven't had the chance to blog about it.  However, this is not to insinuate that it wasn't a hilarious weekend full of laughter I'll have you know.

As you devoted readers of my blog may know by now, my sister-in-law Sarah excels at coming up with exciting and rather random sources of entertainment for all of us.  It's definitely not the typical "dinner and movie" night either.  She was the creator of our Derby Girl outings.  And still hot on the trail, she instigated our Demolition Night Out, with our full blown white-trash look.  We were all a bit surprised (and concerned) at how easy it was to duplicate the look.

We started the evening by meeting at Sarah and Tom's and getting decked out in blue eyeshadow, hairspray, big hair, and rub-on tattoos.  Already I was aching from all the laughter and pointing at each other and the night hadn't even begun yet.  Once we were decked out we loaded up and headed to the Sizzler for dinner.  I know, I know, what better place to dine on such an evening.  Surprisingly they didn't realize that we were intentionally decked out in our garb - I think we blended in with their regular customers.  All both of 'em.  Yes, we were about 4 people in a restaurant of 10 (including the servers).  The food was entertaining to say the least.  Hardly delicious but definitely entertaining.  Then we headed onward to the grand finale, a night at the Demolition Derby!!  This was only my 2nd visit (last year John and I went while we were dating - it was true love the moment I stepped past the gates, hand-in-hand with him...sigh).  Anyway, I digress.  We arrived at the derby this time and were welcomed rather warmly to our peeps and the smell of white trash in the air (most likely our hairspray coated hair I'm sure).  Then we sat and enjoyed watching cars crash into each other for the next two hours.  It wasn't quite as chaotic as last year's Derby.  They seemed to play a bit too nice for my taste.  But there were a few cars sitting on top of other cars, while some lost their axle's, and others chased each other around the ring.  One of the best parts of the event is when we all pray toward the American Flag hoisted up high in the air on nothing else but a boom lift.  What a way to start such an interesting evening.  We always like to people watch most of all.  We found your typical odd balls but the most interesting was when we met Rosco the Raccoon.  Apparently this was his second time frequenting the Demo Derby as well.  Here are some hilarious pictures depicting our hilarious evening.

John and I all geared up and ready to go!!  Yes, those are rub-on tattoos on his arm, and yes it is the full sheet square.  Very realistic eh?

Sarah helping me achieve "the look".  Apparently I had failed miserably on my own.

Fine dining at it's best.  John is paying his respects with the hat over his heart.

Sarah & Tom chowing down.  Sarah's t-shirt says: "Princess" with the excessive amount of hearts n arrows.  Tom's says: "Who's Your Daddy" will the Pepsi hat completing the look.

John's sleeveless shirt with his hat with built in bottle opener.  And my ratted hair and blue eyeshadow with an Eeyore shirt saying: "Mood Swings in 5 Seconds".  

And alas, the most interesting sighting of the night.  Roscoe the Raccoon with his devoted owner.  Sharing kisses and picking at each other's ears and eating candy.  They were definitely the pair.  

Birthday Boy

Well John is now settling comfortably in his 30's. He turned the big 3-2 last Friday. Everything I had planned went off successfully and luckily he was only aware of 2 out of 6 surprises. I'm getting better at this!!! :D John has a history of "happening upon" christmas gifts, valentine gifts, and birthday gifts. He either reads through the wrapping paper, or simply walks into rooms and closets he's never even bothered with before. He swears it's unintentional and frankly I do believe him - but really - what are the chances? I can't surprise that guy to save my life. So, now I just tell him to stay out of the specific room or quit looking at the bank/cc statements until his birthday is over. That works for the most part - unless of course he "forgets" again.  

The day started off with a little treasure hunt of sorts. He hunted around the house for his wrapped gifts one at a time. He got some great Chicago Bears stuff (one of his fav teams) and a gun magazine (for the gun he got a few months ago) and some Skyline Chili mix so we can continue making the chili he grew up with in Cincinnati. That stuff is hard to come by - by the way. And then last of all, he got surprised with the whole day off. We were intending to hit a bucket and shoot the gun and other fun stuff - but then ended up running around putting in offers and meeting with lenders on a duplex we hope to buy. He convinced me that doing that was just as fun as anything he could think of. I believed him - because I had fun doing it too!! :D Then of course we wrapped up the night with a surprise family dinner at Abuelo's (his favorite). And sadly, yes he caught on to this surprise too - but it was my own silly fault. Anyway, it was a great time to spend with family/friends and celebrate my best friend/husband's birthday. Yesterday he got his favorite meal cooked for him and blew out the candles on his ice cream birthday cake YUM!!! It was a great birthday full of great fun. It's so fun growing old with John and knowing I get to spend the rest of my life doing so. He is truly a wonderful husband and great support to me. I'm lucky to have him. He was definitely worth the wait - and it was a LONG wait!!! ;-) Here are a few pics from our dinner out.

Sarah & Tom

Mama Jean & Papa Joe

Me and the Birthday Boy

Brad & Dana

Mark, Maren, and Laney

Wedded Bliss

Well it's official (as of a week ago) Quentin & Natalie are now husband & wife!!  We are excited to welcome her to our family (and apologize in advance ;-)  We had a great time in STL helping celebrate this special day with them.  Besides sweating through the family pictures, everything was a success.   

We stayed in STL the night before and I finally got to meet up with John.  Then we enjoyed a hearty IHOP breakfast before we headed onto the ceremony.  It went by really quick and we enjoyed a family luncheon at Chili's afterwards.  Then it was off to Columbia for the reception.  It was great seeing everyone that I missed since I moved away last October.  We had a great time and I'm sure Quentin & Natalie are ready to settle into married life after counting down for so long.  They make a cute couple.  We are headed off to Willard this weekend for their open house so more pictures to come!!

Me & Cora at the Reception - She's so adorable!

And alas, here are all the other pics from the weekend festivities...

Reunited And It Feels So Good!

So, my 2nd day of the MO trip was spent in both Columbia and STL.  We headed up early to help decorate for Quentin & Natalie's reception.  Well technically when I say "we" I mean everyone BUT Michelle and I helped decorate.  Granted I did manage to do a few things before we left.  Since COMO are both mine and Michelle's old stompin grounds, we had a few people we met up with for lunch while we were in town.  In all fairness, I did approve it through Quentin before we bailed on the decorations.  It was payback for him - he and my Dad spent most of my "reception decorating day" (back in December) running around doing their personal car errands so what goes around comes around right?  I think my poor Grandmother and I were the only ones setting up for my reception for quite awhile that day.  I'm not bitter of course, I just laugh when it's time for payback!! :D

Anyway, I digress....   So Michelle and I threw the kids in the car and headed onto MBS to drop me off for my special lunch date with my old coworkers.  It has been almost a year since I left MBS and Columbia so going back was definitely surreal.  It was great being a "visitor" at MBS instead of an employee.  Nothing seemed to change and there were still a lot of familiar faces.  Tracy, Kim, Joy, Emily and I all headed out for our lunch reunion.  I've attached a few pics below.  Sadly, my old Boss (my favorite one as well) didn't get to make it due to knee surgery the day before.  I just feel honored that she tried so hard to come....maybe next time.  Anyway, we enjoyed ourselves at Macaroni Grill and caught up on each other's busy lives.  Then it was off to visit my dear friend Karra and meet up with Michelle.  Karra was about to pop w/her 2nd baby.  Then we reunited with our carpool and headed off to STL to the hotel/temple.

A few pics of the 'ole MBS group...

Kim & Tracy

Joy & Emily

And The Whole Gang!

Three Day Journey Through MO

So, as promised, I'm finally updating the blog and posting about the wonderful weekend we had up to and on Quentin's big wedded day bliss.  

Thursday, I left Arky solo and headed to meet up with my Mom so we could continue our journey to unite with my lil sis Cassie.  We were celebrating her baby shower on our way through town.  My family is all about conveniences and at times like this it definitely pays off!  So, since we had ample time, with my ample little sister (haha-she's at 7 months and definitely at the "ample" stage), we decided to do some retail therapy at the Lake of the Ozarks outlet mall.  Cass always gets the best bargains here and we always hear about them after the fact.  I was thrilled knowing this time that I'd get to take part.  And boy did I??  I was actually the only one that left with purchases.  But I'm sure it was fun for all.  After all, I was technically "forced" to do so.  I had to get some dress pants for John on the special sale and upon paying what spits out of the register?  COUPONS!!  And not just those lame ones that say 10% off of a $500 dollar purchase, the kind that said $5.00 off - on whatever price!! :D  

We had a great time and then we headed off to the shower festivities.  Cassie's wonderful mom-in-law put together quite the social event.  It was held at the pool and had lots of yummy food and lots of strangers (at least to me).  We aren't the most social of families so I spent the time huddling near "my own kind" and instead socialized with my wonderful cousin Jenni (who is a devoted reader of my blog so she'll love that she made it on a post), my grandma, Michelle, Ashlyn, Preston, etc.  It was a fun celebration for the little mom to be and she has lots of people that must love her because she came away with a load of gifts afterwards.  After all, love is always shown by the amount of gifts one gets right? ;-)  So, after a long long day, we headed back to Cass's house, crashed, and woke the next morning for COMO (also known as Columbia, MO - my old stomping grounds) for reception decorating. Tune into the next post for more on that.

Obsessed? Yes.

I'm alive....I promise!  Just hooked to the T.V. currently.  I've been an avid watcher of Olympics ever since I can remember.  I can't decide if I prefer winter with it's ice skating and speed skating, or summer with it's gymnastics and swimming.  I've given up trying to figure it out.  Instead I watch anything/everything that the Olympics provides.  Who ever thought "Curling" could be such an addicting event?  

Currently, I'm spending my time watching half dolphin/half human Michael Phelps win his way to 10 gold medals.  Last night he achieved the most gold of any olympian by earning his 10th (and 11th) gold in two events.  He is amazing to watch - and who didn't love that US Relay beating over the French?  John and I were jumping up and down screaming the whole time.  

Anyway, forgive me for my absence during this time.  I do have LOTS to post about - last weekend was my lil bro's wedding and it was tons of fun and everything went so smoothly.  It was great.  I'm waiting on pics before I post on that.  So, this is just a quick post to say Hi and Bye - must....watch....olympics.  ;-)