Summer Vacation

We went to Table Rock Lake - more specifically, Shell Knob, Mo. with Chris' family for vacation this year. We went boating and had a day trip to Eureka Springs, AR. It was such a blast! We went for an entire week - leaving the day after Mandy's shower and coming back on July 4.

On the train ride at Eureka Springs.

My Engineer

(Hahahahaha! I couldn't resist!)

The "Old Folks"

Not at all! You should see them on the wakeboard!

Michael, his girlfriend Sarah, Chris & I on the dining car.

Eureka Springs & North Arkansas train

We toured the train depot and even took a ride on one of the trains. The town was founded because of the healing power of the springs in the area. People came by the hundreds to be healed! Then the town exploded when the trains came. We had quite a history lesson from our tour guide on the train - he was a character. He really liked Becki because she was a teacher, just like his momma! (See picture below)

Go Becki!

Woowoo! Yah! Bob!

Our favorite pup - Blackjack a.k.a. Jack, Jackattack, Jackie, JAAAACK!

Sarah's puppy - a black yorkie. He's a sweetie alright, but we're still working on the potty training a little. He does a good job most of the time, but sometimes we miss the signal!

Our bedroom - yes the newlyweds had to sleep on separate beds!

Our cabin. We had the bottom floor and another family was on the top floor.

That's my man!

Yes, I wakeboard too. I was even jumping the wake by the end of the trip (but no one took a picture!)

Chris in his happy place. He'd live on the lake if he could!

Mandy's Bridal Shower

We hosted a bridal shower for Mandy the next weekend - on June 27. I have pictures from this as well, but they aren't on this computer, so I'll have to post them later! We had it in Turon, which is a town near Plevna. We had cake and punch and played a fun shower game. Then she opened presents. I have had extensive practice with wedding showers, so I felt much more comfortable with the planning and execution!

Mandy's Bachelorette Party

The BIG EVENT! My first experience with being the matron of honor! My best friend Mandy is getting married August 1, so we've been celebrating this summer! I hosted a bachelorette party for her the weekend of June 19-21 here in Kansas City.

We went to Zona Rosa on Saturday morning for pedicures and some shopping! We had special t-shirts for the day!

Then we were off to the Hilton President Hotel in downtown Kansas City for a lingerie shower & games!

We went to Gordon Biersch in the Power & Light District for dinner.



We spent the rest of the evening in the Power & Light district!

We had a great time, but I was exhausted when the weekend was over!

Ashley's Wedding

So, here are a few of the pictures I have from the wedding. I only took pictures in the limo, thus the champagne in every shot! It gives you a little taste of the wedding, though. First the happy couple granting our request for a kiss!

Graduations!

Busy May! We had quite the month!

I went to Manhattan for Justin's Family Day at Acacia. We had breakfast and games in the morning. Then we went to the football stadium for a BBQ and tailgating before the Spring Game.

I met Justin's girlfriend, Jessica, for the first time (far left in this picture). She's a total sweetheart! We went to dinner with her parents at Old Chicago.

Then it was back to Manhattan the next weekend for Ashley & Justin's (Chris' sister & fiance) graduation from Manhattan Christian College. I wasn't feeling well that weekend, so I didn't get many good pictures! This is a picture of us packing all of Ashley's stuff so she could move home.

We went back to Manhattan for a third weekend for Justin's graduation from K-State. Aunt Betty Kay and Uncle John came all the way from Maryland for it! We also had quite a bit of family from my Dad's side come up for it.

After Justin's graduation, we drove to Baldwin City for Chris' mom's Master's graduation. She now has her Master's degree in Education!

The last weekend of May we were in Derby for Chris' sister's wedding. I'm going to post about that separately...

Palm Springs, Californ "I" "A"!

Palm Springs, California
April 24-24, 2009


Palm Springs = lots of Palm trees!


The road that was named after me! You can barely see it, but it says Andreas Road! I'm in the picture too, although you can barely see me!

Here's a shot of the whole group. I went to Palm Spring for the FarmHouse Foundation's Board of Trustees spring meeting and Power of 7 Seminar. It's a great conference. Alumni who donate $7,000 to the Annual Fund are invited to come and they each sponsor an undergraduate. The weekend is full of learning as each alumnus shares what is going on in his respective field. So much to take in! I had a great time, although I didn't get to spend much time around the pool :(

I also managed to leave my new GPS in our rental car - goodbye GPS! I'm starting to come to the sad realization that I probably won't see it again. I've come to rely on it, too! I also had a terrible return trip as we were diverted to Tulsa, OK because of bad weather in KC. I didn't get home until 2:30 a.m. that morning. I had the next day off, but it took me a full week to recover my sleep and sanity!

Shed Construction

Chris & Justin helped my Dad fix the shed behind our house over Easter break. It was quite a project! Here are a few pictures:

Does this scare anyone else? He had the fun job of being up on the makeshift "scaffold"!