These Colors Don't Run....

Oh how I love the Olympics...let me count the ways...

• Pride of country- USA! USA! USA!
• Women's gymnastics. (Although Jordyn Wieber...not.even.fair.)
• Watching random things like Archery, skeet shooting, water polo (yes, I sure did), sand volleyball...all in the name of moral support and the red, white and blue.
• Swimming. Phelps vs. Lochte, US vs. the World...let's.do.it.
• Opening Ceremonies
• Royals. Let's just end on this one, shall we?

At the ninth hour (Wednesday night around 7pm) Dave and I decided to invite a few friends over for the opening ceremonies. In a few hot minutes we had yeses from the peanut gallery and we decided a low-key affair was in order. Then Thursday and Pinterest hit. I decided we needed games, bracelets, medals, and maybe a few printables. *Adorable Olympic printables via Mirabelle Creations.

 I figured this was the perfect reason to try this bacon-jalapeno cheese ball from Homesick Texan. Y'all, it was delicious. I only got about 2 bites before it was G-O-N-E!

 This is the work of Bradley. She was in charge of dessert and I should have known she'd show up with Olympic torch cupcakes. Adorable! But not quite as adorable as these two little balls of fire!

Let the games begin! We had toss the tiny frisbee in the hula hoop....

When our hula hoops could stay on the ground :)

 Our gold and silver medals in this event went to Stacie and Ryan....In fact, Stacie was our leading medalist.

Then it was "Hanky Panky". Special thanks to Annalee for such a fun idea! Bradley was hard core...of course we would expect no less...

Spoiled rotten Rookie found someone to give him some lovin'....

And our final game of the evening was pin the sport on the athlete. Everyone got photos of 12 athletes and I called out the sports these athletes would be participating in. They had to put the correct sport with the correct athlete. It was hysterical! Our gold medalist got 9 out of the 12 correct!

All I know is that by the end of the night, Rookie had a medal around his neck and Avery was down for the count. I'd say it was a success!

Let's do this, USA! These Colors don't run!

Real Life Father of the Bride...

In keeping with the wedding theme my sister received her wedding video yesterday! You might remember me gushing over spilling all the details of her precious, Father-of-the-Bride-esque, fun, romantic, God honoring wedding a couple of months ago. Well, if you have 4 minutes you can get a first hand glimpse of the magic of the day.

We miss my Papa deeply and that day was no exception as his absence was palpable. Will and his team did such a beautiful job of including his memory in this video and telling the story of their precious day. Enjoy!!

Becoming Mr. and Mrs...

My sister is currently lying on the beach with her husband, sipping something frozen with a tiny umbrella in it, and I'm writing this over-photoed (I made it up, just go with it) blog post. It was such a fun weekend! My mom and dad threw a dynamite party, Kristen and Brad said their "I do's" and then shook their tail feather, and all is right with the world! It was everything Father of the Bride made us think it would be and so much more. I can't wait until she's back so we can relive it! For now I will share it all with you.

*Left photo credit: Amber Anderson

On Thursday, before the wedding, sweet friends threw Kristen and Brad a welcome party for their guests who had already made it to town. It was SO much fun! The perfect way to kick off a wonderful weekend of celebrations.

Me, Kristen, Nana and Mom....couldn't love these ladies anymore.

Then, Friday came! It was time to practice.

  

After the rehearsal, Brad's family threw a fabulous rehearsal dinner. Everyone had a blast and the weather was just perfect.

MOB and FOB. :)

Big Daddy- Giving the future Mr. and Mrs. a toast.

My how my family has grown in the last year!

 The "kids"

The BIG DAY!! The beautiful bride and me. Love you.

My mom's best friends threw the most wonderful and special bridal brunch. It wouldn't be complete with mimosas and Gigi's cupcakes!

 Fooooour Siiisters.....

It took a village to tie the chair ties....

 Time to get beautiful!

 The most gorgeous bride I have ever seen!

My "little" brother...so Draper.

 Mr. and Mrs. Brad Riddell!!

*Photo Credit: Amber Anderson

*Photo Credit: Liz Farrar
Everything was just stunning. Her dress, the cake, the romantic backyard...it was everything she and my mom had envisioned. 

And the moment I had been waiting for...the Father-Daughter dance. It went from this....

To this....

Big Daddy brought his A-Game!

*Photo credit: Amber Anderson

Above- My sweet friends!

Below- My wonderful in-laws

It was a beautiful, wonderful, blessed night that I'm sure Brad and Kristen will never forget. Congratulations to the newlyweds! LOVE YOU!

Bachelorette Fun!

First of all, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your comments and emails of prayer, concern and encouragement for my family. We were blessed with a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather in my Papa and his absence is very hard, but we are so thankful for your friendship, love and support. I wasn't able to email all of you who commented back because some weren't tied to an email, but just know it means a lot to me. So thank you!

Among the sadness of losing my Papa we are in the midst of a very joyous time as well. My sister is getting married in a few short weeks and the days and weeks are filled with much excitement and many to-do's. It is a precious time and a time I hope Kristen can enjoy, cherish, and feel celebrated.

This weekend we celebrated bachelorette style! She's gotten cookie sheets, Kitchen Aid Mixers (yes, mixers plural! How in the world?? Lucky Duck!) dishes and serving platters. It was time for lingerie. So we headed out to the Anderson's most fabulous lake house for a weekend of friends, relaxation, wine, food, laughs, and more food. It was just what the doctor ordered!

I had a blast with her sweet friends and I think we accomplished what we set out to do...show the bride a good time!

The beautiful bride and her entourage.

Sister pic! Isn't it amazing how much we look alike? (HA!)

Sweet friends who traveled from all over to celebrate with her!

We had to document some of the good stuff! Gifts and red velvet cake balls. Yes please!

Girlfriend loves her friends and she loves a good brunch. So we decided to treat her to a surprise breakfast with all of her NYC favorites! When she lived in New York she had her brunch favorites, so her former NYC roomie and I concocted a few goodies and it all turned out delicious! The menu consisted of Magnolia Bakery- banana pudding (her apartment was on the upper west side about 2 blocks from one of their locations and many a morning consisted of a banana pudding power breakfast), Penelope- nutella french toast, and Peels- build-a-biscuit. We got her a coffee mug from Penelope for her to sip her coffee. It was a  virtually calorie free morning....

 This is what girls do. We eat, we layout, we read gossip mags, and talk about the upcoming season of the Bachelorette and So You Think You Can Dance, and the benefits of laser hair removal.

 After everyone else was nice and tanned, and I had a minor glow of pink and smelled of sunscreen, we gussied up and headed to a local vineyard for a fun (at times funhouse) dinner. 

 Me, my sister- Kristen, and my future sister in law- Rebecca. Rebecca is the October bride!

 What a fun weekend! It was the perfect blend of fun and relaxation! With just a little crazy mixed in. :) Hope you all had a great weekend!