Babies!

No, I'm not pregnant.

My sister, however, is. And after a lot of anticipation, we finally found out that Mike and I are going to have a brand new baby niece in December! I was lucky enough to get two nieces and four nephews when I married Mike, but this will be the first niece that I get to squish love from birth!

In other baby news, look what I found just outside our living room door... note the little beak to the left of the big bird on the left. They are so cute and both of them sat their for their photograph!

Mama & Papa Bird

I love having birds nest around the house... the poop gets annoying, but I can't bring myself to mess up the nests. It's so cute to hear the babies chirping for food!

So far sabbatical is going really well. I could get used to the life of leisure! I love going to the pool in the morning (9-10am) and getting a good swim in without a ton of people there. And I've now started a couple of the around the house projects I want to get done. Shadow is definitely a happy pup too - he's been laying around helping while I work.

Life is good!

St. Patrick's Day

Last night we headed to Kati and Nate's house for St. Patrick's Day Couples Bunko. Obviously, she went with the green theme (complete with green beer) and we all dressed up. Her mint chocolate cupcakes (on the right below) had pudding in them... I've had two today and there is one more sitting on my kitchen counter. Marathon shmarathon. Also, dead center were those dang "Drunk Gummies" - gummy bears soaked in vodka. This time, instead of the marshmallow vodka that Jamie used, Kati tried cake vodka. Also fabulously delicious!

Kati's Snack Table

Kristen won the costume contest - there was no competing with her awesome green wig!

Ruth, Kristen, & I.

I even got Mike to dress up - his "Irish You Were Beer" shirt is bound to become a classic. I was rocking my Kermit the Frog "Kiss Me" shirt, a jean skirt and some really great Ireland knee socks. Alas, there's not one picture of the socks. So sad.

He Really Loves It When I Make Him Pose For Pictures!

Mike and I actually both won - he for the most bunkos and me for the 50/50 (meaning I won the same amount of games that I lost). It was a really fun night! The lovely ladies:

Bunko Girls!

And finally, a shout out to Ruth Mackwood! I discovered last night that there are more people reading my blog than I thought! Thanks for being my third reader (beyond my Mom and Aunt Eva)! I also discovered that I gross some of them out with my nasty foot pictures. Hey, at least my toenails aren't falling off... yet.

Today we woke up to about three inches of snow... and it continued to snow off and on throughout the day. It was a super mellow, relaxing day for us and was very much needed!

Kati & Nate Got Hitched!

They did it! Kati and Nate are now officially Mr. & Mrs. Barcklay!

The rehearsal and rehearsal dinner were a lot of fun, despite the awful wedding coordinator they had. I think she meant well, but she very much stepped on Kati's toes and pushed her own opinion over Kati and Nate's. To make matters worse, they double  booked the church, so the one chance we had to rehearse in the building had to be in complete silence. However, we survived and moved on to Sienna for a fantastic rehearsal dinner. Nate's family had the outside patio reserved, which was a little nerve wracking considering the fact that it's December June and still raining. The weather held up, and thanks to some heating lamps and the outdoor fireplace, we stayed nice and warm. Cyndy (Nate's mom) even brought stuff to make smores!

Kati & I At The Rehearsal Dinner

The food was absolutely fantastic - I had the flat ironed steak with mashed potatoes and dessert was their world famous donut holes. They come with all of these fantastic dipping sauces - yum!

Nate & Kati At The Rehearsal Dinner

On Friday, I spent the day with Kati, Mom, Cyndy, Elizabeth and Emily. We did lunch and then headed over to the nail salon to get pedicures. If you know me, you know this is complete torture since I'm so ticklish. Thankfully, Cyndy had the foresight to pour cold water on me to take my mind off of being tickled! Friday night we had dinner with the Barcklay's and the Denny's, who were up from San Diego for the wedding. Then Kati and I went back to the hotel for the delivery of the dress:

Mom & Dad Delivering Kati's Dress To The Hotel

We thought we would just hang out, watch a movie and fall asleep. Well, the next thing we knew, it was 12:30am and neither of us could sleep - I guess we were just too excited! We headed over to Hoshall's to have our hair and makeup done around 8am. The ladies there did a fantastic job on everyone, but I think my hair stylist did a particularly good job! I had seen a hair style at a wedding a couple weeks back - I gave her the idea and then she asked if she could "do her thing". I said, of course and she added some cute braids and flair to it!

My Mom & I - Also A Good Hair Shot!

Kati's hair looked spectacular as well... and she had both her veil and her tiara:

The Crowning Of A Princess

We headed back to the hotel after our hair and makeup was done to have some lunch (Togos, in case you were wondering) and then to get dressed. Kate Middleton didn't hold a candle to my beautiful sister! Nate doesn't look so bad himself! :)

Mr. & Mrs. Barcklay

The wedding ceremony went off without a hitch and was over before we knew it! Kati and Nate had rented a Hummer limo to take the bridal party and my parents to the Serrano Country Club, where they were holding the reception. The limo ride was a blast, complete with singing, dancing and a little bit of partaking. :) Needless to say, we were in good spirits when we arrived at the reception. Such good spirits that I attempted to try shrimp:

Me Trying Shrimp

Looks like I enjoyed it? Oh, that's right... I downed an entire apple martini after this...

Random party pictures:

Mom, Kati & I

Dad & I

Eva & I

Erin, Keegan & I

Brig, Injured Amber & I

The reception was seriously fun. Their DJ was absolutely amazing and did a fantastic job at keeping the party going. He took requests and then actually played them! The cake cutting was a lot of fun too - they used their nice cake cutting set, but also used a fire ax. They bought the ax as a gift for my parents (it has Barcklay and their wedding date engraved on it), but displayed it at the reception.

Kati & Nate Axing The Cake!

Mike & I Goofing Around

Sunday morning a large group of us headed to Mimi's Cafe to have brunch with the newlyweds. Then it was time to get them off on their honeymoon! I seriously can't believe that my little sister is married! I am so happy for both Kati and Nate... they're going to have an amazing life together! I know they say weddings go fast, but Kati and Nate's seemed to go by especially fast! I wish we could rewind and celebrate some more!

For more pictures, visit my Facebook page!