Ashley & Nathan's Wedding

The reason my mom and I were in Chicago was to attend Nate Najdek's wedding to Ashley Hayes. How wonderful it was to catch up with the Najdek family!! After hanging out with Mom all day Friday, we had a pre-wedding reception at the hotel (the JW Marriott). 
Lara, Me and Stacie

Megan and Stacie!

Megan, Ashley, Nate and Mom

The next day, we shopped and hung out in town for the day before the wedding at 5pm. It was black-tie-optional, so we got super dressed up and headed out on the town!

Nate and Roger walking Christine down the aisle

Stacie and Lara

Chanda

Ashley and Her Dad

Stacie and Mike

The place settings

Centerpieces

Mom and Roger

Mark and Mike

Mom & Christine

Nate & Roger

The Bertas

Chanda, Ro, Stacie and Lara

Stacie and Chanda

Chanda & Mark

Mark, Stacie, Chanda and Mike

Stacie and Megan

Stacie, Roger and Christine

Mom & Christine

Megan & Roger

Nate & Roger



Chicago 2011!

The first week in August I was in Chicago for a work convention.  I stayed at the Omni downtown; it was super nice. I had a whole suite to myself. Two tvs!! I could watch two shows at once if I wanted!

When I ordered room service, my tray came with mini jars of ketchup,mustard and mayo. They were so cute!

I was living it up for a few days! I missed my family terribly though! By the end of the week, I was ready to go home!

My Cherry Flirtini my last night in Chicago by myself.

After the convention, my mom came up and we hung out for a couple of days before a wedding we attended. We hung out at Navy Pier and went on a boat architecture tour.

The Shoreline Architecture Tour

Ready for Football Season!

I painted our cornhole boards (6 years later!) Our set is a little difficult to play with because the bags slide right off.  I am hoping that I fixed it with a little bit of sand in the paint. I'm pretty proud of them! 3 days until football season starts!!!

Garden Updates

I am about the worst gardener in the world. The only things I can grow are the things that I grow accidentally and that keep up on their own. 
Example One:
Last fall, we tossed our old pumpkins out behind the house in our back forty.  Fast forward 9 months...

An actual, honest to goodness pumpkin. Probably about 8 inches in diameter.  With NO work!

Example 2:

In April or May, I planted sunflower seeds in my flower beds. Did nothing, no watering, fertilizing, NOTHING.  Three months later:

Three (one not pictured) 10-12 FOOT sunflowers. The blooms are about a foot in diameter!

Example 3:

Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter

Three Little Green Tomatoes!  This tiny thing has yielded about 10-15 cherry tomatoes. Erin likes to pick them herself!

The plants I started from seeds in May didn't bloom at all and are just taking up space in my pots. :(

Maybe next year!

Random Pictures

Daredevil Erin

Erin and a Big Giant Rotweiler at Matt's Work

Changing Cups at Work with Daddy

Erin put goggles on Kramer

Doing Irrigtion Work with Daddy

Doing Coolers at Work with Daddy

Watching the Cubs Beat the Reds with Her Bubbies (She set this up all by herself)

Erin and the Puppies

Erin and the puppies are best friends! They get along so well! They play together and cuddle with each other.

Glue Mishap

Erin was doing "crafts" with scissors and construction paper. She kept asking for tape. She isn't that good at tearing it off the roll and ends up wasting a bunch of it.  So I told her to use glue as "it is just about the same thing".  A few minutes later, ERin was very excited and wanted to "show us something." She showed us the back door. She had GLUED her artwork to the window. Oops!!

Sammy & Danny's Wedding in Cincinnati

Ryan, Amanda, Erin and I made the trip down to Cincinnati for Sammy and Danny's wedding in July.  It was a lot of fun catching up with Ryan's family and seeing everyone.  Sammy was a beautiful bride and we are so glad we were able to share in her special day!
As with all Riesenberg weddings since my own, I got "Kung Fu" Fought :) Erin even joined in this time!

Eric and Christy

Janice and Amanda

The Lammerts

Me, Ryan, Erin, Marcy and Amanda

Sadie, Mike, Amy, Jeremy, Karen, Amanda and John

Yev and Marcy

Lisa, Eric and Christy

Amy, Jeremy and Amanda

Erin and Kramer Dancing