Michigan 2012 Edition

We are home.

Back to the familiarity of our own beds and routines.

I've been scrambling to get our fridge filled and never ending list of appointments and sitters scheduled. I've been playing major catch up on work responsibilities, not to mention trying to squeeze in some semblance of a birthday celebration for Troy.

Although we are so happy to have no more looming trips on the horizon, our minds and hearts are overflowing with summer memories that will last a lifetime.

Luckily I have hundreds of pictures of all those memories I haven't even looked at yet to help cement them into our minds.

For now, my brother made another one of his awesome recaps of our time at the beach. (Last year's video is here.)

I just have to preface this by saying that I attempted to mimic the Olympic gymnasts that we were watching every night during our trip. And my brother jokingly caught it on film. But I feel pretty cool that I still have it in me to flip around after all these years. Except I was sore for about a week.

It's been a summer we will never forget...and that we will forever be grateful for.

Pacific Beach in B&W

This concludes wedding central week. Since I've been jumping all over the place anyway this summer, I thought I might as well stick in these skipped-over pictures here.

We were only in California for about 48 hours for my brother's wedding, but we couldn't leave without a quick trip to the beach.

We grabbed some bikes for cruising the coast and paper hotel cups for playing in the sand and enjoyed a few hours at Pacific Beach before having to catch a flight home.

I always forget how much I love black and white.

Wedding Michigander Style

I think everyone should have the opportunity to celebrate their wedding twice.

Having another excuse to put on your wedding dress is pretty awesome.

Add in not having any wedding day stress and just being able to sit back and celebrate with friends and family, and you have the ingredients for a great party.

My brother and his new wife celebrated their marriage at a reception in Michigan over the weekend.

Troy flew in us just in time for the party. Blake was ecstatic to be reunited with his dad after two long weeks apart.

I was pretty happy to see him too.

The boys were thoroughly entertained by my sweet cousins.

...and the hotel ATM machine.

I caught Blake sneaking cookies under the table on occasion as well.

Another perk of wedding celebration #2: It is more acceptable to smash cake in each other's faces.

Since this reception took place in my hometown, I knew every single person in attendance. It was so much fun to have so many people I hold dear together in one place. I was supposed to be on photography duty, but I kept getting distracted catching up with friends and family that I haven't seen in years. It always shocks me to see how much my cousins have grown. These girls were flower girls at my Michigan reception 6 years ago, in the very same room!

My Uncle Jim is another obvious go-to for our boys. He entertains them to no end.

It turns out Uncle Jim is also a budding artist. I love this rend-ed-ition.

Of course Jorden was on A/V duty at his own wedding.

And insisted on getting a few of his own shots.

Dancing was the best part of the night.

It took three people to hold Nash still long enough to tie his shoe.

Check out that concentration in the front to catch the bouquet.

No one else even had a chance. These are some more of my flower girls, all grown up.

And with that, I think we've had enough wedding festivities to last us for a good long while. Even Nash, my boy with endless energy, crashed at the end.

Another Day, Another Shower

My second mom, Mari-Beth, and I threw a family bridal shower for my new sister-in-law so all of the Michiganders could get to know her.

I have to say that I was a little out of my element for this one. I have the set up all figured out for parties that I throw at home. Being in a different place and not having access to my platters, backdrops, tables, and seating arrangements threw me for a loop. But in the end, everything turned out just fine and we had a great desserts party, despite the fact that we had a tablecloth crisis forty-five minutes before the event started. We sent my brother to get a new one (15 minutes there and back) and then I ironed like a mad woman on our travel size ironing board. It always has to be something, right? And of course everyone showed up 10 minutes early so the pictures I took were minimal.

We did another lemonade bar with fruit cube mix-ins since it was such a hit at the last baby shower I threw. At least this time the straws were the right height. And yes, I packed twelve tall glasses in my carry-on luggage. And thankfully Mari-Beth provided the other twelve.

I can't take credit for making the cake pops, but don't they look awesome?

The raspberry sorbet served in carved out lemons was an idea my friend Julee saw and shared with me. It was my favorite part.

We seemed to be laughing the entire time that Aubree opened her gifts. It was so much fun for family members to get to know her better since they didn't get to talk much at the Michigan reception.

And now I think I'm officially being put on a party planning hiatus, as per my husband's request. We'll see how long it lasts :)