St. Louis Fun

We had a great time on our trip to Missouri - it seems easiest to break the time up between St. Louis and Kansas City. We flew into Kansas City and spent the night with Grandma Ceil. She let us borrow a car & we got on the road early the next morning to go to St. Louis. Jordan got reacquainted with Grandma & Grandpa Burgess when they babysat her that night. Doug & I went to our friends Sarah & Jon's wedding. My longest time away from Jordan yet - and it went very well, since we had such excellent babysitters.

We were in St. Louis through Wednesday and got to see so many friends and family. Jordan had lots of people to hold and squeeze her. We had four solid days of activities and Jordan handled it like a champ. Some pictures of the festivities below, it would be impossible to include it all!

WeddingBrunch with babies - the following day

Lunch with Brig - just the girls

Bathtime with Grandma Connie

Naptime with Grandpa Steve

With Great-Grandma Marie - we're both wearing hoodies!

With Megan

Happy New Year!

We had so much fun celebrating the New Year with friends in St. Louis - it was our friend James surprise 30th birthday. In addition, my mom came in from Kansas City to visit us for a few days - so it was great to see her and celebrate the New Year. Not to mention, I was sick. Let's face it - when you are sick - you just want your mom. Even if you are 30 years old.

Here are a few pictures from our New Year's Eve. I've got a feeling that 2010 is going to be a great year!

Happy 2010!

The guys - Jon, Doug, Pat & JamesDinner with the family - my mom and Doug's parents

Christmas in St. Louis

For the first time since we moved to North Carolina, Doug had the holidays off! We were so excited to have an extended time to travel back to St. Louis, spend time with his family over the holiday and see some friends.

We made the long drive in order to have our own car and bring Willie McGee. I lucked out and Doug drove every second to and from St. Louis. Willie and I slept most of the way.

We packed a lot into the nine days we were back. Lots of family time and get-togethers with friends. We also took a short side trip to the lake house and Columbia for a basketball game. On the way down and back, we got to see April & Sara - along with their families.

Our plans got a little sidelined thanks to the stomach bug that I got toward the end of vacation - but we were grateful for what we were able to squeeze in! Thanks to everyone who fit us into their holiday schedules.

Willie hanging with his cousins Chubbs & Lucy.

The Burgess brothers with their pups.

The whole family on Christmas Day

Doug & Willie

Christmas dinner. One of our two Turkeys...

Smart dogs, hanging out in the kitchen

Opening my new HD Flip Cam & tripod from Doug :)

Willie is getting really good at opening his own presents.

He is also willing to help others unwrap theirs. At the Mizzou Game - so fun to be back in Columbia for a few hours.Fun day with the girls (and babies)! So great to see so many friends!

Happy Holidays

We are back in North Carolina after a fun trip to St. Louis - I'll get some photos from our trip up in the next few days. Hope you and your families had a wonderful holiday season! May 2010 be a great year for everyone!!

MIZZOU Weekend

the quad!

The boys with the Golden Girls

Steve & Connie tailgating

Jon, Doug & Sarah in the cheap seats

Doug & Katie at the game

Doug & I met our friends in Columbia for a Mizzou Football Tailgating Weekend.  We had been planning this weekend for such a long time, so it was so much fun when it finally rolled around.  Friday, we flew to St. Louis and spent the night with Doug's family.  Early Saturday morning, we drove to Columbia and met James & Kim, Patrick & Amy and Jon & Sarah at the hotel.  We parked  and had drinks downtown (ah, rooftop bars).  Later, met up with Patrick's family for a tailgate right outside the stadium.  Perfect weather, great friends, unfortunately the Tigers couldn't pull out a win for us.  Sunday, we said good-bye to our friends over breakfast and drove back to St. Louis to catch our flight home.  

How bout them Tigers?

We are so excited about our Mizzou Tiger's moving to #2 in the coaches poll this week after their blowout against Nebraska on Saturday!  Even more exciting?  Doug & I are meeting some friends and going to the game this weekend against Oklahoma State.  Should be a great weekend for football. 

As Promised...

Pictures from Megan & Jason's wedding...

So much fun - getting ready with all the girls.

My most important job all day :)  Lacing up the bride.

First Dance - Megs & Jason

Megan & Jason's Wedding Weekend

I was so honored to be part of Megan & Jason's wedding last weekend in St. Louis.  Megan is such a special friend to me - she & I were roommates when I was planning my wedding.  I was excited to be involved in the day as a candle lighter and so happy that I could hang out with the bride-to-be, her friends, and family.  The best part of the weekend, is that Megan stayed so true to herself, extremely funny and warm.  The worst thing, all the beautiful photos I took of the weekend were lost on a faulty digital camera card.  I am hoping to get a few shots from the official wedding photographer, which I will post when I get them.  (I know how important it is for Megan to "make the blog").  

So along with my camera card giving me problems while at an all night Kinko's (trying to make copies for Megan).  I also forgot my cellphone at home and did without for the entire weekend!  However, I was still able to see a few friends while in town.  Thanks so much to everyone who squeezed me into their busy weekends and were so kind to deal with me not having a phone (Steve, Connie, Rebecca, Karen, Derek, Michael, Rachael, Katie).  Plus, apologies to Jaime for never connecting.  I wish I could have stayed extra days to see everyone!  Gives me something to look forward to for the next visit.

4th of July in STL

Doug & I made a quick trip to St. Louis for the 4th of July weekend. It was Doug's birthday present - getting to see a Cardinals game at Busch stadium. If we wouldn't have gone it would have been the first year he didn't go to a game. We had to keep the streak alive!

We got up at 3:45, dropped Willie off at the Pet Ritz and got into St. Louis by 9:00 AM Friday morning. We spent the day with Doug's family, enjoying a casual holiday. Then we headed downtown to go to the Cardinals game. The traffic was pretty bad, due to the game, VP Fair and fireworks all being that night.

Our view from the cheap seats

It was a great game vs. the Cubs - Albert hitting his 300th home run and Jim Edmond's first game back at Busch. It came down to the last inning, but the Redbirds couldn't pull out the win. It was a beautiful night and we got to see the fireworks by the arch after the game was over. Then we met Doug's brothers out for a few drinks & went home.

Standing Room Only. Can you find Doug in this picture?

The Burgess Boys

Saturday, I got to see some friends that were around over the holiday. I met Christen & April for lunch which was spur the moment and so much fun. We played with April's daughter Ella and hung out way too long in the parking lot- not wanting to say goodbye. I also got to see Megan and Jennie that afternoon - so happy that I could see them with our short trip and their holiday schedules.

I know this picture is fuzzy of Ella, but it's too cute not to post. She was laughing :)


Christen, April, Ella & me

That evening, we met up with friends of Doug's for sushi and drinks on Washington Avenue. It was so fun to see friends and family and be back in St. Louis for the weekend. The city has changed so much since we left two years ago, but friends and family are still so welcoming.