A Mississippi Wedding

Last weekend we traveled to Mississippi to celebrate the marriage of one of our best friends, Calen. Jake was a groomsmen, and the wedding was on the coast in Pascagoula, Mississippi (the hometown of Abby). She is quite possibly the sweetest person I have ever met. The rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and reception could not have been more amazing, and we had an incredible weekend. We are so blessed to have Calen and Abby in our lives.

Raw oysters and shrimp at the reception (yummy)

Some of the Cape group

Jake and I with the beautiful couple

And Grant catches the garter once again...

I LOVE CHRISTMAS SEASON!

I've had a hard time getting into the holiday spirit this year because it has been so warm here in Missouri. Well, the cold is here and I am loving all the things that Christmas brings. My favorite things about Christmas are the beautiful decorations (got a few new things this year), the music (definitely recommend Matt Wertz's Christmas album, and buying gifts for people (I like wrapping them too)! Now that Christmas is only a couple weeks away, I'm fully in the holiday spirit and can't wait to celebrate and spend time with family and friends. Pictures don't do the decorations justice, but I thought I would add a few anyway!

Third time's a charm...the first two we bought had lights out, 

so this was out third attempt.

Hopefully going to get some more cute ornaments on the 

day after Christmas sales.

Semi-new display in the dinning room, had the cone trees, reindeer and glass bowls so just bought some matching ornaments and grabbed some sticks out of the yard to spray paint

My wrapping station (spare bedroom). I magically fit eight Christmas presents and one birthday present perfectly in one box to send to Las Vegas. Hope they like what's inside!

The JOYS of working in healthcare!

Because Jake and I have both chosen professional fields in healthcare, we often have to celebrate holidays on days other than they when they actually occur. This year we had a Thanksgiving feast at my parents house the Saturday before. Jake was able to go to his Grandma's on Thanksgiving and I spent the day taking care of my tiny babies. We have so many things to be thankful for, and are blessed that our families are so flexible I love this time of year and love giving THANKS!

Monkey Bread: My favorite part of the meal

My little model Emmie Lu

Daddy and Leila watching football after the feast

1 Year Anniversary

Jake and I have been married for a little over a year now. For our actual anniversary, we went to a nice dinner the night before and then actually ate our wedding cake for dessert on 4/24/11. I was a little worried that I would get sick, and we both only took a couple bites, but it wasn't bad. Especially for being a year old. A couple weeks later, we went to visit my family in California and took a couple days to ourselves in the L.A. area. I've always wanted to visit (may have a slight obsession with celebrities) but didn't get to see any as we toured the city. It was a fun time and I always love visiting new places! The highlight of Jake's trip was getting to see the Price is Right filmed.

Wedding Cake!

On the Walk of Fame

Beautiful view of the city from our hotel

Perfect first post: A precious new puppy!

Jake and I had talked on and off about getting a second dog, but had never gotten really serious about it. That is, until I worked a long, crazy night shift with a friend of mine who wanted to get a goldendoodle for her kids. At first we were just googling precious puppy pictures and I was showing her pictures of my friend's goldendoodle. Twelve hours later, we had a breeder, date we wanted to get them, and colors picked out. Now, all I had to do was run this by Jake. I figured he would laugh in my face and tell me no, which he did at first, but about five minutes in the conversation he said we could talk about it. Everyone knows "we can talk about it" means yes or eventually means yes! That was that. A couple weeks later we got to meet our new puppy and I picked her up last Friday just a couple days shy of her eight week birthday. She's so sweet and surprisingly calm for a puppy. Emma is adjusting day by day and we're certain they will soon be best friends! Meet Miss Leila Grace Knepp.

First visit

Sleepy pup

I like to eat laying down

So sleepy in daddy's arms