Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Last trip before baby

On July 9, our friends, Keaton and Rebekah, got married! Yay! It was a real do-it-yourself wedding and we had agreed to help out with reception preparations the day before the wedding. The wedding was in Milwaukee and a few months ago I thought it would be no problem to drive up. Well, it was a very long drive at 33 weeks, but Jean-Luc and I toughed it out. It was worth the hours on the road because we got to see a bunch of friends from college we hadn't seen in close to 2 years.
Working on bouquets
Preparing wedding favors
Pretty bouquets
Enjoying a beer after helping set up the reception hall
Lydia feeding Ransom
Sam was MC of the reception
33 weeks
More college friends
The bride enjoying a cigar
On our drive back home, we stopped by chinatown in Chicago for lunch.
Mmmm...dim sum.
I have decided that is the last trip before baby arrives. Unfortunately, it means missing another friend's wedding this weekend, but I am just too pregnant for a 5 hour car ride. Are you almost done in there, baby?

Monday, July 4, 2011

Wiley Family Reunion

This weekend has been very busy for me and Sam. In addition to an unexpected trip to Michigan, a large chunk of Sam's extended family were in town for a reunion Sam's mom had been planning for over a year. We missed events on Saturday evening, but Sunday was the big all-day Wiley family reunion.

I actually had a great time meeting Sam's extended family. There were people from Ohio, Indiana, Washington, California and even Hawaii. I was a little surprised how many little kids there were. I guess all the Wileys really like big families and there is no fear of the Wiley name dying out anytime soon. Sam and I helped with an egg hunt for the kids (who says you can't do an Easter egg hunt in July?). All the eggs were filled with Starburst and then every kid got a prize toy. It was really funny watching some of the kids try to trade up for more toys with Starburst. They got an early economics lesson. It took a lot of Starburst to buy a toy and most of the kids were not interested in selling their toys.

I didn't take many pictures because Sam's uncle was taking "official" video and pictures of the event that I will get copies of later. But I did take pictures of all my cute nephews and niece.
Ambrose loved Jim and Justin's music. He was dancing on stage with them.
Sam's dad and his brother in a classic tech-gadget moment.
Caleb and Titus in a moment of cooperation.
Nathan had a lot of fun with a grocery bag. He even was getting the hang of the potato sack race.
Sam's cousin, Cheryl, and our niece, Sonja. Sonja is a little cuddle bug.
Ethan is mobile!