cute little hedgehog!

I had my first giveaway a few weeks ago, to celebrate my 100th post! Samantha was the WINNER, so we emailed back and forth and I designed something custom, just for her! She liked the Olive green and rich brown color combination, and had a fun idea for her notecards. She wanted something with hedgehogs! I had fun with these and I hope she'll like them.

She chose the design without her name. I like them both, so I'm glad the decision was up to her!

Samantha, I took them to the post office yesterday, so be watching for your cards! Enjoy~

weekend wedding

This past weekend we went to a wedding in Manhattan, Kansas. Our friends Nick & Sarah were married. They are the sweetest, most beautiful couple. The weather was gorgeous for a Fall wedding, and everything from the ceremony to the reception was perfect.

This was our first time away from Barrett. During Bluegrass in September, he spent three nights with grandparents, but we were only a few minutes away. This was the first time leaving town. He stayed with Justin's parents and Grandma Sandy said he was a "little angel." Leaving him on Saturday morning was of course harder for us. He just smiled and waved to us from Grandma's arms. It was hard to be away from him and we missed him terribly, but we had fun. It's nice to get away every once in a while. Parent's need some time for adult activities and conversation.

We drove up to the wedding with our good friends, Luke and Jennifer. We wanted to get there a few hours before the wedding, so we had time to change. We stayed at the Hampton in Manhattan, a very nice hotel. If you don't already know this about me, I LOVE staying in hotels. I love walking in and checking everything out...especially the bathroom. This one had a really nice bathroom with a long granite vanity. It was such a nice treat to walk in and find a gift bag sitting on our bed from Nick and Sarah.

The church was so beautiful. The stained glass windows were shades of yellow and gold and had a vine design on them. The wedding was at 4:00 in the afternoon, so the sun was hitting them just perfectly. After the ceremony, we waited in the courtyard to blow bubbles at the couple.

Then watched them get into this car and drive off to the reception.

This is the courthouse on Poyntz Avenue.
I thought the tree was beautiful, and I love all the old buildings in Manhattan.

The reception was at the Wareham Opera House

This is a beautiful historic building. Formerly the Wareham theater, it's been restored and is now used for wedding receptions. The reception was amazing. This was certainly one of the nicest weddings we've been to in a while. No expense was spared, and the guests were pampered! Entering the foyer of the reception, there was a candy bar!! How fun!

I loved this ice sculpture...especially when I found out you could set your martini glass underneath it and a delicious pink treat would trickle down through it and into your cup! The bride's father said he worked for months to develop the perfect recipe for this pink drink. I'm not sure what all was in in besides pomegranate juice and vodka, but it was pretty good. There was an open bar for the entire night, so we had fun :)

There was no shortage of food either. They had an appetizer bar with fruit, chips, black bean salsa and cheeses. Then dinner was prime rib!

And of course the wedding cake was delicious! This is the women's bathroom.
Don't worry...nobody was in there when I was taking the picture.
It was just so nice and big.

This is the only picture we got of us

Justin with two of his best friends, Luke and Josh

Last dance....Congrats Nick and Sarah!
Everything was perfect and we had so much fun!

falling leaves & candy corn...

Oh, they are so beautiful! This is absolutely my favorite time of year!!! I feel like I've taken a million pictures in the last couples months (and I very well might have), but it's FALL and I have a beautiful BABY to photograph!

You might remember from my Anniversary post that the guests at our wedding threw real fall leaves at us as we left the church. They were the most gorgeous bright red, leathery leaves! They came from a tree just down the street from my sister-in-law's house. They happened to be changing and falling just days before our wedding, so Kim went down and gathered up a big 'ol bag of them for us. We had them out in a big basket so guests could grab a handful as they went out the courtyard to wait for the new Mr & Mrs!

Just a few days ago, Kim told me the leaves were falling from the tree! So, after the girls got home from school one afternoon, Barrett and I drove over and we had a little photo shoot! It was so fun. All of these pictures are from my dinky camera...Kim's all turned out a little better.

I know his head is cut off in this picture, but I love the expression!
Can't you just feel his excitement!

There's also another tree (the opposite way down the street) that is bright yellow, so we went down there too! Barrett was a trooper, as always. I think he's getting used to having Kim and I in his face snapping away, while Kylie and Emily dance around trying to make him smile!

This is when Emily decided to bury him in leaves...

He was okay with it for a bit, then started to get a worried look on his face,
so I dug him out!

I just put Barrett down for a nap and made a *fall treat* to take with us to the football game tonight! I have never liked candy corn...or at least, I thought I didn't! But one of my best friends, Megan, makes this yummy snack every fall. She makes some of the best things!! Just ask my husband...he's always raving about something she makes, or saying "why don't you make that thing Megan makes"? This year, I decided to give it a try and I couldn't stop eating it! I'm sure you've all had it! I don't know if it has a name, but I call it Payday mix!

Nothing but peanuts and candy corn. I like to eat two peanuts and one piece of candy corn at a time...yummo! Tastes just like a bite of Payday! Mmm...are you all craving it yet?!?!