Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Summer Extravaganza: The Wedding!!!

So finally the day came that was the main reason we were even having the summer extravaganza. My brother, Matt's wedding! All week the forecast said it would rain, but the big day came and the afternoon weather was gorgeous. The ceremony was beautiful and so was the bride!
Waiting for his bride.
So pretty!
My dad gave some beautiful words at the ceremony.
Here's the little cuties, except Brooklyn who was sleeping.
The "triplets" who love playing and were so happy to be together.
The moms and daughters (except Brooklyn again)
My sistas.
Our little fam


Sisters with our awesome cousin Kristine, basically just another sister.
My awesome aunts Patti and Kathy, it was so great seeing them!
The WHOLE fam
My dad and his brothers Mike and Tim. It's so much fun to watch them together
The newlywed's first dance.
Whitney couldn't take her eyes off them dancing. She loved it so much.

Thanks to Melissa who saved the day and made Lindsey's dress fit like a glove!
It was such a great day. I'm so excited and grateful for my new sister in law. Congrats on this new chapter in their lives!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Summer Extravaganza: PA Part 1

 So after the missionary farewell Ty headed back to CA and we stayed in Utah for a bit. The girls and I and my parents and brother all headed back to Pennsylvania for my little brother's wedding. It had been 15 years since I had been to my parents home state, so I was pretty excited. I may or may not have started crying when I saw all the green out the plane window.
We had to drive a couple hours from Pittsburgh to State College and I enjoyed the view the entire way. I still can't get over how pretty it is back there.
Heinz Field
 Here's some of our first glimpses of Pittsburgh

 We stopped at Dean's Diner on our way to try out their famous (in the Brown family) pizza burgers.
I haven't done any research on this but I'm pretty sure that the combination of peanut butter and chocolate was invented in Pennsylvania. So, of course I had to eat as much as I could from the source.
Chocolate peanut butter cream pie
The next morning my brother and I drove to Mamie's Bakery. I almost passed out when I walked in. I can't explain it, their food all just looks so good and they have such a variety. Well, when I did try a donut, I wasn't disappointed. It was so incredible. I'm so glad I don't live there, I'd be in trouble.
We went to this cute little amusement park called Lakemont Park with the whole family and my cousin, Kristine. It was only $5 dollars a person, which I thought was a steal. The kids had so much fun, I'm glad we went.

 Yay for cousin time! They'd been waiting so long to play together!

 After the amusement park we met up with Uncle Tim and Carol at Texas Hot Dogs.

Oh so good!!!
After that we went to visit my grandparents' house. The place I remember visiting the most as a child. Even though they've been gone for 11+ years, it's the first time I'd seen their house without them waving goodbye on the front porch. I was super emotional and sadly didn't get any pictures.

So we went to visit my great grandparents' house. It brought back lots of memories for my mom.
 Her older brother was born in this house.

Back in that garage is where her grandfather did his woodwork. It's also where her grandfather's clock was made.
This was the workout room in the hotel. It was pretty cool to see the Penn State influence everywhere. I loved it! It made running on the treadmill just a bit easier. :-)
The next day we visited Spring Creek Park. I have pictures of me as an 8 year old in this exact location. It was so cool to take my kids to all these places I remember. I wasn't planning on getting in the water so that's why in some of the pictures the girls don't have any pants on. Don't judge. 

Ty showed up from California! After almost two weeks of not seeing him, the girls were missing their daddy.


 Don't you love their faces as they splash in the water?

Throwing rocks

Everyone loves playing with Aunt Wendy!



 Covered Bridge!


We got ready and then headed to go overwhelm meet my soon to be sister in law. Then to the rehearsal dinner. Afterwards we went back to Matt's house to hang out with him.


Uncle Ty meets Brooklyn!

Uncle Tim really loved getting to know all the girls and vice versa!



Everyone loves baby Brooklyn
They sure miss Uncle Matt!

Pennsylvania was just too much for Ty :-)
The next morning it was time for the big day. The wedding was super stressful for Matt. He just couldn't relax I've got the picture to prove it...
No he was really cool as a cucumber and ready to get the show on the road! Tune in soon for the wedding post!
P.S. This is my 300th post! Kinda cool, huh?