T-minus 2 days and counting

These final days before the wedding were a whirlwind of appointments. Plus we had rented a home at Tahoe for the weekend because we needed somewhere for all of us to get ready and then to stay after the reception. McKenna's wish was for her bridesmaids to spend the night before the wedding with her and then all of them get ready together. That required a rather large home to rent but we lucked out with one in Tahoe Vista with views of the lake. We went up on Thursday just the four of us, Bob, McKenna, Dave and myself. It was lovely. We all went to dinner at Westshore Cafe, which I highly recommend. It is right across from Homewood Ski Resort. It is a beautiful lake side restaurant.

Bob and I had wanted to buy something special for McKenna, our little girl now all grown up, to wear during the wedding. She had chosen to wear the necklace that Bob had given to me on our wedding day. It is a small necklace with three opals on it. Very simple and very sentimental. With that in mind, he and I bought her matching earrings. We gave those to her that evening. By her reaction, I think we chose well.

Bachelor Party

No, I wasn't invited to this, either.

And I don't have actual pictures from it, too. But the stories we've been told! Of course, they say it was a little foggy at points in their memory but here's the jist of it. Fill in your own blanks. The guys decided to go camping

Exhibit A:

and wakeboarding

Exhibit B:

and wake surfing

Exhibit C:

(folks, don't try this at home)

Then there was the Tricycle Olympics:

But before you could compete in the Tricycle Olympics, you must partake in the Beer Bong:

And after all the Beer Bonging going on, someone got the most brilliant idea of smashing soaking wet hamburger buns on each other...FOOD FIGHT!

But everyone agreed...it was a lot of fun even if they felt like this:

I guess that there are some things that even a mother-in-law shouldn't see.

The End.

Probably the final one today

No, not the final final but enough for now. I'm sure you're wondering if I'm glued to the computer these past few days churning out the amount of posts that I've done. Not quite, mes amies. Not quite. But yes, I'm getting stiff and sore sitting here. My reasons are twofold:

1. Bob is in Oregon with Christopher picking up three dogs. Two of them are Christopher's and one is a brand new one for Bob. He has been gone for three days. Understand? NO INTERRUPTIONS.

And 2. McKenna returns from her honeymoon on Sunday. Again, NO INTERRUPTIONS.

So with my creativity wanning right now, I thought it'd be a good time to shut down and turn to something else for the remainder of the day. I'll see you back here maybe tomorrow, maybe not. Have a great weekend.

Bachelorette Party

No I wasn't invited.

But that doesn't mean I don't have pictures. C'mon you people! You know me. Can't pass up an opportunity to have someone else hanging around with a camera to snap up those golden photo ops!

The Reno girls flew to Las Vegas--VEGAS, BABY! for the bachelorette party and to have the whole female bridal party together for the first time.

Here they are, at the nightclub Pure complete with bodyguard for the evening.

McKenna, Shaina, Lindsey, Ashley, Erin, and Meredith...TA DA!

But, let me back up here for a moment. After arriving in Vegas and all meeting up, the ladies decided that what they had brought to wear for the evening wasn't quite 'slutty' enough. I have those in quotes because that's how it was told to me! So, that afternoon off they went for a round of shopping to purchase short dresses. Ok, some of them purchased dresses, some of them purchased blouses that they wore as dresses. Get the picture? On with the story.



Here they are with their bodyguard, Bubba. Or Spike. Or The Terminator. I forget.









They danced and drank and discovered little alleyways between the booths to be used in case anyone, oh, I don't know, got sick? Did anyone drink that much?

Did this picture look blurry to you? Me, too. hmm...

* The consumption of alchohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not.
* The consumption of alchohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.
* The consumption of alchohol may cause you to think you can sing.
* The consumption of alchohol may lead you to believe that ex-lovers are really dying for you to telephone them at four in the morning.
* The consumption of alchohol may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting. * The consumption of alchohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.

And there was some story about stumbling back into the hotel room and tripping/falling over an imaginary elephant? No, rock? No, chair? No, piece of lint? yes....all the while trying to be quiet and not wake up the other party goers. And did those who fell all of a sudden get the munchies? For pancakes? At 4am? And then pass out and not hear roomservice? I'll never tell.





But for some, time to go home was a good thing....

at the McCarran Airport

[never underestimate a determined scrapbooker to get the best photos!]

Lingere Shower

Isn't this the cutest invitation? I just loved it!

So another shower for Kenna, this time a slightly 'edgier' content. Is it just me, or do others out there feel slightly, um, uncomfortable buying lingere for their daughter (or daughter-in-law) for the express purpose of having sex? I'm certainly not a prude but I do see it as the reverse feeling of my children thinking about their father and I having sex. Everybody shudders all around. So, yes, I bought her two pieces of ....clothing. AND NOT IN FLANNEL! One she liked and the other one reminded her of me (which I thought was the prettiest of the two, but sheez..I don't want her thinking of me while she wore it)

One of the games the girls had us do was to see how fast you could blow up a balloon. Everyone got one (except me, yeah me!) to blow up and McKenna's? Hers was filled with pin holes in it so it would not fill at all. It was pretty funny to see everyone with this big blue balloon in front of their faces.

This is one of the many, many outfits. ahem.

--a side note here. McKenna and Dave took only CARRYON for their honeymoon. How many of these could she roll up and stuff in her bag?

And finally, this game along with a package of body paints. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to tease Dave about it and embarrass the hell out of him.

Tick Tock

Actually, these are bright white but you know, shadows and all. (That's why I write blogs and am not a professional photographer!) These are the Ring Pillow and the Guest book that would be used during the wedding and reception. I started to have a feeling of a 'time crunch' towards the end of June. Was everything taken care of? Did we forget anything? Because we accomplished so many of the details of the wedding during January and February, both McKenna and would look at each and ask, "What are we forgetting?" The whole family was now not only on a wedding countdown but we conveniently put in a two week vacation in July to countdown as well. And enjoy. We all then realized that when we returned from vacation, we would have only a finite number of weekends for parties and events before the wedding. Another shower, a bachelorette party and a bachelor party, Labor Day and then WEDDING! Yikes.

Did I introduce you to the Ring Bearer? No? Well, here she is.....

Her first bridal shower

Shaina and I gave McKenna her first wedding shower in June. Wonderful food and a fabulous guest list!

We served cupcakes instead of a sheet or layer cake and it was just the right amount for each lady. The cake designer did the cupcakes for us, too. Here is a shot of the bridesmaids (except the Las Vegas contingent). Aren't they cute?

One of the things that we had to explain to Kenna and her bridesmaids (except Shaina) was the custom of breaking the ribbon on the gift wrap means that's how many kids you'd have.

You should have seen the look on her face!

"You're kidding, right?" Well, yes, we're kidding...scientifically, I don't think that ribbon breaking is as bad as condom breaking. Am I right?