July 4th in SW KS & SW MO

Over the 4th of July holiday we put another 1000 miles on my poor little car. It was worth it though to visit both of our families, eat homemade ice cream, treasure hunt for rusted metal and catch up with friends!

Andy and I spend the actual 4th of July weekend in Meade BBQing and relaxing with his family. Along the way I took a few pics of the HUGE wind generators along I-70. I don't know the exact dimensions, but they are larger than you can imagine and it's hard to appreciate their size in a sparse landscape that gives them no sense of scale. I also had to get a pic of the Dodge City sign, although I've never technically been there. :)

Eric, Andy's brother, had to show us his new dirt bike and give Andy a turn to ride it. I reluctantly got a ride as well, but Andy's dad showed us all how it's done!

We had a nice visit with Andy's family!

After we got back to Manhattan, I unpacked, repacked and drove down to Joplin the next day (while Andy stayed behind to work - new job and all). My family from Arizona and Texas were still in town and we had all kinds of fun hanging out at my grandma's house. The big project of the week was working on my aunt Tricia's recycled metal artwork that she sells with my aunt Mary on Etsy. It's really become a family affair and is pretty exciting! Here are a few pics of us gathering and preparing the metal pieces and you can see some finished products on Etsy (Many of their pieces are on display in galleries right now, but there are new pieces added all the time). I even worked on some recycled art of my own, but it's not quite ready to be revealed... check back later for that!

A trip to Joplin isn't complete without a trip to Shake's!!

I was really excited to get a chance to bake gingerbread cookies with my grandma... it's been a long time!

One evening Rachelle and I went out to our dad's for a visit... and another amazing steak dinner! We even got a chance to see Kerry for a bit, who was home between work in Wyoming.

I even got a chance to see some friends from high school! Adena, Paula, Abby and I met up for a night out... dinner at 609, drinks at Kitchen Pass and karaoke at Frank's Lounge. Good fun (and good key lime pie martinis)!

Arizona Family Vacation

Summer isn't complete without a family vacation, right?! This year my mom invited Andy and I along with her and Bill to visit our extended family in Phoenix, Arizona. I hadn't been in years and was excited to see everyone!

We flew out on the 22nd of May and oddly enough, it was raining when we landed! We had been worried about the heat after hearing about temps. of 105+ just days before we left, but we lucked out and it was fairly cool for most of our stay.

We had a great time visiting with family... I have two sets of aunts and uncles and 7 cousins there. Andy and Bill played golf nearly every day while my mom and I visited with the family, shopped and made jewelry. I refreshed my video game skills with the kids and took my first turn on a Wii. Andy and I also went to Ikea for the first time and found tons of stuff we wanted for our new townhouse... not much that fit in our suitcases though.

Our big day trip of the vacation was to Sedona. It's north of Phoenix (nearly to Flagstaff) in a really pretty area called the Red Rocks. It was an unusually cloudy day, but the scenery was still amazing... and there were a few brief glimpses of sun that really brought out the red! We went on a few trails (which the boys really loved) for some nice views, saw plenty of cacti, and collected some red rocks. :)

One really cool stop we made along the way was at the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It was designed by architect and sculptor Marguerite Brunswig Staude, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. It has won several awards including: one of the Seven Man-Made Wonders of Arizona and an AIA award of honor. It was really beautiful, but the rainy weather destroyed some of the expansive view.

After lunch in Tlaquepaque, a cute little village with restaurants, shops and art galleries, the little boys insisted on another hike, so we stopped at a trail under a (very scary) bridge.

Because of a huge traffic jam, we were forced to go up North through Flagstaff (where there was actually snow on the ground), but passed the time with an Arizona themed game of 20 questions. ;) The next day we had dinner at Pat & Lisa's and were entertained by the kids on the HUGE water slide.

Last time I saw Wyatt & Grant they were both way shorter than me!

It was a good trip! Here's a few of my favorite family shots:

Here are the rest of the pics.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas - Mother's Day

My mom, sister and I went down to Eureka Springs, Arkansas for Mother's day this year. We had a nice drive down, checked into our old boutique hotel then went out to explore. Downtown Eureka Springs is full of old buildings filled with cute little stores, antique shops and art galleries. I guess it's a bit of an old hippie town and has a really relaxed feel and lots of character. There are also lots of elaborately painted houses with Victorian detailing.

The next morning we started with massages at the spa in our hotel... which were great! Then we hit the streets for shopping and browsing. We all got some interesting jewelry and I got some decorations for the new townhouse. After lunch at a little cafe and some last minute shopping (oh, and snow cones) we made the 2 hour drive back to Joplin.

Karen's Wedding - St. Louis

My friend from studio, Karen, got married on April 26th in St. Louis and I was really excited to get together with friends at my first wedding back in the States! Andy and I drove to up on Friday and took my Grandma along for the trip so that she could visit her sister. We met up with Stacy that night for dinner in downtown Clayton just down the street from our hotel at BARcelona... it was tasty!

On Saturday we went out for lunch and then decided on a quick trip to the Arch. We took the train and walked around the arch and the landing.... jumped back on the train and JUST made it back in time to change and get to the wedding. Well, we almost made it... 5 min. late, so we watched Karen walk in from the back. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding in the courtyard of a country club. After a short and sweet ceremony we had cocktails then moved to another country club for the dinner and dance. Everything was really nice and we had a great time!

We're definitely planning another trip to St. Louis so that we can hang out for a bit longer and spend some time w/ Karen & David! Here are a few photos from the weekend: