408 Takes Possum Kingdom

A few weekends ago, me and my 3 besties from college hit Possum Kingdom lake for our annual roommate reunion trip. This tradition started about a year after college and we've been keeping it alive every summer since. To clear up any confusion, 408 was our infamous apartment number at "The Place" in Waco. It became known around campus (or at least around our group of friends) for many things including awesome Twister parties, Chi-O pre-event four- course dinners,and having 2 kitchens and 2 front doors... But I digress.

This was our second annual lake weekend and once again, we let our boys tag along. They are great for driving the boat, manning the grill, and making sure our koozies always contained an icy beverage. They also really enjoy hanging out with each other and are great at keeping themselves entertained. This year, that consisted of watching a lot of World Cup and US Open on the TV on the boat.

We were having too much fun to constantly pause for pictures, but we managed to capture a few moments along the way.


We always think it's a good idea to ride 4 deep on the jet ski. Someday we'll figure this out.

A series of pics where the Captain's hats came out....





How the guys spent most of the weekend


Not a good idea to take pics during the boat ride to dinner...a little windy





Watch for the sequel, 408 Takes Vail, coming March 2011.

Showers, Bachelor Parties, and Surprise Weddings

This past weekend was one of the most exciting and unusual I've experienced in quite some time. William headed down to New Braunfels on Friday afternoon for a bachelor party so I kicked off the weekend with a girls night. I had a blast having sushi and ice cream with a few friends, both old and new! I arrived home a few minutes before my parents arrived at the house and then did my best to show them the new landscaping in the dark!

Saturday morning, we had breakfast on the deck in the backyard and then took our time getting ready for all the day's festivities. There were a couple of family functions planned for the weekend that my parents drove in to attend. The first was a wedding shower for my cousin Holly at Brookhaven Country Club. Mom and I enjoyed a fabulous lunch and shower with my cousin and some of her soon-to-be family and friends and then headed to Walburg, Texas where we were supposed to meet up with the other side of the family to celebrate my Uncle Joe's 70^th birthday….or so we thought.

The party was scheduled at a German restaurant and beirgarten (yes, that's how they spelled it). When we arrived, we all headed into a private upstairs room and spent some time mingling and catching up with family and some of Joe's oldest friends. After dinner, Joe and his fiancée Amy had hired a friend of theirs to do some entertainment. He plays the keyboard and sings and has been at some family functions in the past so this did not seem at all strange. After some entertainment, he called Joe up for us to sing Happy Birthday. Joe began his "thank you" speech after the song and then things took an unusual turn.

He asked his 2 sons to stand up with him, then Amy's brother, then my dad and one of Amy's friends. He said they had all meant a lot to him and he asked the musician to play the song they had discussed. Well, the song he played was called "There is Love" and it is mainly about how a man should leave his father and a woman leave her home and the two should become one…so we're all thinking this is a strange song to honor your sons and relatives.

THEN, as the song finishes, he asks a few of Amy's relatives to come up and asks if her son will escort to the front of the room..and the musician begins playing Here Comes the Bride! So our musician stands up with a Bible in hand and becomes the minister. They get married as we're all watching in shock and, of course, the whole room is crying (including Uncle Joe, Amy and the minister).

After everyone finished hugging and congratulating, we all headed out to the beirgarten in the back for some dancing and celebration. It was a great night and a very romantic turn of events.

Now I can check "Attend a birthday party that turns into a surprise wedding," off my "things to do in life" list.