Wedding Weekend

At last, Russell Percy is a happily married man! We enjoyed a beautiful, family-filled weekend in Salem celebrating Russ and Julie's nuptials. There are a million pictures done professionally that will come later, but here are a few from our time together.

 At the reception in lower Lafelle Park.

 Cutting their delicious cake.

 Sue and Steve keeping watch.

  Some proud grands!

 Chere' made the flight for the special day - sharing her own anniversary.

Might they be talking trucks?

 The ceremony was in Bush's Pasture Park rose garden.

 My handsome hubby did more than his fair share of child watching this weekend so I could be free with family. 

And Mitchell lost his first tooth just before the ceremony - with some help from Uncle Steve!

Happy congratulations to the newest Allstots!

Annual Lake House Trek

We made our annual trek north to Lake Pierre for the long weekend. The weather was cooler and there was evidence of the huge wildfires nearby, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

Not surprisingly, Shannon was Finley's handler whenever possible.

Patient pup!

Mutt and Jeff were nearly inseparable. This year the two of them were able to use the paddle boat without adults. Strange freedom for the boys and their folks!

When Shannon jumped aboard, they took her for a spin as their "queen"!

Not much fishing from the dock this year, but there were successful outings in the boat.

Chad captained and they returned with trout!

Bullhead or trout, Shan likes to catch fish!

As per usual, we celebrated Rachel's birthday together. Here's to a lovely year for a lovely gal!

The girls played nicely together. There was a lot of play with ponies and much coloring.

A couple times I overheard them discussing their wish that they were all sisters. Then Shannon added, "And Finley was all of ours!". 

Paddle boaters beware! There is no 'no wake zone'!

An evening boat cruise, deemed the best boat ride in the world, included all 5 children, the dog, 2 crazed chaperones, and countless roundabouts in the water!

A croquet lesson. Yes, I won all 3 games. It was much later, after consulting some questionable "rule book", that Dave and Bryan tried to refute my victories. Nice try.

Sweet sleep.

Happy cousins - the best part of the weekend is always their happiness at being together! Happy Labor Day!