This month I have had so much to celebrate, and so much to be thankful for!
So, I'm going to go in order of events...
October 6, 2011
Happy 30th Birthday to my friend (& Maid of Honor) Meg Farrell! Right after our wedding, she moved to Beijing, China and lived there for several years. Just recently she moved to Munich, Germany. So- although I have not seen her much in the last few years, I love her dearly, and I miss her bunches. I hope she had a wonderful birthday, and I wish I could have been there to celebrate with her.
Meg & I on one of her visits to the US!
It just so happens, that another one of my closest friends, Stephanie Jones, shares a birthday on the same day. I was lucky enough to be a part of that birthday celebration, and a part of her sharing the wonderful news that she is PREGNANT with baby #2! I'm so excited for her. She is a great mom to Laila, and I'm excited to see their family expand! :)
Stephanie & her husband, PJ
October 7, 2011
My Grandmother in St. Louis, Barbara, turned 80! Over the weekend we got to celebrate by getting all the girls together for a girls brunch at our favorite St. Louis spot, Miss Aimee B's. 17 ladies were in attendance, including my grandmother (despite having surgery on her eye about a week ago!), my aunt, my step-mom, my 3 sisters, myself, and a few other family friends.
Grandma & Grandpa Brooks at our wedding on 7/7/07
My Father-in-Law also shares a birthday with my grandmother. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm seriously lucky to have the BEST in-laws in the entire world. They are wonderful people with tons of great qualities, but what I love the BEST about them is that they treat me like I am one of their own. Sorry we couldn't be there with you to celebrate, but we are looking forward to seeing you later on this month for the UK/MS State game! :-) I *may* even let MS State win this one --just for you.
Jerry and me dancing at the wedding
October 9, 2011
My cousin, Brent & his wife, Sarah had their wedding reception at the 9th Street Abbey in downtown St. Louis. They previously got married in a private ceremony & then invited everyone to a reception to celebrate! It was the most unique reception I have ever been to & it was so much fun! At the beginning, they had a mixer hour for everyone to talk & drink a few beverages. Then, we went inside & they played a video they made acting out different wedding/marriage terms such as "Ball & Chain", "Jumping the Broom", "Down the Aisle", "Buying the Cow", etc. Then they had toasts, speeches, etc. Dinner with Greek food, Brent & Sarah trivia, 3 different flavors of cupcakes instead of a traditional wedding cake, a photobooth with a backdrop painted by Brent, and centerpieces of flowers made from comic book pages by Brent. Our table did not know many of the trivia answers, so instead we each picked a category and tried to answer all questions with an answer matching that category. Jeff was wearing a tie that had dolphins on it, so I made him do Dolphins as a category. My sister, Brittany, is in Pharmacy school, so her category was drugs. My youngest sister, Erin, had the category of SpongeBob. We gave my sister Krista who is in Band, music category. Her boyfriend Austin got Napoleon Dynamite as a category, etc. We had so much fun filling those out! :) We're silly...
Brent & Sarah
Sarah's Bouquet
(Stolen from facebook because I'm terrible at taking pictures... I always forget!)
October 10, 2011
My cousin, Noah, celebrated his 12th birthday! I miss you & wish I got to see you more often! I hope your day was fabulous, and from your mom's status on facebook, I bet your had a lot of fun at your birthday party!
Noah at a St. Louis Cardinals game on Father's Day 2011
My Step-Mom, Teresa, shares a birthday with my cousin, Noah. I'm glad we got to see you this weekend, celebrate, and spend time with the family. Jeff & I have really enjoyed spending more time with you all this past year on the Orlando trip and staying at your house over this past weekend. :-)
Teresa, me, & Dad at my wedding 7/7/07
October 11, 2011
Happy Happy Happy 18th Birthday to my beautiful & smart sister, Krista! I keep trying to convince her to come to UK so we could live in the same town for once in our lives, but I don't know if that's going to happen... :( Either way, I love you & I hope you have the most wonderful birthday possible!
Krista & her boyfriend, Austin before homecoming this year
