the decision.

thanks. to all. for the shoe guidance. i ended up going with the boots. a different pair. but boots. i was glad i listened. how fun is it to wear a fancy dress with cowboy boots and a jean jacket? i should dress like this more often.

wedded bliss.

so here's a look back through pictures of the wedding and party. more on flickr. and click on this post's title for some video...

a beautiful event.

little one made it down the aisle. she didn't twirl or curtesy as she had promised...she sat on the ground with chaco during the ceremony and "kept him company".

i made it through my reading...barely. i had to stop and compose myself after getting choked up...eek. i thought. pull yourself together. you have to get through. this. poem.

it dropped a few drops of rain during the ceremony, but the storm held off until we were all snug in the tent.

we made it through dinner. then it let loose with a force and blew the electricity. luckily there were lots of candles. after getting on some generators, the band played on, everyone danced on and the cake was cut.

the littles stomped their boots and danced all night. little one twirled and spinned and stomped. she made the rounds on the dance floor. little two met up with a little girl and would only dance with her all evening. he was heartbroken when she called it a night. then he had had enough and fell asleep.

the band was great, the food was good, and the setting was gorgeous. a lovely evening spent with fun people.

the drive home in the pitch blackness of the valley was cool. the power was out when we got home and we snuggled in after gathering up every candle we could find in the house.

a truly magical evening.



All That I Know About Love from Todd Harris on Vimeo.
congratulations todd and audrey!

the event.

well. here we are. all dressed up for the big event. sitting in the frame that was built for pictures of all the guests. cool idea. madeline was so excited to get "brided". the weather was threatening, but it just added to the atmosphere.

rehearsal.

tonight was the rehearsal. in a field by the tent. in view of the mountains. mads finally got to practice being "brided".

dinner afterwards was certainly a good time. my parents did a fab job hosting and planning. julie and john were good sports and we met some truly interesting people. the kids loved laying on the bridge "fishing" and tossing m&m's on the floor. micheal keaton was nice enough to pick them up . i spent most of the night chasing them around and making sure they didn't fall in the creek.


good food. good company. after pine creek we headed back to their house for some champagne and cheesecake. and toasts. of course some toasts.

hikers.

our afternoon was spent hiking the pine creek trail in the absaroka wilderness. the littles did great. hiked all the way up. reached the waterfall. then uncle john and little one crossed the bridge at the falls and little two rested on a big rock.

surprisingly little two slept all the way down. it was a bit of a harder hike back down for dad as he hauled little two down the trail. but uncle john got to enjoy himself making scary bear noises at us as he hid in the bushes.

it was a good hike. nice and rocky, cool and breezy and lush and green. wish we had trails like that here.

the day.

so the groom came over this am.

it was my mom's birthday, so we all suprised her with a big breakfast. john (her really should open his own little breakfast place) did made-to-order omelets to go along with pancakes, gravy, fruit, pastries, coffee, hashbrowns, bacon and sausage and of course, birthday cake... quite the spread. but quite the birthday.

happy birthday, mom.

neighbors.

really. who can complain when these are your neighbors? no loud music, unmowed lawns, flower pickers. i'll take deer anyday!

another relaxing day in paradise valley.

shopping, celebrity sightings, wedding-to-dos, coffee drinking, laughing, talking, playing, rock climbing, creek hunting, bear hunting, drinking, eventing. i could get used to a life like this. quickly. really quickly.

oh, and by the way. the other julie of "twojulies" is with us, too. my mom refers to her as her other daughter. i refer to her as my partner in crime. such a good time we're having here.

big sky.

western adventure. yellowstone national park. free roaming animals. a buffalo blocking traffic as it mosies down the road. kids throwing rocks in the creek. a setting for a great vacation.

after a traffic jam in billings and a barack obabma motorcade sighting (he was leaving billings just after we arrived), we spent our first day in montana at yellowstone national park.

wow.

it's gorgeous. amazing. and breathtaking. we saw wild animals, geysers, mountains, trees, birds, views. views. views. of course max spent most of the trip screaming to get out the car. and we almost ran out of gas. but it was fun and cool and beautiful. alex loved the buffalo. madeline loved the prong horn and max loved hiking. i loved the smell of the fresh pines, the animals and the spectacular views.

the littles spent the rest of the day tossing rocks in our creek, looking for deer and bears and enjoying the true outdoors. julie and john (thank you again!) hit livingston while we were at the park. they stocked up on food and beverages and we all pulled together a great big fun and festive bbq for everyone tonight.

another good use for blues.

blueberry beer. i haven't had blueberry beer since my days in boulder. oh how i miss those days, by the way.

anyway. i was at the liquor store on sunday just browsing through the beer selection after stocking up on some wine and came across a blueberry lager. i had to get it. it brought back some good memories. not from the same brewery of course, but anheuser busch of all places actually...i was a bit hesitant, but why not?

but we've been enjoying it all week long. a perfect drink for august nights. a perfect use for blueberries. and blueberries are good for you. full of all kinds of antioxidants, right? so this beer must be good for you, too....

in search of

kelks. not elks as you would think from the picture, but kelks. that's what little one says she will be on the hunt for as our great western adventure to big sky country begins this week.

she's been listening to a cd of kelks bugling for the last two weeks. she's also hoping to run into some flamingos...

such a pretty fat.

i just had to write about a book i just read. "such a pretty fat" by jen lancaster. she's got the snarkiest sense of humor. i seriously could not stop laughing. i couldn't stop reading either. i finished it in two nights. would have been one if the olympics hadn't been on. i felt like i was reading about me at times...eek!

she's got a sense of humor that will put you over the edge. and she says the things that we all (admit it) think...and the title just cracks me up. i finally found the good read of my summer.

to boot or not to boot.

a wedding. a western setting. semi formal. cowboy boots welcome. what to do? do you dress the part and look like you're trying to hard? do you ignore the suggestion and wear sparkly sandals? do you wear the boots and have fun? that is the question. these are the proposed boots. i see lots of possibilities with them.

vote.

vote. today is the august primary here. important races. important decisions. it's important to vote.

i'm a geek i'll admit it. i'm fascinated with politics. don't have any desire to run for an office. but i love politics. i love watching the news, reading the paper. following the candidates. knowing what's going on in our country. i loved watching john adams this winter. such a great show. i actually learned so much about why we are the way we are now. anyway. enough rambling.

i admitted it. i'm a geek - i love politics. a few years ago i wanted to get involved. so i volunteered to be an election worker. working the polls on all election days. i've moved up now to a supervising judge. in charge of my own polling place. woot. woot. i know. only old people do that. but it's fun. i've met some super interesting people. i've seen some interesting things and heard some even better things. being involved is good. it makes me feel like i'm doing my part. as small as it may be.

so it was important to vote. important to get out and participate in our democracy. as alot of us say it - if you don't vote you don't get to complain. so based on our turnout today there are a lot of people in this county that can't complain. maybe they'll vote in november. maybe they'll learn to care. i was impressed by the number of kids that were voting for the first time. so proud of themselves. so excited. and we were enthused for them. it was exciting to see that spark in their eye. that sense of reaching a milestone. i especially loved the ones that came in with their parents. their parents were excited for them. i also loved the parents that brought their small kids in to teach them about voting and the importance of it. teaching them a valuable lesson. i hope that enthusiasm lasts. these so called "small elections" can sometimes change our lives more than the big ones.