A Little Pre Game Tailgating!

People in Kansas City sure love to tailgate before events and games. People get really into it and bring BBQs and grills and have full on parties. Derek and I decided we would give it a try so we took the new jeep and chairs and planted ourselves in the parking lot. It was such a nice evening and actually quite fun! Although, maybe next time we should try to bring a few more people...and a BBQ...yeah then we would look like real Kansas Citians...or lights...or whatever you call them here!!!

Kansas City Wizards vs. LA Galaxy

Even though LA Galaxy now has David Beckham and has gotten so much publicity because of him, they pretty much suck. Kansas City is definitely a better team and they played very well throughout the whole game. The Galaxy did end up winning with a goal in the 81st minute, but that is only because two of the Wizards got kicked out of the game due to red cards. They had to play two men down and still held their own against the Galaxy who were carrying a full team. Overall it was a fun game to watch and I did get to see Landon Donovan play! But seriously, who needs David Beckham when you have players that actually play!

Post Game Fireworks

After the soccer game we stayed and enjoyed the fireworks show. The camera didn't take very good pictures of this, so I guess you just should have been there!

An Evening of Soccer

On Saturday we went and watched some professional soccer…the Kansas City Wizards played against Ohio. I hadn’t been to a soccer match in such a long time and had forgotten how much I still love the game. It was pretty exciting as Kansas went from being ahead of Ohio to being tied, and then winning in the last few minutes of the game. However in my opinion, even though Kansas won I think the Women’s National Team could kick their butts!!

The thing that I love about watching soccer is that it is so fast paced and you don’t EVER have to deal with a million timeouts and stuff. The time just keeps on ticking and is over in 2 hours, 2 and a half hours max if it goes into overtime and penalty shots. Also, I love watching the crazy footwork that these athletes can execute; they are so quick and fast.

Anyways, I could go on forever talking about soccer so I will spare you and end it here. Oh, but I do want to add that the Women’s National Team won their game today against Nigeria in the World Cup and are moving on to the quarter-finals…again. This team completely dominates and will hopefully capture the championship again this year!

Eat Your Peas (Derek)

I have a sneaking suspician that in 10 years there may be similar things happening at my house as those shown in the following commercial.

Derek's Cooking Night

Every Wednesday it is my (Derek) cooking night and both Lacie and myself really look forward to it. My cooking night consists of a phone call to the local Papa Murphy's, a short drive to pick up the pizza, and 15 minutes of wait time until the pizza is cooked. The funny thing is that Lacie hasn't yet called me out on the fact that I didn't prepare the pizza and it is usually her that cooks the pizza (other people have though).

Wedding Planning Update

The wedding planning is coming right along. We now have the place booked, colors picked, flowers chosen, a DJ set, someone to marry us, someone to make the cake, and we are pretty sure we just got a photographer too. The last real big thing to do is find a caterer. With about 4 and a half months to go things are falling into place smoothly! When we go home for Christmas we will have some last minute things to do but we're getting there!

What a Circus!!

On Sunday we entertained ourselves for a couple of hours by attending the circus in Kansas City. I think it had been a long time since Derek had been to the circus, and I actually have never quite made it to a real one. My experience as a little kid and going to the circus goes something like this:
I was probably about 6 years old and had never been to the circus before and was pretty excited to go. We were living in Seattle at the time and the circus was in Puallup (I'm not sure if I spelled that right). When your 6 the drive from Seattle to Puallup seems like forever, especially if you aren't feeling quite right...My parents had loaded up my brother, sister and me and hit the road. I wasn't feeling too well that day, in fact I was feeling rather nauseous if I remember right. I wasn't about to let that get in the way of my time at the circus though, so I neglected to tell my parents. However, about 10 minutes into the drive I really didn't have to SAY anything as my actions pretty much spoke for me. I was up front sitting pretty cozy between my mom and dad when that sudden urge to puke all over the front seat came upon me...and that is exactly what happened. My parents got to see my breakfast for the second time and we had to turn the car around. I got dropped off at the house with my mom, and my dad took my brother and sister to the circus...without me! So with that said, I am 23 years old and still had not had the chance to experience the circus.
It was actually quite fun and let me tell you, those gymnast-like, monkey swinging guys are awesome! Watching those guys do all those back flips and loopdy do stuff in the air was probably both of our favorite things to watch. I can't fail to mention the big old elephants though, and the very well trained cats and dogs that just did some crazy tricks! Overall, we both had a great time!!
I wish I had some pictures for you, but I forgot to take the camera. Sorry!

Weekend With the Parents

My parents and sister flew over for a weekend trip a couple of weeks ago. It was very nice to see them and we all had a lot of fun. My dad got to check out his all time favorite store, Cabelas and I got to do some shopping with my mom and sister on Friday. It was so fun watching my dad get all excited about Cabelas. He was a like a little kid in Disneyland! I do have to admit though that Cabelas is a very cool store; it really is a hunter's/fisherman's paradise.

On Saturday we all went to a WWI museum in Kansas City. The museum had a lot to it and was filled with tons of information and stuff to look at. Jen and I were pretty much done after about an hour, but we stuck it out! She did end up taking a little break all sprawled out on one of the benches outside of the museum. If you look real close in the picture you should be able to see her! After spending a few hours at the museum we went and had our first Kansas BBQ experience. The food was awesome!! Following dinner we enjoyed a comedy sports show and then ended the night.

The next morning we met for breakfast and then they took off for the airport. Overall it was a great visit and I'm so glad my parents and sister were able to make the trip. Thanks so much for taking the time to come and see us mom and dad!!

Bowdle in October is the next family get together! Wahoo!!

Gunther Update

We've had Gunther for over a month now and are learning more about him all the time. We absolutely love him! He is great entertainment and so much fun to have around. A rabbit really can be a great pet. He comes to us all the time and loves to be petted. He likes to snuggle more often now too! He loves to sprawl out on the couch with his legs stretched out behind him and he gets into these hyper moods where he runs around the house jumping and dodging things like he's in an obstacle course.

We have found out that he gets bored easily with his toys and then will turn to things like the carpet, wooded edges, and our house plant to chew on. He actually jumps into the plant! Because of this we have also found out that he hates being squirted with water! It keeps him from getting in trouble though!

Our Labor Day Weekend

This weekend Derek and I made a 16 hour road trip over to Utah for his nephew's baby blessing and a quick family visit. We left Kansas a little after 6 am on Friday morning and arrived in Utah a little after 9 pm that night. It was a nice visit with the family and we both were happy to see everyone again.

On our way to Utah we decided to drive through Denver since there is a chance we could end up living there. We drove through the industrial part of Denver, which wasn't all that appealing, but once we were about 2o minutes from Denver we both fell in love with what we saw. The beautiful mountains that provide endless weekend getaways of skiing, mountain biking, hiking, and camping got us pretty excited about the idea of leaving Kansas for much prettier and outdoor friendly Colorado.

After spending Saturday in Utah we left Sunday morning and headed towards North Platte, Nebraska to visit my aunt. We thought the drive to Nebraska was only going to be an 8 hour drive, but it turned out to be a 10 hour drive, so we arrived pretty late and tired. We were able to have a nice visit with her Sunday before leaving at around 1 for the last home stretch.

Even though it felt like we spent the whole 4 days in a car, we had a very enjoyable weekend seeing family that we hadn't seen for awhile. However, we have decided that next time we will definitely be flying!!

Hope you all had a good Labor Day weekend as well!