The Kassel Family Project Life 365

Somebody’s getting older!  Our Little Man’s Kindergarten Registration packet came in the mail today.  I cannot believe he starts Kindergarten in six months!  Time is going too, too fast…

Z-O-U!  After an early dinner, we sat down to watch Mizzou play Arkansas in Men’s Basketball.  John loves to watch sports with Daddy.  As we hoped, Mizzou gave Arkansas quite the beat down and finished the year 17-0 at home.  Now, if only their away record was as good…

After a great lunch at Red Robin with the Spiegels, we drove the last six hours home to Columbia.

It was a great trip and we had a fantastic time (even *with* the 24 hours in a car)!  Thanks to the Spiegels for putting up with us for two nights!  Congratulations to Ian and Amanda and may you have many, many years of happiness!  I will say though that it is always good to be Home Sweet Home.

After breakfast, we packed up the truck and began our trip home.  Like we did on the way down to New Orleans, we stopped at the Spiegel Household to spend the night.  Stopping at their place both times really helped to make the trip so much easier on all of us.  As a bonus, we got to see friends that we hadn’t seen in a while.  It was great to hang out and spend some time with them!  Tonight, we went to dinner at Corky’s BBQ and chatted the evening away.  The kids played all night and had a great time.  It was really great to see them again and we will definitely be going back to visit sometime!

Today is the day and what a day it was!  It was so very worth the trip to New Orleans.  Ian was married once before and this wedding was so different from the first.  The first time around Ian seemed more “along for the ride.”  This time, you could tell that Ian was truly happy and that Amanda is “his lobster.”  (See the “Friends reference there?  I watched that episode recently and it really fits here.)    Congratulations Ian and Amanda and we wish you many, many years of happiness!  Marriage isn’t always easy, but something tells me that when it gets tough, you’ll make it to the other side and you’ll be stronger together than you were before.  We love you both!  Now, on to pictures….

The wedding ceremony was short and straight to the point.  It was beautiful and Ian and Amanda were both teary-eyed.  It was amazing to watch it all.  We couldn’t be happier for them!

It’s nights like tonight that remind me that Andy and I have a great marriage.  Marriage is work, but it’s a great job.  We’ve had our rough spots, but we’ve made it through.  There is simply no one that I would rather work with.  We have a great life, a great family, and we’ll be there together 30 years from now.

It was great to see the brothers again.  I love these men!

While Laura didn’t catch the bouquet, it did come home with us!  The person who caught it thought that our beautiful little redhead needed it.  “New” Aunt Amanda agreed!

In case you were wondering, John had a whole lot of fun too.  Despite a rocky start because he fell asleep in the car on the way to the wedding, he was at full go by the end of the night.  I think his favorite part was playing with Uncle Scot…  Or maybe cake.  I’m not sure which!

It was great to see everyone and we really enjoyed ourselves.  Welcome to the family Amanda Dinsmor!  We are so thrilled to call you our Sister-in-Law!

After a great morning at the Spiegel Household, we left for New Orleans for the second leg of our trip.  The driving was uneventful and we only hit traffic right at the end.  It was Friday afternoon rush hour after all.  We got to our hotel about 5:45 and it was a race to get showered, ready, and back out the door to get to the rehearsal.  The kids were great and looked so cute in their rehearsal outfits.

We ended up being a bit late to the rehearsal, but we made it!  It was great to see everyone, but it also dawned on me that I had brought the completely wrong dress.  The wedding was being held outside and it was unseasonably cold in New Orleans.  I brought a dress for 70-degree weather and not for 40-degree weather.  Looks like a trip to the mall tomorrow!  After the rehearsal, we headed to R & Os for a fantastic dinner.  We had to wait for a table, but it was all good because we got to hang out and talk to everyone.  It was great to see all of our family and to meet Amanda’s family.  They are awesome, by the way!  The kids had a great time (as did Andy and I), but we were all tired by the end of the night.  It was back to the hotel for bed and dreamland.