Did I tell you guys...

...That I WON this awesome blog design? Yep, its true. I won it in a contest by Glitter and Ink. You should check this chica out. She is totally awesome!

Last Saturday...

Was a gorgeous day for a wedding! Especially an outside wedding. Gary and I were invited to the wedding of one of his work friends. I have never met the bride, and I only met the groom once, so I didn't want to be that creepy girl taking pictures. I brought my camera though, and just took pictures from my seat.

Here are my favorites

The Groom. He was so nervous. It was really sweet.

Beautiful bride:

Sealed with a kiss!

Those three are my favorite. I also got a few details I liked.

Groom's Cake

I'm pretty sure someone in the family made the cake, the groom's cake and ALL of the food! Insane. It was all really good!

I liked this girl's hair.

Anyway, this wedding was laid back, sweet and it was cute to see a couple so in love!

Tasty Dwelling

-Karen

Museum of Natural Science

I'm very, very far behind... but here's another vacation post.

On the way to Mississippi, we wanted to get out and stretch our legs. We stopped in Jackson at The Museum of Natural Science. We only had an hour before it closed, but it was a fun pit stop.

My camera was dead, so I didn't get a ton of photos. The ones I did get I believe were on my phone.

A two-headed snake.

I got bored while Vincent and Gary were in the bathroom...

We were the last ones out.

Of course we couldn't pass up this giant ant!

I think there are more photos somewhere, but you get the jist. I wish we could have stayed longer, but it was fun. If you're ever in Jackson, Mississippi, stop and visit the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.

My Momma's 50th!

September 22, 1961 - My mom was born.

September 22, 2011- She turned half a century old!

For her birthday, my sister, myself and my aunts and uncles decided to throw her a birthday bash! We planned for several weeks. Everyone knew, even Vincent...

Leading up to the party, we weren't really sure if mom knew about the party or not...

It was my job to get her there. To do this, I planned for her, Gary's mom and I to go wedding dress shopping- mainly because I knew she wouldn't say no. I went with her and tried on many ugly wedding dresses. Then, we went and looked at rings (and I accidentally bought one!) to "stall."

Overall, the party went swimmingly! Here are a few of my favorite shots.

What we did know would be a surprise...my aunt flew my sister from Iowa to attend the party. Mom was so happy to see her she cried!

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Me,my niece Cortney and my sister.

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My mom and her brother David.

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Silly sisters.

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The clan. My mom, sister, brother, and two grandkids Cortney and Vincent.

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My mom (right) and her friend Tammy.

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My cousin Lucas and his baby Abelin.

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My brother and niece.

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Birthday girl

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My uncle, Ken, and cousin Makenna.

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My mom with her sisters Donna (left) and Michelle (right) and her brother David. Missing are her brother Danny and sister Judy.

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My mom and a partier.

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My cousin Scott's beautiful wife Katie and daughter Celia.

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My friend Heidi and her daughter Paige.

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My goodness.

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A present... ha!

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Me and my bear.

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My mom and aunt Gina.

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I'm not sure she's over the hill quite yet... but you know...

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50 years young!

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Cupcake pom-pom I made. I totally stole the idea from this blog, which i Love!

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Cute and easy!

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Details. My aunt Chris totally rocked these cute centerpieces.

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Strawberry, angel food cake and pineapple kabobs to go with the chocolate fountain. My signature thing is the chocolate fountain, but the kabobs were also from Open Heart Window.

Gifts!

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My little cutie!

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Pretty sister.

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Mom blowing out her candles.

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My aunt Donna made the cake.

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It turned out that the party WAS a surprise! Mom was so happy and I was glad to have made her 50th special. I didn't get pictures of the rest of the food, but it was DELICIOUS! We had salad, pork tenderloin, cupcakes, mostaccioli, another salad, rolls... I know I'm forgetting stuff, but it was really good.

I was so happy that everyone was able to work together to do something special for mom.

Cheers to another 50!