Beers, A Wedding & A Graduation

The last weekend in May was a busy one, hence why it has taken us a week to recover and blog about it. Friday we left Geneseo about 4 p.m. and headed towards Nashville, TN for my "little sis" and good buddy Nathan's wedding on Saturday. We stopped in Mahomet for gas, and some yummy Monicals pizza. I was jonesin' for some Monicals, one of the things I miss from C-U. We were back on the road after filling our tummies and the fuel tank, but had to make an unscheduled stop at the rest stop just south of Champaign for about 15 minutes to wait out the most wicked storm... that at one point included hail. Back on the road, and we stopped for the night in Mt. Vernon. Saturday we hit the road for Nashville, and and stopped at Yazoo brewery for the afternoon. Thank you Nathan & Stacey for having a 6:30 wedding!!!! Yazoo was lots of fun, had great beer, and we could have stayed longer. I reminded us bit of what Schlafly Brewery in St. Louis was probably like about 5-10 years ago. Definitely a similar vibe, everyone was totally loving their jobs and the beer. We had a great time. After a bit of a traffic jam due to construction we finally made it to our hotel in Franklin, TN and met up with Nikki to go the wedding.

The wedding was outdoors at the Carnton Plantation. It was beautiful. Stacey looked stunning, and Nathan although a tiny bit nervous, looked ridiculously happy. The reception was fancy yet totally casual and just relaxing and fun. Ironically enough they served Yazoo beer, so that was good. And in lieu of a cake they had a sundae bar... yummy and totally hit the spot after more than our share of graduation cake. The wedding was super special for lots of reasons, it was the first one Eric and I went to as husband and wife and well that was just kind of fun, Nathan & Stacey met and started dating the same time as Eric and I, had a long distance relationship, and got engaged and married about the same time we did so that has been kind of fun. But most of all it was special because even though I haven't had the opportunity to get to know Stacey all that well I can tell that she makes Nathan so happy (and she is totally cool to boot) and to quote "Friends" it is very obvious that "She's his Lobster!". I also got to meet Nathan's mom, who I got to know a bit through comments on Nathan's blog. Way cool... I enjoy the Moms.

Sunday we left Franklin at about 8 a.m. to start the drive home, stopping in Carlinville for the afternoon/evening to see my nephew, Eric (the other Eric, Eric Pfeiffer) graduate from high school. Kind of amazing that he is a high school graduate. Seems like yesterday he was sucking his thumb and dragging around his blanket aka "Keewawa". He plans to got to SIU-Edwardsville in the fall to study biology. He eventually wants to be a dentist. After the ceremony we hung out at Jan & Larry's for a bit and had a light supper and then headed for home.

Needless to say it was a LONG and tiring weekend, but totally worth the time and effort to share some very special moments with family and friends.

Trifecta Complete

We spent the majority of the long weekend in Gibson City doing the graduation thing. All three of my brother's kids had a graduation to celebrate... Jeremy from 8th grade, Taylor from high school and Ashley from college. Friday night we went to Jeremy's ceremony and then to Jayne and Phil's house for a little party for Jeremy and Ashley. It was a fiesta theme so Eric & I enjoyed the margarita's. Saturday we ventured to C-U to have lunch with Nikki at Murphy's... great burgers, fresh cut fries AND they had Schlafly on tap. We then went to visit Jeanne & Ted in St. Joseph. We headed back to GC and went to Taylor's party on Saturday night. She had a party with two of her best friends so it was at the local banquet center and the highlight was a chocolate fountain! Sunday after lazing around a bit we went to Taylor's graduation ceremony... kudos to the GCMS high school administration... it took about 40 minutes... short and sweet which was a blessing since the gym was a bit of a sauna on a 90 degree day. Afterwards I got to visit with two family friends who I haven't seen in forever who were back their for their nephew's graduation... and my good buddy, Lisa, from high school who was there for her nephew... ahh what good aunts we are.

I can't believe "the baby" will be in high school next fall. I remember when Jeremy used to farm the living room and dining room with his toy tractors. And what's up with Ashley being an official grown up? I still remember the cute little girl looking out the window at the farm saying repeatedly... "Cows! See 'em? Moo!!". She will be off to grad school this fall if her interview went her way, or will be working for a year or two to get some job experience before she applies again. And Miss Taylor will be a college girl in the fall... seems like yesterday she was three and cutting off a big chunk of her blond hair. She will actually be moving closer to us, attending Augustana College and participating in track. Whoop, Whoop... that is a short 45 minute drive for us to Rock Island. She has assured us that we are welcome come visit and take her to dinner anytime. Hopefully we will get to take in a few track meets too.

We headed home after the ceremony on Sunday. That gave us Sunday evening and all day Monday to just chill and relax. Monday was the best day... we didn't have to do anything... and we didn't! I seriously don't think we have both had a day like that since we moved into the house. We slept late and just rested up. It did a world of good... I was actually awake and ready to work this morning... and had a productive day as a result.

Well that's it for now... congrats to three-fifths of the Fab Five.