Introducing Kevin and Jessica Chapman

It's not often that a girl actually waits for her missionary - but this girl did... and now all of the waiting is over and they are finally married! On June 3rd, my little brother Kevin married his sweetheart Jessica in the Newport Beach Temple surrounded by lots of family and friends.

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Kevin James Chapman

Of course, my Kevin attended the wedding in style!

Jessica is one of 8 children and Kevin is one of 5...add spouses and you get one heck of a large bridal party! All the girls in cute H&M dresses and shrugs/jewelry from Nordstroms.

All the "Chapman" girls (minus Jessica, who was a little busy!). Left to right: Stacie (my sister), me, Shana (my brother Mark's wife), and Tracy (my brother Steve's wife) is behind us. I LOVE these girls!

Stacie's long time boyfriend Mitch looking cool with Kevin

My brother Mark and his wife Shana (married last summer)

Best looking couple (minus the bride and groom, of course!)

All the men...see how my brother Kevin has his hand in his pocket? Always the little model! Another Chapman girl shot :)

The reception was held outside at the Fullerton Arboretum and it was a beautiful night! We had pasta, salad, yummy bread, and all the red velvet cupcakes you could stuff in your mouth!

The first dance

My nephew Cody chasing the girls on the dance floor!

Cody kept doing push ups on the dance floor (something he learned from his military daddy!) and so the groom and Cody's daddy Steve joined him!

Congrats to the new couple! Best wishes! We love you!

A Day at Scarborough Faire

Every year, the quiet town of Waxahachie, Texas (about a half an hour south of Dallas) is flooded with visitors for the annual Scarborough Renaissance Faire (the "e" at the end of "faire" is very important to give any renaissance faire legitimacy!). The fair runs for 8 weeks and this little nerd really wanted to go.

I posed the idea to my dear husband who instantly thought back to horrible days spent at the Cedar City Renaissance Faire in the blazing heat staring at people speaking in fake accents and ridiculous costumes trying to sell him crafts in a park without shade, and he basically turned me down (worse - he used the "I may have to work that weekend!" excuse). Well, when Kevin's parents were visiting to help Karen and Mike move in to their new place, I convinced everyone how fun it would be to go despite their pre-conceived notions and bad past experiences, and I am glad to say that we all had a really fun time.

There were so many exhibits, booths, shows, yummy food options, and while it was super hot outside, there was plenty of shade to keep cool. And yes, lots of risque costumes and cleavage on display!

Our first stop was the glassblowing demonstration. We didn't get to see the final product because we really wanted to catch the jousting!

Kevin with one of the "knight's" horses

The stands were divided in half to cheer for the knights ("I charge you to cheer for your section's knight").
This was the rival knight - BOO!

Our knight demonstrating his awesome feats of strength by lancing(?) a 4in ring...he, of course, was the better knight and got to compete in the joust against the "green knight"

The green knight met lots of "boos" from our section!

Our knight prevails!

("Dost thus have thou a mug of ale for me and me mate? He has been pitched in battle for a fortnight and has a king's thirst for the frosty brew thus thou might have for thus"…Cable Guy anyone?)

What is going to the Renaissance Faire without getting a huge turkey leg?

Over half of the attendees and all of the workers/exhibitors/performers were in "period" (a very loose term!) costumes that ranged from heavy armor (keep in mind it was in the 90's and there were attendees in FULL ARMOR and wool capes...I don't know how they didn't all die of heat stroke!), to Tarzan style loin cloths, to Lord of the Rings elfish costumes for the men and wenches in every variety and "exposure" level to fairies (a la A Midsummer's Night Dream perhaps?) and royal ladies for the women. It was so interesting to see what everyone interpreted as appropriate for a RENAISSANCE faire. It was seriously like Prom for the Dungeons & Dragons crowd!

Musketeers

Belly dancers

Funny story - so we went to the belly dancing show thinking it would be fun and exotic...well, apparently the standard for Renaissance Faire belly dancers is FAR below what it should be because there were some LARGE, unattractive, "troll-like" (in Kevin's words) women shaking their beer-infused "bowl full of jelly". I am all about being large and beautiful, but when you are large and scantily clad and shaking "what your mamma gave you" I have to say STOP! Please! Have some dignity and put some clothes on!

One of many fairies!

Apparently there were elephant rides during the Renaissance!

Poor baby Dylan (Karen and Mike's little guy) at the end of the day. He was so hot and sweaty that we had to strip him down and soak one of his blankets in cold water to cool him down! He was such a trooper!

Next year we'll plan on going in April when it is cooler!

A Little Boy at Heart

What guy doesn't want a remote control truck? How about a gas powered truck that can go up to 45mph? Well, last month Kevin's sister Karen and her husband Mike moved to Arlington (about 45 minutes from our house) for Mike to start work at an electrical engineering firm in Fort Worth. It has been so much fun having family close by and getting together with them.

Anyway, a few years ago Karen gave Mike a gas powered remote control truck and ever since then, Kevin has been dreaming of the day he could ride his little trucks around the yard with Mike and he made that happen the day they moved in!

Kevin driving his new baby in the empty lot next to ours

Of course, sometimes you roll the truck and it dies (it doesn't like being flipped) and you have to restart it

And sometimes it takes a little more tinkering!

A 50's Girl

I've been a little blue lately. I am not going to lie, it's been a rough couple of months. You've probably noticed my lack of blogging. I promise, Kevin and I don't just sit at home and stare at each other - we do things...I've just stopped blogging about it. Call it indifference or probably more accurately, laziness, but I am kind of in a funk that I have been unable to draw myself out of.

Kevin has been great about all of this - he's been sensitive and patient (well, as patient as Kevin gets, that is) and has tried to draw me out. Well, nothing perks up a girl's mood like a present...a really BIG present.


Yesterday, while I was napping after work, Kevin went to the grocery store for me. And do you know what he brought back for me? A Dyson. He bought me a Dyson vacuum cleaner, the one I have been coveting for a loooooonnnnnngggg time - the big one with the ball, otherwise known as the DC25.

I cried. If you know anything about Kevin, you know that he is NOT prone to making big, expensive gestures like this. I won't call him cheap - just very frugal and very aware of our finances at all times (I can't sneak ANYTHING by him!).


Some of you may be thinking about how it looks for a man to give his wife a VACUUM, of all things (think Father of the Bride when Bryan MacKenzie gives his fiancee Annie Banks a blender and she freaks out and almost calls off the wedding), and the message it sends ("get back in the kitchen wench and don't come out until my dinner is ready!"), but I am stoked!

Kevin promised me (what I assumed was a pie crust promise - easily made, easily broken) that when we got a house, he would also get me a Dyson and then my happiness would be complete. Well, he has kept his promise and has made me the happiest girl ever! I can't wait to banish our old vacuum to the upstairs! I've hated it ever since we bought it and it broke so that the only way to turn the blasted thing off was to pull the plug out of the socket.

Thank you, Kevin! You're the best husband EVER!

How sexy is that ball?

Day at the Races

The Hansens invited us out for a day at the races a few weekends ago and we had so much fun! We didn't place any actual bets, but it was fun trying to figure out how to pick winning horses and rooting for our favorites. If you've never been, it is a lot of fun just to watch the beautiful horses.

St. Patrick's Day Party Pictures...At Last!

I had the greatest intentions of taking pictures of all of my carefully and meticulously planned decorations, food, etc...but it didn't happen. The party started and then was going and then I remembered to snap some photos...so here they are!

We cleared out all of our living room furniture (there isn't much anyway!)
and had seating for 50 people. My mom had sent these great St. Patty's Day dishes and tablecloths and even made cute shamrocks for my centerpieces. I bought different candle holders and candles to add to the centerpieces and accented them with cute beads and candy. I used paper goods for the place settings, but bought pretty gold chargers to make it look a little more formal.

The Jacobs, Krista Hanvey and our awesome realtor Becky Bochniak.

The Walkers, Preeces, and the Farmers

Kevin's cousin Mike Bell and his wife Jessica (live here in Dallas) and Kevin's aunt and uncle Liz and Jim (live in Tyler, Texas)

It was quite the adventure cooking and serving for 50 people, but I think it was a success
(despite the fact that my cornbread muffins were as hard as a rock!) and we can't wait for next year's St. Patty's Day bash!

No...It Didn't Just Snow in Dallas - These are Just Really Old Pictures!!

We had several "big" snow storms this year in Dallas...while the rest of the East Coast was stuck under 4 feet of snow, we were boasting our own snow fall record - 1 foot! In TEXAS!! It was really neat...and here is the evidence if you don't believe me!

This is the lake near our house

I love this red barn! It looked gorgeous covered in snow!

This is the view from our 2nd story back windows...see the barn? It's the same one in the picture above and do you know what? They filmed several episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger there...so, yeah, we practically know Chuck Norris!