Motor City Weekend

Luke and I spent last weekend in Detroit, MI for his "cousin" Al's wedding.  What a GREAT weekend it was!!

We left super early Friday morning so we could enjoy the entire day together and explore a little of Detroit before the rehearsal dinner.  Flights were wonderful, but getting our rental car what a little time consuming... Oh well, we were not going to let a little (LONG) wait in line at the rental car counter ruin our fun weekend together!

So, off we were to find our hotel, something to eat, and get ready for a fun night of family, food and great entertainment.

I have to say, Anna's aunt and uncle hosted a magnificent rehearsal dinner.  They were so gracious to have us all over to their AMAZING backyard party area for a fun filled evening!  Seriously, anyone that would get a chance to see this backyard would be blown away!  Fill size (Tiki) bar, stone pizza oven, FULL size kitchen AND a smoker room!  Seriously.... not to mention the gorgeous waterfall and landscaping.  BREATHTAKING  AND.... they built it ALL BY THEMSELVES!  

Rehearsal Dinner

Al and Anna with their parents

The amazing pizza oven

They had a build-your-own-pizza menu... YUMMY!

(Sorry, I thought I got a BIG PICTURE of the entire backyard, but I guess I didn't...  Just take my word, it was AMAZING!)

Saturday morning Luke was off to do "groomsmen stuff" and I was L-A-Z-Y!  It felt OUTSTANDING!  I slept until 10:30, worked out, had Starbucks coffee freshly brewed in our room... I mean I was in heaven!  (it's the little things in life that just make me so happy these days!)  Perfect way to start off the day.  

Then, it was time to get ready and head off to the wedding.  I just have to say, Al and Anna's wedding was pretty much one of my all time favorite weddings!  So unique, special, and very, very pretty!  I LOVED the venues (both the wedding venue and reception) I loved the settings, the colors... it was all so pretty.  And to top off the night, Jimmy Buffett and Lionel Richie were playing at the stadium right below the reception area.  PERFECT night!  

The wedding was in a bank building in downtown Detroit...  Seriously, you would have NEVER known you were in an office type building.  How cool was this place?  (see pics below)  Then we were off to a ROOF TOP reception just down the street. 

Time to head to the wedding

The Ceremony

AMAZING setting!

(So unique and modern)

Not the best pic, but you can get an idea of the guest seating

Al's Parent's

Frank and Nola

Al and Anna's Aunt Lisa

Nice looking bunch!

Al's Nieces - the flower girls

Al's Niece Lilah wanted to pick up the flowers and "do it again"

So CUTE!

Al's brother Nick played and sang a beautiful song

The Morawiecki Family

Time for some Cocktails!

The Reception

First Dance

Oh yes, Anna and Al even had Charlie and the Chocolate

Factory playing on the brick wall!  So awesome!

JIMMY!!

Such a fabulous weekend!  Thank you Al and Anna for allowing us to be apart of your very special day!  It was perfect!!

And a special thank you goes out to Grandma and Grandpa Gunderson for coming to Sioux Falls and watching Mr. Man while mommy and daddy got away!  

First Hair Cut

Well, we finally did it...  We took Jameson for his very first hair cut!  And to be honest, it wasn't as emotional as I thought it would be.  As most of the pictures show, Jameson was born with a full head of hair and never lost it...  Which in turn = CRAZY hair for the last 12 months :-)  Don't get me wrong, I LOVED his long golden locks, but it was starting to get in his eyes and it was getting harder and harder to "tame" on a daily basis.

I knew it was going to (possibly) be difficult to make J sit still long enough for someone to attempt to cut his hair, but he (overall) did a pretty good job.  He wasn't too sure about the electric clippers pretty much the entire haircut, but he made it through.  Jameson also sat on the barber chair all by himself for about half of the cut and then decided he was about done... So, bring in mommy (daddy was also getting his hair cut so he was a little occupied) and a lap full of hair later, he was looking like a strapping young boy!!!

Jameson went in looking like a BABY and left looking like a LITTLE BOY!

(oh and FYI - the gal cutting his hair measured the hair on top of his head... It was 5 INCHES long!!)

Here we go!

Finished Product!

BIG News for a BIG 1 Year Old!

Oh Yes... FIRST STEPS ON HIS FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!

We are such proud parents :-)

After a weeks worth of practice, our little man is practically "running" around the house.  He has gained a ton of confidence over the last week.  It's so much fun to watch Jameson figure out balance, how to turn and get himself back up once he falls down. 

Way to go Mr. Man!  We love you! 

Birthday Week - Party Pics

The entire day was absolutely PERFECT!  I could not have asked or wished for the party to have gone any better!  Thank you to all our family and friends that helped us celebrate our little man's first birthday!  You truly made our day so special and memorable.

(I have to admit, these are only a FEW of the pictures I have received so far, but at least you can get a glimpse of the birthday extravaganza!)

Grandma and Grandpa Pictures

Me, J and Mal

Lee, Laura and J

BFF's!

Mommy and Daddy Pictures

Party Time!

Birthday Cakes

Jameson's "smash" cake

Let the mess begin!

Look at that full belly!

 Brenda, Mal and J

Birthday Week - Decorations

So as I mentioned before, I decided it would be a great idea to MAKE the decorations for the party...  Honestly, it was a lot of fun, but a little more stressful then I had imagined since the party was not here in Sioux Falls, rather it was in Onalaska at my parent's house.

I've had a lot of people ask to see pictures of the party, so here are the party decoration pictures!

(Again, thank you to everyone that helped put this amazing party together!)  

Upstairs Decorations

(Thank you Jana for the website on how to make these)

You can't see them all that well,

but all the food had Sesame Street table tent labels

ie: Counts Corn Salsa

Big Bird Mac n' Cheese

(THANK YOU to Mal for providing all the primary color + Green and Orange serving dishes)

Oscar the Grouch "Trash Mix"

and

Elmo Punch

 I took this picture Friday night, so it is missing the pictures,

but you can get an idea of what the mantel looked like

Entryway Table

Months 1-11 photos of Jameson

Kitchen Table center piece

Basement

Overall picture of the tables in basement

I know, call my crazy, but yes I did buy a REAL fish

One of the centerpieces was "Dorothy" 

(Elmo's pet fish)

This was actually my favorite...

Cookie Monster jar filled with Oreos