The Twins are coming!

The twins are coming tomorrow! Chad and Cory have been two of our very best friends all through college. SO excited to see them... We saw them back in May at Jerica and Chandler's wedding but that feels like ages ago for some reason. They get in tomorrow night... I have to work on Friday unfortunately. They've got an early morning tee time... I hope to be off work early, but we'll see how that goes. It's end of the month and things always get crazy here around that time. Friday night we've got some great seats at the Cards/Phillies game. Saturday we might get an early nine holes in since I won't get to play with them Friday then I think
we are going to head to the wineries. There are 20 or wineries
within 20 minutes of our house... breath-taking views and great
wine... what more can you ask for?? Saturday night is kind of up
for grabs but I'm sure we'll grab dinner and head out on the town
of Washington, MO Exciting stuff.

Keep them in your thoughts for safe travel. I will try and take a
bunch of pictures. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Fun with the Fam...

So we had SUCH a great weekend with Brian's family, but I gotta say, I'm exhausted. Friday I had to work of course, but Brian and the fam went golfing and then grilled out at the house for lunch. After I got off work we all headed to the Cardinals game to watch them beat the Padres (we took the series 4-0). Saturday we had breakfast at the house and then headed to Grants Farm. Ulysses S. Grant lived there at some point in his life and now it is owned by the Anheuser Busch family. It's sort of like a mini zoo. The goat pictures below are from Grants farm... those little guys were SO cute. They give you bottles to feed to them. They kept nibbling on Brian and Brad's pants... But anyway... it was a lot of fun. Saturday night we went to my parents house for a BBQ, and Sunday we just hung out until it was time to take his Dad and brother Garrett to the airport. Brad and Janelle (Brad's girlfriend) didn't leave until yesterday night. So all in all it was a great weekend... it was good to see everyone and really get a chance to catch up.

Last night Brian and I went and saw Batman with my mom. We all thought it was really good. It definitely lived up to all of the rave reviews I've heard so far.

Ok well short post but lots of pictures for once! Enjoy!! Hope everyone has a great week... and hey at least it's not Monday!

St. Louis is grieving the loss...

The inevitable has happened... around here it's huge news, but some of you probably haven't heard or just don't care. ha. Anheuser Busch is no longer "The great AMERICAN lager". A couple of days ago a company from Belgium called InBev bought Anheuser Busch for $72 a share. For weeks there have been talks of this happening. There were plenty of petitions and protesting, but in the end it just came down to greed and money. St. Louis has been known as the home of Budweiser ever since they began. Apparently the headquarters are going to remain here in St. Louis, but it won't ever be the same. Many people will lose their jobs. I wouldn't be surprised if some people who swear by the Busch family brand put down their Bud Light and go for other tastes. It's all this town is talking about... everyone is seriously crushed. I had no idea it would have this sort of effect on people. It's obviously not about the beer... its about the legacy the Busch family has created here, the Clydesdales, the flying eagle (it's a billboard) as you drive down hwy 40 from downtown after the Cardinals have won yet another game at BUSCH stadium... It just goes to show that no amount of tradition and legacy can stand up to the big bucks and people's love for money. Sad.

On a much happier note... Brian's family gets in tonight!! His Dad, his brother Brad, Brad's girlfriend Janelle, and his 9 year-old (I think) half brother Garrett. We are SO excited to have them. Brian NEVER gets to see his family and I feel SO terrible about that. His dad lives in LA so we really only see him once or twice a year. I cannot imagine only seeing my dad once or twice a year... it would kill me. Tonight we are all just having a home cooked meal at the house once everyone gets in. Tomorrow I have to work unfortunately, but that will give Brian a chance to hang out with them. I think he plans on taking them golfing and grilling out at the house. Tomorrow night we are headed to the Cards game... always a good time. Saturday we aren't too sure yet... there are so many fun things to see and do in St. Louis... we wanted to let them decide. We could go the FREE Zoo (which by the way is the second best zoo in the nation...), take a tour of the Budweiser Brewery (while it's still American-owned!), head to the Science Center, Grants Farm... the possibilities are endless. Whatever we do I promise to take lots of pictures. I've been slacking on that for quite sometime now.

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!!

Howard Update...

Hello there... so it's been quite sometime since I've posted. Time has been FLYING by these past few weeks. I complain at work that the days go by so slow, but they really don't. It will be Friday afternoon before I know it. Or at least I hope so...

So let's see... what's new? Well not a whole lot really. We had a good weekend. Friday we went out to dinner for my Mom's birthday... Brian and I got her a really nice knife set from Williams-Sonoma. She needed new knives so badly. Saturday Brian went out job hunting traveling from Fire House to Fire House. He filled out applications and dropped his resume off. That's about all we can do except pray that something comes up. It's such a competitive business. Once you are in you never leave so it's hard to find openings. He starts Paramedics school in August so that will be about another year and half of school. I'm so excited that he's doing it, but we aren't going to get to see much of each other during that time period. When he's not in class, he'll be up at the hospital working on his clinical hours, or working. BUT... it's only a year and half and I'm SO proud of him. He's truly living out his dream of becoming a fireman/paramedic.

Sunday we went to church and played a round of golf. Brian and I have been playing a couple times a week for the past couple of months, and I must say it has really improved our games. I'm so glad that it's something we both enjoy and can do together. We are going to Hilton Head, SC in September with my family and I cannot wait to play golf on some amazing courses.

On another note... I feel like Brian and I have seen quite a few movies/shows lately that I wanted to recommend... or not recommend to you...

Hancock.... FUN summer movie. I always look forward to summer because of movies like this. It was funny/sad/heart-warming etc. I think the ending could have been a bit more in depth, but again I say... it was a fun summer movie. Worth seeing in the theaters for sure.

Wall-e. We saw this on Saturday night with my parents. Really cute - as I'm sure you imagined it would be. I heard some reviews that said it was better than any Pixar film ever made. NO - Toy Story... all time favorite. Not sure they could ever top that, however, it was cute. Not sure if I would say that's its worth seeing in the movie theater though.

THIS was a GOOD movie. Seriously... VERY suspenseful. I was on the edge of my seat the entire movie. Brian and I bought this movie a week or so ago, and I'm so glad we did. It is so different the way they directed this movie... they literally show the first 15 minutes of the movie several times from different vantage points. A MUST rent/buy.

Brian got me into this show... we bought the first two seasons this past weekend because they are about to start up a new season on FX this fall. SO GOOD. It pays A LOT of tribute to 9/11, and you just don't see that much anymore... it's sad. I must admit there are a few racy scenes... sort of like Nip/Tuck, but not THAT explicit. We plan to watch all of the first 3 seasons before season 4 starts up here in a few weeks. We seriously watched like 7 episodes yesterday alone... ha ha.

OK well that's all for now. I am the biggest movie dork, so I'll keep you posted if we see anything else in the near future. Hope everyone has a great week!