New addition for the Parker's in Nixa, MO

I almost forgot to mention the most exciting news from the weekend. There is a new addition to the Parker family, Doug’s parents got a new dog and her name is Pepper. She looks adorable and we can’t wait to meet her in a few more weeks!

Is it Friday yet?!???

Well, Memorial weekend sure went fast! We didn’t end up making it out to Omaha to visit the zoo on Saturday like we had planned. The weather didn’t look like it was going to hold up so we’ll have to make it out there some other time.

Our cancelled trip to Omaha turned out to be the best thing for Sophie Monster. We took her down to the Downtown Farmer’s Market Saturday morning. Everyone seemed to have a comment to make about her, guess that’s what happens when you’re the size of a small country. She had tons of fun stepping on people’s feet, backing her rear end up into the vendor stands and enjoying all the smells that come along with the market. After that trip we took her to the BBQ competition in Valley Junction. We met up with the future Mr. and Mrs. Matt Ross and enjoyed a few beverages while scoping out the food selections. After a long day of walking around Sophie was tired and couldn’t keep her eyes open on the way home. She spent the rest of the weekend exhausted, a welcomed change of pace!

Sunday we took my dad out to O’Charley’s for his birthday lunch, had a good time visiting with my parents. After lunch we stopped by Schaffer’s so Doug could get his measurements for the Ross’s wedding coming up in July! My mom also got to see my wedding dress but we weren’t able to find the bridesmaid dresses, have to wait to show her those till one of them comes in. After all of that excitement Doug and I finally had some time to spend a few hours in Des Moines so we went looking at rings ;) what girl doesn’t like to go look at pretty diamonds?! After a few hours and several different stores we decided on our wedding sets. Procrastination will not be an issue with us; patience on the other hand will be tested as we are now 380 days away from our wedding.

Sunday evening was full of fun when we headed over to Abe and Stormy’s house for a backyard BBQ complete with a concert by Dick Prall (fabulous musician – LOVE his work). Doug and I played a few rounds of bag toss and then tried our luck at lawn darts. Now I know why those things are dangerous!

We closed out the weekend celebrations on Memorial Day with a trip up to Ames for some lunch at Hickory Park and a walk through Reimen Gardens at Iowa State University. That evening we had dinner with family to celebrate Grandpa Paul’s 79th birthday!

Busy, Busy.....

We have a break from football and an extra long weekend, but there never seem to be enough hours in the day! Saturday we'll be heading to Nebraska and going to the zoo. Sunday is full of cleaning, my dad's birthday lunch, friends BBQ at night and hopefully we will finally go shopping for the wedding rings! Monday we plan to go to Ames and walk around the gardens and then my grandpa has his birthday dinner in the evening.

It will be a super busy weekend but we're looking forward to catching up with friends and family. Then on Tuesday we'll be back at it with football practice and getting ready for when the Iowa Thunder take on MO at our next home game, May 30th at Johnston High School.