What is This Made Of?!

We are currently in the process of remodeling our living room . . . .



















 I LOVE this style fireplace, but feel like it would get rather dirty since we still have a wood stove and not a gas fireplace.

Anybody know what material the white mantel is made of?

Also, would love to hear about any websites to go to for design inspiration!! :)

Bryce & Bowen's Birthday Party!

My niece, Bryce, and my nephew, Bowen, celebrated their 3rd and 1st birthdays (respectively) in August.



I really can't believe they are that old already! Time sure flies when you are having fun!


Bryce was a princess!



And Bowen was a prince!


These two have made my life better in so many ways! Bryce is starting to interact so much more and say the cutest, most funny things! And Bowen is starting to interact more too and actually ran to give me a hug! Melted my heart! I really don't know how they can get any cuter, but it always seems to happen! I can't wait to watch them grow and learn even more!

Sky High Adventure Park!

For our 4th anniversary, Shaney & I went to Sky High Adventure Park at Holiday Valley in Ellicottville, NY!

It was an outdoor adventure with an aerial park and a mountain coaster!

Our trip to Germany started our love for these kinds of zip line parks!

Let me tell you the difference though . . . in Germany it was $15 cheaper per person and you got to stay in the park all day, where as at Holiday Valley you only had a 3 hour pass.

It was definitely a lot more "idiot-proof" here in the US. The way the mechanisms work, you always had to be on a safety line so you never felt like you were going to fall. (It was still scary sometimes though!) The obstacle Shane is on in the above picture, those pegs you put your feet on would roll if you didn't have your weight distributed correctly.

Shane thinks the obstacles at Sky High were a lot easier than the ones in Germany, but I felt like it was pretty similar. There might have been 1 or 2 harder obstacles in Germany.

After the ropes course we got to ride a mountain coaster!

We were going to go to Hocking Hills instead, but Sky High was a lot closer! We definitely had a blast and are so glad we went! :)

Germany & Paris . . Here We Come!

 It's official!!

Shaney and I booked our flights to Germany last night! :)

We are going to visit Shane's brother Dan, and his wife, Marissa!

We are also going to visit Paris, France!

EXCITED!!!!

Any suggestions of where to go, where to stay, what to do in Paris?!
*(keep in mind that we will be going over when it's cold outside)*

Webcam 101 for Seniors

Lady A Concert @ The Crawford County Fair!

Last weekend Shaney and I went to the Crawford County Fair with his brother (Bry) and Bry's wife (Sommer)! I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited to see my favorite band, Lady Antebellum.

Below, Stealing Angels, opened for them.

They were ok. Cute girls. Good voices. Nothing I'd write to home about.

 

 

They played some party songs after Stealing Angels, before Lady A to get people pumped, and this older lady was getting jiggy with it! We (entire row in front and behind us) were all snickering about her, but really . . . I hope I can still enjoy myself that much when I'm her age, because she was having a blast! You go girl!

Eeek!! There they are!

Such. An. AMAZZZZING. Concert.

I feel bad for the people in front of me because I was singing along to every song they played (being in chorus in grade school and high school did me no help)!

I was LOVING every single minute of this concert. I got so lost in their music and the performance!

I mean seriously . . . aren't they awesome?!

Here is where they wanted us to sing!

Have you heard of the song A Little Bit Stronger that Sara Evans sings? Did you know that Hillary Scott from Lady A wrote that song?!

She did! And here she is singing it! I just love how Charles Kelley is looking at her all proud! So cute! Makes me think this band will last a long time, which makes me super happy considering every song on their first 2 albums (only 2 so far) are amazing!!

Living it up!

You know the routine . . "Thanks for coming! We love you guys! See you later!" . . .

"Oh ok. I guess we'll do an encore since you stayed and cheered for us!" I mean. . do they really even have to pretend anymore?! But still. . . glad they came back out and performed one of their songs off their new album, Just A Kiss!

I can't wait until their new album comes out September 13th!!! Thanks for an amazing concert Lady A & the Crawford County Fair! It made the 45 minute wait just to get out of the parking lot worth it!! :)

Lakehouse : The Crew!

A couple weekends ago Shane and I got to take KC, Mase, Josh, Nikkie, Matt, KT, & Mike to the lakehouse! It was a blast!

We had buffalo chicken tacos for lunch when we got there:

And then headed out on the boat . . .

Did some tubing:

Had break time with some snackies and drinkies:

Then Mase & I were trying to work up enough courage to jump in (it was cold) . . .

(Doesn't it really look like KT & KC's hands were on our bums?!)

1, 2, . . . . . . 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SKANK fun on the tube:

Nikkie, Matt, & The Chautauqua Belle

Some paddleboating:

Then that night we headed to Bemus Point's Village Casino

KT & Mike got splashed on the way . . .

We played catchphrase while we waited for our food . . on the boat . . . awesome.

Then we headed back to the lake house:

We had some smores, played pigged out or something like that where you roll pigs, then celebrated KT's birthday with a yummy cake Mase made.

The next morning we had eggs and toast and fruit and juice and donuts! Yum!

Then we headed out back on the lake!

And did some tubing!

Mase got lakeweed on her:

And we did some more tubing:

(I don't know how we didn't fall off here . . . ) 
*photo credit : Mase

Such an amazing weekend! Great food! Great weather! Great place to stay (Thanks Don & Rita!)! Great friends! Great times!