80's Party!

This past weekend our friends Keith and Mary threw a 1980's themed party to celebrate Keith's birthday.  It was an absolute blast!!  It was seriously one of the best  parties I've been to...ever...and I was the DD!  Super fun! 

James wanted to try on his Daddy's wig...I hope he doesn't look like this when his hair finally grows...yikes!

The extremely stylish and fashion forward females.

A hillbilly, a few rockers and a preppy...lookin good!

Keith and Mary, the amazing hosts and stars of the party! 

Ya, we look THAT good!  Now you can see where James gets his coloring!  check out those white legs!  oh baby!

  The super hot rocker couple, Erin and Daniel.  And yes, Daniel is wearing skin-tight zebra pants!  they were awesome and proved extremely efficient for the break dancing that took place later in the night.

Jess and Steve, the FlashDancer and Rocker.  These two are so much fun, wow, we need to hang out with them more! 

Joe and Christina, the preppy couple! 

Jess and Christina.

Keith and his tight rolled pants.

Mary made these delicious desserts from scratch:  Banana Cheesecake, Tiramisu, and Chocolate Cherry Cake.

Mary presented these amazing tiramisu martini desserts to Keith and I for our birthdays and everybody sang, it was so sweet.  Thanks for thinking of me Mary, it was so nice! 

So someone got the great idea that since we were all looking so fine, we should go show ourselves off.  We ended up going to O'Connors Pub, dancing our tails off, and having a blast! 

Daniel's dancing skills were on point!  He was tearing up the dance floor!

Awww...who is this gorgeous couple?  ;-)

Friday Night Photos

We are so thankful to have friends with such amazing photography talents.  This week Regan got a new lens that she needed to try out before a photo session with a customer on Sunday, so we got to be the test case!  Yay!!  She snapped these shots on Friday night before Steven and I went out to dinner for my birthday.  Regan not only took these great photos, but also watched James for us that night.  It was so nice to get away and have a relaxing dinner together without cheerios and constant entertaining!  Thank you Regan! 

This one is my favorite.  My two sweet guys...love love love!

Vote for Steven James

Gerber has a sweepstakes that gives away a $25,000 scholarship once a month to the baby with the most votes!  Please take a few seconds and vote for James by clicking the link below.  If you have problems, then you can search the babies for "Steven" and his picture will pop up.  You have to click "vote," then copy the code they provide, and finally verify your vote through email.  Sounds like a lot but just takes a minute! 
Thanks to all!

Vote For Steven James by clicking Here!!

Labor Day Weekend Festivities

Steven, James and I went to Fort Wayne for a little family get-away over the extended holiday weekend.   I picked up Steven from Ft. Knox after I left Lexington, and we drove together up to Ft. Wayne...this is a big deal...the last three times I've been home I've driven by myself, so it was so nice to have some company and help with James.  We made it home Thursday night and spent Friday visiting my grandparents and hanging out with family.  My Grandma Dowling also surprised me with an early birthday gift...an amazing massage with a friend of hers that has his own massage business.  It was excellent and perhaps one of the best I've ever had, I'll definitely be going back!  Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa D!

We spent Saturday at the wedding festivities of Lea and Nick Oberhausen.  Lea's parents are my Godparents and some of my parent's best friends, and they threw one heck of a party!  The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and so fun.  They had the BEST BAND I've ever heard.....EVER!  It was a three man band and they played everything from oldies, to rap, country, R&B, the blues, you name it.  They were so good, it took us a while to realize that it wasn't a DJ playing the originals!  The lead singer was so great at mingling with the party and playing what we all wanted to hear, he really was unbelievable!!  Wish we would've had him at our wedding!  Nice work finding him Fridley's!!

Finally, on Sunday we celebrated my Grandpa Quance's 85th birthday.  We all went to the lake for fun, sunshine, a fish fry, homemade ice cream, cake, and cornhole.  We were hoping to swim, but it didn't get much above 70, so that was out, but we had a blast anyway!  Happy Birthday Grandpa!

All of us kids and our spouses in the back of my parent's van on the way to the wedding.  We got a babysitter for James, so it was a fun and relaxing night out!

My handsome hubby and I at the Hors d’oeuvres hour.

Mom and Dad

My sister Anna and husband Scott

My brother Greg and wife Sarah

the vent was a little breezy...and fun  :)

Some of the most amazing women in my life.  So glad you're my family, love you ladies! 

The handsome men...they're all spoken for - so hands off!  :-) 

A toast to the bride and groom!

Lea and Nick Oberhausen.  Congratulations!

Mike and Trisha Fridley, my Godparents. 

HAPPY 85th BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!

Grandpa saying a few words and passing the toast around.  We have a little tradition of toasting the birthday boy/girl.  We go around the table and whoever wants to gives a toast. 

G'pa and James at camp.  James wasn't too sure about the grass...

Anna and Scott

me and Steven...check out Sarah sneaking in the picture  :-) 

Cousin John and his girlfriend Tonya

Sarah, and cousins Melissa and Dan

Aunt Anna playing with James

Some of the guys playing cornhole.  L to R: John, Dad, Uncle Doug, Greg

James stared at Scott for a long time, it was really sweet. 

Scott's parents Mike and Bev. 

The picture below is the ongoing joke in the Dowling family.  We Dowlings tend to fall asleep early...all the time...if we make it past 9:30 it's a big night!  I think this is 8:45 on Friday night and Greg is already passed out on the couch, and Dad was asleep on the other one.  Typical.  :-) 

Lexington Visit

James and I took a trip up to Lexington this past week to visit some of my friends and catch a volleyball match.  We stayed with Sara who was an amazing host!  She put up with a lot those few days...a huge dog, James waking up every hour of the night (not an exaggeration) both nights we were there, and all of our stuff all over her apartment!  She in turn had an amazing dinner planned for us when we arrived on Tuesday night.  Sara, James and I met Lisa, Steph and daughter Piper, Megan and kids Sophie, Izzy, and Eli for dinner at PF Chang's. It was hilarious...5 adults and 5 kids...we did a pretty good job of keeping the kiddos corralled and entertained.  It was so nice to see my ladies, I've really missed them! 
I, of course, did a horrible job of taking pictures...I only took two the whole time we were there.  What is wrong with me??  I guess we'll just have to go back for another visit. 
Bonus:  UK beat Louisville that night for the first time since 1999!!  GO CATS!  I forgot how hot the Coliseum gets...there is no AC, so it's quite steamy.  Needless to say, James had to lose his shirt so he was quite the hillbilly in Kentucky with his overalls.  :)  stinkin' cute! 

This is the family of Jenny Casper.  She was a star volleyball player at Kentucky from 2003-2006, and she tragically passed away in a car accident in 2008.  Her family put on a huge fundraiser and donated the $10,000 proceeds to the UK volleyball program in a ceremony before the match.  Jenny was on the team both of the seasons that I was with the Cats...