February - June 2011: Window Pains and Weddings

We had much to occupy our time while waiting for Spring's warmer weather. Two of Casey's cousins got married just two weeks apart, and we traveled first to Virginia, and then to St. Louis, to witness the nuptials.

Here's Casey's beautiful cousin, Jessica, and her new husband, Eric. (and Casey's sweet grandparents, Omi and Papa Tom) Congrats to the happy couple!


We of course took advantage of the sights too! We had a private US Capitol tour, and even got to ride the underground Senate tram.


Vince looks very Secret Service in this picture
This is Casey's wonderful sister, Steph.

Once back in the midwest, we went up in the St Louis Arch in little pod cars and took advantage of the view from the top.








And here is Casey's amazing cousin, Catherine, and her new husband, Dave. Best wishes you two!

Amidst the wedding bliss, we both got older. Vince celebrated the big 3-0 in March, and Casey jumped up a notch in the 20's. For Vince's birthday, we had a murder mystery dinner with the parents.

Casey was the grieving widow (who actually plotted with the Gameskeeper to kill her husband)and Vince was the Pastor that got a young German girl pregnant and then sent her back to Germany. Oh, and he "borrowed" from the church's contribution box to gamble on horse racing.

Casey's Mom was the German cook (whose daughter Vince got pregnant)who couldn't really cook--she was just seeking to blackmail the victim. Casey's dad was Major Windbag, who gloated about his expeditions, none of which turned out to be true.

Vince's dad was Slaughter the Gamekeeper. He was having an affair with the widow and set up the booby trap to kill the husband-victim.Vince's mom, Clare Voyant, was the fortune teller who really couldn't foresee anything.


After getting back to our normal selves, Vince and Casey went on a trail ride to celebrate Casey's birthday. We celebrated the many other holidays of Spring too: Easter, Mother's Day, and Father's Day.

Casey was also in her first horse show. She scored a blue and red ribbon in her two classes (granted, there was only one other person in each class), and plans on showing again in the fall.


In more conventional modes of transportation, we had a car shuffle. We sold Casey's Acura RL, got Vince a fuel-efficient Honda Fit to replace the truck as his main vehicle (don't worry, we're keeping the truck), and got Casey a Subaru Legacy Wagon. Belle has approved both cars, but she hasn't quite figured out that she's supposed to stay in the Subaru's cargo area.


Belle also joined us on the American Heart Association Walk and showed her pride by sporting a matching T-shirt.


And she took it easy with Lilly on occasion.


And she was a huge help with the major, ongoing remodel project during these months: putting in 23 new construction windows. This was quite a daunting task, but Vince and his parents (and Belle) tackled it with ease.




With the windows all in, Vince's next big project is to re-side and paint the exterior. The trim and siding have been delivered, we're just waiting for the temperature to get below the 100's to begin the project. Meanwhile, Casey's staying cool inside with her large remodel project--the kitchen. We'll reveal those transformations once they're complete!