Urban Wildlife

 Red-winged Blackbird(Female)

Gray Squirrel

Red-winged Blackbird(Male)

Goose

Wood duck

Wood duck

Geese and Egret

Muskrat

Muskrat

Mallard

Downy Woodpecker

Goldfinches

Great Blue Heron

My Sister's Wedding

Mr. and Mrs. Chris and Stacy Anderson were married this past weekend! Yay!  The wedding was absolutely perfect :) Everyone looked beautiful (especially the bride and groom), the dresses were beautiful, and the flowers were beautiful.  It was soooo much fun!  My parents are officially the best wedding planners ever (2 amazing weddings in less than 2 years) and only have one daughter to go (and a son)!  

Stacy and I went to New Prague on Thursday night to help my mom with the final plans.  We finished the programs, got the snacks/containers ready for the snack table, and Stacy finished up the place cards.  The wedding festivities officially began with manicures and pedicures on Friday afternoon.

 Stacy getting her pedicure; Danielle and I getting our pedicures; the bridesmaids posing for a picture

Afterwards there were some drinks, some errands, and then off to the rehearsal and groom's dinner.  The groom's dinner was held at Creek's Bend Golf Course.  The food was great! :) For dessert, I had the best lemon  cake ever.  Oh what I would give for anther piece right now!

 Stacy and Chris at the rehearsal; Tyler and I at the groom's dinner; Stacy with her maids of honor

The wedding day started early with hair, makeup, and breakfast.  Our brother's best friend's wife has a salon out of her house so she very graciously opened up her home to us.  There were three stylists and everyone's hair looked great!  

The bride's gorgeous hair :) 

Stacy had gone to Bare Minerals prior to her wedding and brought her good friend, Ashley, along to learn how to apply the makeup.  They did a practice run and then Ashley did her makeup on the wedding day.  It looked great!  Stacy also had on fake eyelashes so they would stand out more in pictures. 

 Getting her makeup done

After the hair and makeup was finished, we headed over to the church.  The wedding took place at St. Wenceslaus Church in New Prague and the reception was at the Park Ballroom.  Everyone that enters our church says it is the MOST BEAUTIFUL church they have ever been to.  I agree.  However, it is also the longest isle to walk down!  We spent a lot of time in the bridal room getting our dresses and jewelry on before the pictures.

Stacy seeing her bouquet for the first time (with her dress in the background)

After the bride and groom saw each other for the first time, we spent the next few hours taking pictures.  Their photographer was amazing.  She payed attention to every little detail, had the best ideas, and helped out wherever she could.  After pictures, my mom's friends had made sandwiches so we could all get in a quick lunch and then hideout until the ceremony began.

My mom helping dad with his tie (I love this picture) 

The ceremony was wonderful.  It was so obvious to everyone there how much Stacy and Chris loved each other and couldn't wait to be married.  They both even made it through their vows without crying! My dad sang a song for them and it was very moving :)

The "Busch" girls before the ceremony

We left the ceremony in a party bus.  We toasted the couple, stopped for some fun pictures, and drove around for awhile before heading the reception.  

 The bride and groom throughout the day

 Busch siblings on the party bus 

 Tyler and Aaron

 Danielle was such a trooper with her knee!

The reception highlights include great food, awesome speeches (especially the one the groom gave ;), fun people, drinks, and a lot of dancing! 

 Father-daughter dance

The day was perfect....but, I think the couple is glad the planning is over! I am excited to actually hang out with my sister and not talk weddings since that has been the basis of our relationship for the last two years (first mine, then hers).  Welcome to the family, Chris!  I wish nothing but the best for your future as husband and wife!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 25th Birthday Tyler!

 Posing under his sign

We had a birthday filled weekend!  Today (Monday) is Tyler's actual birthday, but Tyler had to study for finals so we just celebrated with his choice of takeout ;)  Tyler was super excited this morning because he bought a bird feeder weeks ago and today the finches finally found it! 

 Goldfinches 

We have never really done anything big for Tyler's birthday.  He never seemed too interested when I tried to plan things.  Well this year he informed me, "You have never done anything big for my birthday."  Lucky for me, I already had a surprise birthday party planned for Saturday night ;)  I dropped Tyler off at Stacy's house to help make their wedding slide show and came home to set up.  

There were two close calls where I almost gave it away - 1) begging for Tyler to let me drop him off when he insisted on driving himself and 2) telling Tyler he couldn't pick his dad up from the airport because I REALLY wanted to watch a movie - but since I am always a little weird, Tyler wasn't able to pick up on anything!  Stacy and Chris offered to give Tyler a ride home while 35 of his closest friends were hiding in the kitchen.  Tyler was very overwhelmed (in a good way), excited to have all his friends in one place, and gave me the title of "best wife ever!"  He had no idea about the party and was completely surprised!

 Me and the birthday boy :) 

I was so excited that so many people could make it - high school friends, college friends, dental school friends, some law school friends, and family!  We also lucked out with the weather and were able to break out the bean bag boards for the first time this year.  

 Lovely party-goers 

I also need to thank our friends that drove far to make the party and all of our friends that helped out with the food, decorations, setting up, and coordinating the surprise!  I couldn't have pulled this off without you!  I am also thankful that Tyler never questioned my suspicious behaviors (e.g. stepping outside to take phone calls, scrubbing every inch of the house, etc.) because I am not capable of lying and would have given it away!

 More of our favorite people 

The Sunday morning clean up was quick because we had plenty of helpers that had slept over!  We all went to breakfast at Good Day Cafe and then Tyler and I had another birthday filled day with his family.  We went to our first Twin's game of the year with Tyler's mom, Renee, and brother, Chris.  They didn't win, but still a fun game to be at!  I love my Twins no matter what their record is!

Afterward, Tyler wanted to go out for seafood so we met up with his dad, Doug, and Suzanne and went to Stella's Fish Cafe in uptown.  I tried two new foods thanks to my husband's pushing (I just started eating seafood a few years ago).  My dad would be so proud!  I tried an oyster and a scallop.  Not too bad! Tyler and I both had the lobster roll for dinner and it was delicious!  

Above: Tyler with his oyster; Below: Suzanne, Doug, Tyler, Renee

We ended the night with a DQ cake from Renee.  If anyone wants a piece come on over because Tyler and I definitely don't need to eat all of it (but will)!  Overall, Tyler's 25th birthday was a huge success!  I just don't know how I am going to top this in the future years :) 

On another note: We are officially in Stacy and Chris's wedding week!!! Yay! We are so excited to celebrate the marriage of such an amazing couple!  Pictures to come :) 

Colorado Skiing-Spring Break

Once again we have neglected our blog! With Tyler uploading and editing the pictures and me doing the writing, it takes both of us to keep this blog up. We have been very busy the past month!  So what's new? I continue to stay busy with my final semester of law school work. It is very bitter sweet. I am excited to be done but will miss my student life and friendships that I have made. I have also started to work part-time for the remainder of the semester so what little free time I had is gone! Tyler continues to enjoy dental school now that it is more time in the clinic and less time in the classroom.  

I didn't have anything planned for my final spring break EVER until Tyler and his dad decided they wanted to take a last minute trip to Colorado to go skiing.  When they decided to drive instead of fly, I was in!  We drove the 16 hours there and back for two days of wonderful skiing.  Surprisingly the drive wasn't too bad.  Tyler likes driving so he was at the wheel for most of it.

Pictures from the drive 

First night at Copper 

We lucked out that my father-in-law's landlord has a condo by Copper Mountain.  We stayed there and skied Copper one day and Vail the next.  The weather was great. Too great...no fresh snow!  It was a little icy in the mornings but the sun softened the snow up by the early afternoon.

Speaking of sun, somehow we forgot that you can get burnt even though you are wearing winter jackets!  We had tan lines and peeling faces to show for it.

Doug is in the red, Tyler in the green, and me in the white.

These pictures were taken at the top peak of Copper Mountain.  Such an amazing view! We spent a lot of time skiing down this bowl.  Tyler and Doug went straight for the side with cliffs while I stuck to a safer route (still a double black diamond though ;)

Vail had a lot of green. Not only the trees but also patches of grass showing!  We spent the afternoon going  through the tree runs in the Blue Sky Basin.  

You could tell we haven't been skiing enough this year because our legs were burning by the end of the second day! We decided to stop skiing a little early and get some drinks on a patio at the bottom of the hill.  Overall it was an amazing trip! Thanks to Doug for arranging everything!

St. Patty's day did not disappoint! Tyler and I spent the morning studying and then met up with some law school friends downtown Minneapolis for some afternoon drinking. We chose to forgo the crowds of St. Paul this year and were thankful for the decision after hearing stories.  Afterwards, we made our way to Toby Keith's to meet up with college friends and see the Johnny Holm Band perform.
Always a good time :) 

Jenny, me, and Beth in our green.

And finally, to the wedding details!  My sister, Stacy, is getting married this month! Yay! We had her last few showers and her bachelorette party.  We had drinks and appetizers, went to a dance class, dinner at Solera, and then more drinks at the hotel.  I can't wait for the wedding! 

Picture of me with the bride to be :) 

We are loving this spring weather!  Tyler was anxious to get the grill going (lucky me).  We have also been enjoying bike rides and runs by the lakes. I hope this weather keeps up!