Catching up with the Kupers

Well, it has been a busy month and there is a lot to catch up on. I'll start with the first week in August and work my way forward.

We escaped the Texas heat and joined my family in Colorado for our annual family vacation. This is one of the few times I get to see all of my siblings and parents together, so I cherished every moment. We filled our days with lots of outdoor activities including hiking and kayaking, we enjoyed lots of home-cooked meals (each sibling was responsible for cooking dinner one night), and most importantly we spent some good ole fashion quality time together. Below are some pictures from the trip.

Kuper Family Photo

Trip LOVED drinking from the Camelback!

Enjoying the view from the top of the Gondola.

Gross/Johnson/Kuper Bunch at the top of one of our hikes.

We take a family photo at this same spot every year. It's fun to see how our family has grown and changed over the years.

A little over a week after returning from Colorado, Trip and I were invited to go with my best friend and her family home to Columbia for a week. We were able to catch up with some long time friends, spend a lot of time with Gigi, Cappy and my brothers, and I was blessed by my parents with time to relax while they played with Trip. Cappy even took Trip to a friend's house in the country to see his new baby zebra! We were both spoiled!

Trip and Cappy playing and petting the Zebra

A few days after returning from Missouri, we hit the road again to visit J's mom and brother in Houston. As usual, Cupcake cooked a fabulous meal and sent us home with lots of goodies. So far, Trip can't say "Cupcake" but he does manage "Tat Tat" which I think is pretty darn cute! Our time there was too short, so we will have to plan another Houston trip soon.

All in all, it was a great month ... but let's just say we are happy to be home!

Reading Time

Colorado here we come!

bye bye nanny

Trip watching Anna ("Nanny") drive away.

It is always very sad these days when anyone leaves. Trip yells "Bye Bye!" and whines like he will never see the person again. Of course, he even does this when someone is simply going outside to get the mail and coming right back in. His mind doesn't quite grasp the concept of time, or the phrase, "I'll be right back," so this leaves a very sad little toddler.

Birthday/Reunion Weekend

A few weekends ago we traveled North to Austin to visit my best friends, Johanna and Mackenzie, and to celebrate Jo's baby girl's first birthday! It was so much fun to see Jo and Kenze, but we were sad to be missing our fourth college roommate, Kelli.

J with Johanna's husband (and good friend of J) George - drinking Bloody Mary's at the party.

Me and the birthday girl! I think she is possibly the funniest little girl in the world. She makes the cutest most excited little noises and has such an adorable walk. I was glad for the few days, but sad not to see her more often :(

Trip and Ainsley enjoying the pool in the backyard.

... And their overbearing mothers trying to assist in the pool time fun. I'm sure they were thinking, just leave us be, we know what we're doing here!

Me and my boy.

Bath time complete with matching Mohawks!

It was a wonderful weekend, full of fun kiddo activities. But my favorite part was after the babies went to sleep and getting to have some good ole' fashion adult conversation with two of my best friends. Thank you Peytons for the wonderful weekend!

Celebrity

Trip made it in the newspaper in Moberly, Missouri! His "Cappy" is a dentist there, and had the local paper put together this ad for his practice. Of course, even though my mom specified how to spell Trip's name and told them that he is 16 months old, they made a few errors. This is probably something Trip will have to get used to. I told him it is all part of the price of fame!

The BIG 30!

That's right - J is officially an old man! We celebrated his 30th birthday with his family in San Antonio this weekend. He was showered with great gifts and lots of love this year, and I must say I think he deserved it! Happy Birthday J!