A Very Memorable Visit to Pittsburgh

Here we went, heading out the door to Pittsburgh! The girls and I braved the trip all by ourselves. Daddy has been working a lot and is trying to hit his hours.Yuck. He missed out.  

 

We made it. Somehow.There may have been red wine involved on the last flight. It was a long day and if you've done you won't judge.

We stayed with Landon and Lauren at their precious apartment! She has it looking so cute and my whole family took over...yup, all of the Berg's in one happy household. I suppose we are used to the chaos, well I don't know if that is entirely true.

Friday:

We had lunch at a place called BRGR that served great burgers.

Then we headed to Trader Joe's. I'm so excited there will be one in the Big D to visit! Hopefully SA one of these days.

  

Then we found a turquoise jacket at Anthropologie, because you can never have too many jackets in San Antonio. Ha!

 A cup of Joe at this quaint coffee shop in a very historic part of the city. It was so yummy and everyone wanted us to leave.

  

The leaves were turning during our visit and felt like a proper fall. They were beautiful and just everywhere. I couldn't remember when I'd ever seen so many colors of the fall. Perhaps I never have. 

Saturday:

We headed to "The Strip" and on the way we saw Heinz Field. Sorry, boo Steeler's. But their theme song for winning the super bowl is quite catchy!

Our walking began. Oh and we forgot a stroller so it was kind of a painful adventure but still a fun one. The girls did great!

The Strip has all of these food places, shops, street vendors, delicious things to eat! So we did. We ate, and ate, and ate.

The cheeses were huge!!!!

Landry threw a fit over this piece of $3 Baklava. I swore it was for the cherry. Come to find out; she loved it! I had never even tried it.

Laney wanted a pumpkin cookie.

Here the girls are in the window of Parma Sausage. This is  my Dad's favorite place. The people knew him and kept calling him "Lair". It was kind of funny.

Lauren and I had oysters. Off. the. street. And they were delicious!

Well, we were actually outside of Wholey's Fish Market.

Landry talked about the toy train that went around the inside for the next thirty minutes and the following day. She loves trains!

Oh my gosh, the main reason we went to Pittsburgh was for another wedding event! I forgot to mention this but Lesley and Andy has a post wedding party for the people that couldn't go to the wedding. Anyway, we had a blast Saturday night at his parent's house and celebrating the night away.

Here are some pictures from the evening...

 The food was delicious and so different from our grub here in Texas. We got to have Perogies, this kind of pasta that I cannot remember the name of but I know Lesley will.

 A friendly racoon that was absolutely not afraid of us.

 Little Laney loves the Harcar Boys. She adores Andy and now Jesse too. I suppose next will be Kurt.

The Berg's were watching the Ranger Game.

 My gosh, we were making the "joker" face that we Berg kids do to each other. We were trying to get Lauren to do it and kept laughing. I so wish I could post those beautiful pictures of us. Vaulted.

My girls and their best behavior; funny faces and diapers. Oh well. They are still quite cute.

We took Laney down to the fire to make smores. They were the biggest marshmallows that I have ever seen. It was too funny because Laney kept saying "my face is way too hot" from the fire of course.

We made it home, the girls and I, safely and finally. I enjoyed the trip but I missed my bed and traveling as a single Mom wasn't easy. Still, I'm glad I got to experience another great American City.

A Wedding in Comfort, Texas

Landon and Lauren's Wedding

The wedding for these two was sweet and simple. It took place in Comfort, Texas at the Riven Rock Ranch. This place was a beautiful spot in the hill country that I hope we have the opportunity to go back and reminisce. What a striking young couple with sparkly eyes and stolen hearts.

My baby brother is married. And Lauren Hughes is now Lauren Berg! They are so in love and the pictures were beautiful. Lauren looked like a princess in white and Landon as handsome as ever. He adores her and she is smitten too. The precious part was the ceremony and the tearing up of the bride. Happy couple.....

The photographer did a great job of capturing every moment! My camera had a few hundred pictures also. This is a random variation of the pictures and timeline of events. It was an incredible memory for the newlyweds, my family, and everyone there seemed to have a fabulous time! I've never had such fun with all my immediate family. And Matthew and his parents helped with the girls tremendously. I'm thankful I was able to enjoy this time.

The pre wedding pictures and a recap of an eventful evening.

The first one dressed and one of the two most precious...Landry Anne Crowell.

 

Our Laney Kate in her flower girl dress. She was all over the place and would not sit still but she was a little princess too.

 

Handsome Daddy. Matthew and his vulnerability with his girls is the sweetest thing.

 

The Berg kids and then the wedding party. Lauren took most of her pictures after and at the very last minute as she did not want to mess up her dress or Landon to see her!

We had to hide Lauren when we got locked out of the room! She did not want Landon or anyone to see her before the ceremony.

 

Landon and the last picture I took of him before walking down the aisle. He was truly elated. As the oldest sister, I could not be more protective of baby brother. But I am so happy that he is grown and found Lauren to share his life with.

It's showtime Laney Kate! Here we go! The last words of advice I gave her (mistake) were " do not stick out your tongue."

This is one of my absolute favorite pictures with Lauren walking down the aisle and the two mother's watching their children. (Heart strings are pulled here!)

Lauren gazing at Landon with tears filled in her eyes.

I too lost it walking down the aisle and can tell my eyes had been crying in this picture. Still I love seeing Lesley and I witnessing the vows of our baby brother.

Now the happiness after the ceremony and the beginning of the reception..

Our Paw Paw.

 When we saw the Koske family it was like taking a trip back to childhood. Most of our memories involve perms, bread crumbs and mozzarella, skateboards, kick the can, swimming, and the Koske Family.

Right before I walked down the photographer snuck this picture in, I was watching the guys walk out to their places. Then I broke down walking down the aisle when I saw Landon. I could not quit crying! Then I saw Lesley bee bopping down the aisle and the tears dried up. quickly.

Wedding Party Pics

The reception begins and these pictures are all out of some order but what a fun night!

Laney was such a precious flower girl. I was so proud of her all night. She is so well behaved and brave dancing on the floor all by herself. She really loves to dance and I love these pictures of her swaying to the music.

Landon and Lauren's dance as the Berg's!

Larry and Jorja watching the newlyweds. Proud parents.

Then Momma and Landon dancing with the Mother and Son dance to It's a Wonderful World.

Classic, and not surprising, my daughter cuts in to dance with her Uncle Landon and Mickey.

The night gets more and more interesting and begins with the Cotton Eyed Joe...

 

Laura, Lesley, and Momma getting our groove on. Hilarious, so much fun. Now I know.

Tommy and his rapping skills. ...

The newlyweds cake cutting and toasting...

The Aggie War Hymn.

Landon as the yell leader...hilarious. Landon has talents I did not know about!

 The bouquet toss. It got pretty brutal.

Yes, Lesley caught the bouquet. In a battle with Lauren's best friend baby sister came through.

The toasting began and Blake (precious all you single ladies!) gave a very nice toast and is such a stand up guy.

Then Lesley and I gave a toast for the two love birds.

To sum it up: "We are proud of our Baby Brother and remember him as the little red head on Helena Circle that always had bear rabbit in tow, squeezed our pet hamsters (to death!), and snuck over to the Koske's in the wee hours of the morning. He will always be our baby brother and we are so happy that he has Lauren to share his life with! "

In all of my years of marital bliss, the most important advice I could give was "don't forget in all of life's good bad wonderful moments that you are on the same team....." And that team is TEAM L!

Lesley and I made T shirts for them and I think they liked it!!

D.A.N.C.I.N.G.

It was so much fun dancing with everyone! The girl's were fast asleep (so I thought) with the Crowell's and this was a blast! My Dad was awesome!!! He got his groove on to "You Make Me Wanna Shout!"

 

The night eventually came to an end and the couple went their way........

To Living Happily After