Charlotte for Steeplechase!

Kyle and I traveled this weekend to Charlotte, NC to go with our wonderful friends, Molly & Marshal to Queen's Cup Steeplechase. In other words, go to a horse race and get to wear fun outfits :) We got to Molly & Marshal's around 11:30 pm Friday night (Kyle had a group meeting for school so we didn't leave until around 7:45). We all took a trip to the 24 hour Harris Teeter near their house to get our share of the food for the race. Saturday morning we all woke up and started getting ready for the Horse Race. Molly & I both bought huge hats to wear, and the guys looked so cute in their outfits! Unfortunately our pictures didn't turn out very well... Molly and I can literally pick apart every one of them, BUT I'll post anyway.

The guys on our 5 mile hike to the tent from the car... haha
It was a little windy so Molly & I tried not to lose our hats!
The four of us... I am NOT pregnant Kyle was just holding my belly for some odd reason
Molly, Danielle and I sitting in the shade under our tent!
All the girls with our big hats on: mine really looks like a sombrero unfortunately!
The twins:
The horses jumping right by our tent:
If you look really closely on the left you can see that the jockey is about to fall off her horse... she and the horse were fine though.
Here are the horses running free!
Switching it up a little bit
On the way home Kyle hitched a ride instead of having to carry the cooler the whole way... absolutely hilarious:

We had a wonderful time hanging out with Molly & Marshal like always. They are so fun, and we all have so many similarities!! Saturday night we all took naps then went out to dinner to a great mexican restaurant, Cantina. It was absolutely delicious! Oh, Kyle brought some extra hockey equipment for Marshal, since Marsh plays now... WOO HOO!
Thanks again for a wonderful weekend, so great to spend time with you both as always!

Tyson turns 2!!!

Not only is today earth day, and the day we got engaged 2 years ago, BUT it's Tyson's 2nd birthday! We only thought it would only be appropriate that we sing for him AND give him a puppy biscuit & peanut butter cake :) Even though Kyle and I both feel strongly about not dressing up your animals, we couldn't help it and had to let him wear a birthday sash! He really got used to it!

Here is his yummy cake that he ate in approximately 2 seconds:

Happy Birthday Tyso-- we love you!

ASU Head Coach puts things into perspective

Kyle found this, and I thought I would share... really neat video!

Click this link to view:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1137883230/bctid1435437082

Month of PAIN

After talking about this for months now, Kyle and I are actually doing it... The Guenthers' MONTH OF PAIN! We are both carrying around a good 10-12 pounds that need to disappear, so we have decided to take a whole month to be devoted to working out and eating right! (we know we won't lose 10 lbs in a month... but we'll hopefully be a little lighter in the end!) Last night Kyle made a weight chart, and we are even taking before and after pictures! (there is no way I will ever post those pictures... so I had fun putting our faces on other peoples bodies!) We also stocked our fridge with only healthy food tonight, so that will help too and we won't have any temptations around the house! If we see results by the end of this month (which there is no reason why we shouldn't) then both of us will be motivated to keep living this lifestyle! We are planning on running every Mon, Wed. & Friday mornings before work, and then Tuesdays & Thursdays we'll go to the gym after work to lift and tone. So hopefully in a month we'll see something! Month of pain begins NOW PEOPLE!

ASU Ice Hockey Alumni Game

This weekend Kyle, Tyson and I drove to Raleigh for the annual Appalachian State Ice Hockey Alumni Game. It's always a fun event having all the alumni reunite and play against the current team at ASU. We drove in Friday night, actually making good time and getting to my parents house around 11:00! Of course we stopped by Goodberry's, the best icecream on the planet that is only located in the Raleigh area, and brought my parents some too! Saturday we woke up to the sound of babies! Tara had brought the twins over for a visit. Natalie is getting her FIRST tooth, and is totally uncomfortable right now and gets upset easily. Nathan is so busy trying to walk everywhere and get into everything he can! Kyle had to head to hockey practice, so Tara, the twins, & I went over to Grandma and Grandpa's to visit with them for a while. Grandpa had just gone through chemo this past week, so he's still very week and nauseas. He has lost around 35 pounds through this whole process, and we can only pray that we'll get good results from all the treatments he's going through. While we were all there, we got a call from our cousin, Sarah, telling us that she is having a baby with her new husband, David! She's due in November so we are all very excited to see her baby bump start appearing! Congrats Sarah we are so happy for you and need to schedule a trip to Florida soon!
Also while we were over at their house, Kyle and Grandma worked together to hook up her new BLUETOOTH headset! Who's grandma has bluetooth?? That's right mine does! Once they got that hooked up, they actually moved to her new car, a Toyota Highlander, and paired her phone with her car, so she could use the hands free function that it's equipt with. She was very excited that Kyle helped her out, and we both were very glad to get some quality time over there.

We then headed over to the Factory, in Wake Forest, to go watch the ASU Ice Hockey Team vs. Alumni Game. Kyle had the largest cheering section there including: Kerry & Brad, Mr. & Mrs. Guenther, Tara, Jamie & the twins, Alison, Paul & their 3 kids, Grandma, Jonathan & Kristi, Sara & Joe, and myself! Needless to say our "corner" was never quiet, and we all had such a great time watching the game. (Sara I really wanted to put up my picture just to make you laugh haha but I resisted!!) The Alumni lost, 8-5, but put up a really good fight!

Sara, Joe, Kyle & I:

Kyle & I with John & Kristi, friends from ASU (she's 7 months pregnant!)

Grandma came to support Kyle!!

Tara & I with the twins all bundled up!

Kyle & I spent the night with his parents and Sunday woke up for a nice breakfast to celebrate Kerry's 29th birthday! We played with their new puppy outside for a while, and they've actually decided on the name Eli.
It's so cute how Eli just runs around trying to bite anything he sees... including Tyson & Raven!

On our way out of town we drove over to Kerry & Brad's new house that they will close on May 30th! It is absolutely gorgeous, and made Kyle & I want to move!

Here is their new house! We also toured the HUGE clubhouse and got to hear about all of it's amenities. We are so happy for you guys, and are excited about this new step!

Kerry & Brad's new addition!

Kyle's oldest sister, Kerry, and her husband Brad just got a new golden retriever puppy last weekend! They are still trying to decide on the name... but I just had to share some of these photos!! He is SO adorable and looks just like a little stuffed animal!

Congrats guys, we can't wait to meet him!

Twins Birthday, Lauren's Beach Weekend & More!

Well this weekend, Kyle & I split up to be part of wedding festivities for different friends. I flew Thursday night to Raleigh to spend a little time with my family and then drive with the rest of the ladies involved in Lauren's wedding to Emerald Isle for her Bachelorette weekend. Kyle, on the other hand, stayed in Marietta Friday night to attend a shower for Chris & Kathleen. He then drove to Charlotte to spend some time with friends and attend Keith & Zoe's (friends from ASU) wedding! Needless to say it was a busy weekend for both of us, and we had a lot to catch up on and tell each other when we got home to Marietta!
Since I was the one with a camera, I'll go first. Like I said, Thursday night I arrived in Raleigh around 7:00, just in time to make it for a spaghetti dinner at Tara's house. Mom, Tara & I had a great time catching up, since it's been months since I've seen them both! I spent the night at Tara's house so I could wake up the next morning on the twin's 1st birthday! I was able to spend their first week at home with Tara & the twins after they were born, so it was neat that I was able to do the same on their 1st birthday! We woke up, and gave the kids their birthday presents, since Kyle & I couldn't make the party on Saturday.

The outfits Kyle & I bought them from Baby Gap!
Tara making the cake! (blue to be water, white are the bubbles!)
I made the cupcakes & decorated those:
Cute little Natalie:
Sweet Nathan boy: (holding up one finger!)
They are so much fun to play with & make them laugh!

Unfortunately I had to miss the party, and head to Emerald Isle Friday night. Their birthday party was Saturday at 1, and it was so cute being "bath time" themed with rubber ducks everywhere. Tara did a great job decorating and a lot of family & friends were able to come celebrate!

What the Nat's wore for their birthday party:

Here is how she laid everything out with all her cute names. She called the watermelon "waddlemelon". Hot Dogs = "hot ducks & buns". Cheetos = duck food. Crackers & Cheese = Quackers & cheese. Blue jello cups with rubber duckies on top!Friday night through Sunday afternoon was spent with 12 other ladies in Emerald Isle for Lauren's Bachelorette party. We had a wonderful time, and it was SO relaxing.. which all of us desperately needed. It was so great to see & spend quality time with old friends.

All of us at dinner Saturday night:

The Blackmons (friends from Bayleaf ) let us use their beach house for the weekend, so that was a wonderful money saver for all of us! We tried laying out on the beach, but it was too cold with the wind, so we laid out on the porch of the house and soaked in the sun that way! We all slept about 3 to each bed, which brought up many memories from all of our youth group trips together. We also had a lingerie shower and hooked Lauren up with some cute new outfits! It was a WONDERFUL weekend, and I had such a great time catching up with everyone and laughing at all of our funny memories together! Sunday night Tara, Jamie, the twins AND Buddy, all drove me to the airport to catch my flight back home. It was so great seeing you all and I can't wait to see you again next weekend!! What a treat!
OK so Kyle didn't bring a camera with him, so I'll make this quick. He had a wonderful time at the Cajun Cookout for Chris & Kathleen. We've gotten the chance to meet all of Chris & Kathleens friends through all the showers, which is really neat to finally put faces with the names. Saturday morning Kyle & Tyson headed to Charlotte to go hang out with their best buds... Marshal & Tupelo!

Tyson & Tupelo kissing:

Kyle & Marshal hung out for most of the day Saturday, attending a "stick & puck" session so Marshal could get a feel for a hockey game. Later that night Kyle & Brad played in a pick-up game of hockey, with Molly & Marshal as their fans.

Here is a video that Molly took:

Kyle hasn't played ice hockey since last years game, so he needed practice for the game next weekend in Raleigh! Sunday, Kyle, Kerry & Brad headed to Keith & Zoe's wedding, which Kyle said was really fun. Zoe & Keith are such fun-loving people, and so cute together, so I'm sure it was a great day for them. Kyle then headed home so he could come straight to the airport to pick me up! And that's the recap!

We have a Walker!

Just got this email from Tara:

Just wanted to let you know that we have a walker on our hands! Nathan took his first steps today!!!! We were letting Mom and Dad’s dogs out at their house, and Nathan let go of Mom’s toy basket, stood alone for a few seconds, and then took 3 steps toward Milo! I couldn’t believe my eyes! When we got back to our house, he did it again walking from the ottoman towards Jamie. I will try to get it on video for you all to see, but wanted to share our exciting news with you! Love you all! Tara

I am so excited to see them tomorrow, and I'll try to get a video of it and post it on the blog! I can't believe he is walking already!

My Grandpa Stout

Lately I've gotten in the habit of putting all of the exciting and fun things going on in our lives, and leaving out some of the scary/sad posts... just to keep our personal life... well... personal. Kyle & I do go through hard times like everyone else, and I feel like I need to share one of our many prayer requests with you all tonight. On Friday night, Grandpa Stout (my gpa... mom's dad) was admitted into the hospital for being dehydrated, continuous coughing, and not feeling like himself. Turns out that the pneumonia they thought they had cured a couple months ago, actually never disappeared. Pneumonia is very scary for lung cancer patients, as his immune system is already so low and does not have the strength to fight off large infections. I just got off the phone with him, and it is a relief to know he is doing better today and not coughing as much. Please keep him in your prayers as the doctors will tell him tomorrow morning how many more days he will need to stay and what the plan here on out will be. Thank you, we all appreciate it more than you know!

Most expensive invitations I will ever touch!

So I thought I would share my excitement with you all, and show you what I received in the mail today! One of my good work friends, Jamie, is having a destination wedding May 25th, and is featured on our Get Married TV Show on Lifetime as our "Makeover Bride". Being the makeover bride, she's been able to get a designer couture dress from Amsale, designer bridesmaid dresses, dancing lessons, etc PLUS invitations from a company in New York City.... all while getting filmed on tv to count as the "makeover bride". Well anyways, Jamie worked it out to get free invitations, by only paying for postage and flying the invitation company owner down for filming. They are absolutely gorgeous, and it was very nice for Jamie to include us on the guest list so we could get the invitation! So I thought I would share it with you guys as well :)

The linen package tied together with real seashells:

The sand dollar had our names in calligraphy!
The packaging, with the invitation on the left:
Stamped with their personal information, still looking like a passport stamp:
The invitation opened:
The R.S.V.P. card & envelope:

The paper is so thick and very neat to touch! Jamie got the quote for 125 of these invitations... just guess how much you would think it would add up to be?!?! Got the number in your head? Well you are wrong... it was $15,000 for 125 of these invitations! Isn't that unreal? Good thing she's getting them all for free with Get Married!