the wedding in Vermont

Lara and Matt got married!  And we were lucky enough to be a part of their big day.  We had a great trip to the Green Mountain State -- aside from the wedding we went hiking, took a boat ride on Lake Champlain, picked blueberries, took a bike ride, and toured the Ben & Jerry's factory.  Man we packed it in.  It was a fabulous week reconnecting with family, and couldn't have imagined a more beautiful wedding.  SO MUCH FUN!  Congrats again Lara and Matt!  So so very happy for you both.

We hiked to the top of Mt Philo, near Burlington.  And the kids LOVED holding sweet Koda's leash, helped get them up the mountain.  She's such a good doggie!

dear old dad -- contemplating life at the top of Mt Philo

picking blueberries

we got heaps of blueberries -- but also tasted our first Blueberry Creemees (basically soft serve, but those Vermonters have to be fancy and call them something else -- either way, they were delicious!)

we got a personal tour of the Burton Factory store -- thanks to our Boss's nephew Chris who works there! Really cool. 

 And ya can't have a wedding before you have a Bachelorette party, right?  Thursday night, Lara's Ladies and heaps of other friends of Lara's all met out for a night on the town in Burlington.  It was great to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones...

Chrissie and Lara -- in front of Lara's cute house

The next day, before leaving Burlington for the mountains, we took a boat cruise on Lake Champlain.  A fun way to spend a very hot, muggy morning.

Then we hightailed it for cooler temps, Stowe, to the site of the soon to be wedding shenanigans.  An incredibly beautiful spot for a wedding.

 Rehearsal time...

By the time we hit the rehearsal dinner...this little lady was so tired from so much fun.  She slept through the first hour. :)

But then she woke up to help liven up the party a bit.

Lara and her ladies!

Wedding day!

Matt proposed the Lara by building her (and then revealing) this photo booth.  It was an awesome piece of carpentry, and made for some seriously fun pictures at the wedding.  They now have a guest book full of silly photos -- I think Ryan and Kaitlyn went in there 5+ times each.  Sorry for wasting all your photo paper Lara and Matt! 

we clean up all right I guess....

these two did an amazing job! 

Uncle Walt, a dang beautiful bride, and Aunt Kelley 

She's still dropping those flowers...after the ceremony 

Such a lovely father daughter dance

this kid couldn't stop dancing!  

the kids got their first taste of a Shirley Temple -- maybe that's why they had so much energy on the dance floor? 

 The day after the wedding, there as a family brunch -- which turned into a family soccer match.  Too fun.

And then we took an 11 mile bike ride through Stowe.  Beautiful!  

And we took a hike another day to a really cool waterfall, with tons of rocks and people swimming (and jumping from the really high rocks into the water below, scared me to death)

we so tough...

And we went to the Von Trapp Family Lodge (yes, as in the Sound of Music Von Trapp Family) for an outdoor concert.  Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.  It was a super fun evening.

playing war with cousin Carl 

And of course....an obligatory stop at Ben & Jerry's.  Along with everybody else in Vermont.

And we were lucky enough to have these two all to ourselves for our last night in town -- one last dinner with the newlyweds.  Thanks for a fantastic week Lara and Matt!  So happy for you both.