Rob & Emily Are Married!

Last weekend Monnie and I were in Milwaukee for a weekend of fun surrounding Rob & Emily's wedding.

After arriving Thursday night, Rob and I spent Friday working remotely from the lounge of the Pfister. Why the Pfister? It's the preferred remote workplace for the distinguished wireless internet user, of course... oh, and because our significant others were having their nails done at the salon there.

Friday night was the rehearsal (at the Pfister, which was the site of both wedding and reception), followed by dinner at Coquette Cafe. I would highly recommend the Coquette by the way - if you're looking for spot in the 3rd Ward.

Saturday was a great day. The guys watched football in Rob's room all day before the nights festivities. Everything seemed to go REALLY well - the ceremony was very nice. Justice Prosser (Rob worked for him at the state Supreme Court) officiated a very fun ceremony - a little humor mixed in with your dose of serious is always a good thing.

The speeches and the dance were great too - Monnie and Becca's maids of honor speech was a big hit and everyone had an awesome time!

Congrats kids!

(click the picture for plenty more)

Rusty Gets Cranky, Fox Gets Gelato, and Rob's Mom Gets Famous

Our action-packed Saturday got started with a car ride over to Milwaukee's Enders Park for a fund raiser. While the subject of the fund raiser was the park itself, the slant taken was a series of dog events. As part of the dog rescue we are members of (WAAGR - cute currently available dogs here) we helped man a booth. Basically, there were a series of booths - vets, pet stores, photo takers, stuff like that: and us.

Rusty was not a huge fan of the concept. As many of you know he is really good with all people. Completely trusting - very friendly - all that good stuff. Other dogs though... not the biggest fan. His biggest issues seem to come with those larger than him but really - he is a pretty big fan of everyone just minding their own business. As the day went on he got a bit snappier - of course overall he was completely fine: I think we all do a bit of growling after a long day somewhere that we really would rather not be.

Rusty's trip through the obstacle course:


After a nice visit and a bit of the Badger football game with Monnie's parents we were off to Menomonee Falls to meet Annabelle Fox (mike and steph also attended) for Gelato. Seeing Annabelle was great (mike and steph also fine) and we got to enjoy our ice cream along with the conclusion of the Badger game.

Our night concluded with a very nice "couples wedding shower" for Emily and Rob, hosted by the Mooneys in Whitefish Bay. The evening was perfectly executed - great food, live music, and of course: wonderful company made for a really great time. During the course of a conversation with Rob, Rob's mother (Valerie), and I - it was brought up that I have a blog. While the conversation consisted mainly of Valerie and I dividing up Rob and Emilys future millions - we also discussed how blogs make instant celebrities of their subjects. So, I'd like to introduce Americas newest superstars: Valerie, Rob, and I. We'll try to remember you little people that made us famous once we get to the top :)

Assorted Christmastime Happenings

What a great weekend!

We started out in Milwaukee. A great breakfast with Annie & John, Meghan & Jason, and Kara & Lieland! Too bad that Pete had to work, but it was great to get to meet Lieland (Pete and Kara's baby). Later that night we had Christmas with the Fritschs. Thomas and Matt came over as well as grandpa to join her parents and the two of us. Here's Cocoa getting in on the present opening action, and Barb and I making a snowman.


Saturday it was back to Madison to have Christmas at the Halbergs. Mike and Sheila were in town and Claire was in full effect. Very excited for presents to be opened! Our gift was a hit. I don't think you can go wrong buying a girl of any age 5 pairs of princess shoes and a tiara!



Sunday we woke up late (a little Christmas gift to ourselves) before heading up to Green Bay for the Packers vs. Bears game. It was a great time and the Pack made it exciting at the end - unfortunately, it just wasn't your day (or year for that matter). Completely randomly, we ran into cousin Tim and second cousin Zak! Unbelievable in a stadium that size! There's more on that here.



Monday we met up with The Roos (minus Ericka) for lunch in Johnson's Creek. The highlight, of course, being the introduction of the newly engaged Emily and Rob (congrats kids). Monnie and I spent the rest of the day with Carissa and Niki - we watched some corny movies and had a great dinner at Ginza Tokyo. There's more about it here and a little here too.
Here are our leftovers (dressed more for Halloween than Christmas).


That's one great weekend and a couple more great ones coming right up. This weekend we're starting out with dinner at John and Leslie's on Friday night. I'm really looking forward to stopping in to see grandpa beforehand. After that we're headed up North for our 3rd annual New Years in Bessemer, MI (Powderhorn Mt), then a weekend or two after that: up to Mt. Bohemia for a weekend of skiing. What a great time of year!