Denver & Bradley Wedding

My trip to Denver was a fun one, and Lincoln was a good little boy for his Mommy during the weekend, so it was a good couple of days for all of the Gateses.

(top) Uncle Keith, Aunt Beth, Mom, Aunt Gwen, Aunt Suzanne (bottom) Randi & Aaron

Emily and I doing our best (corny) "Western" look.

Aaron & Randi's wedding, receptions, and rehearsal dinner was a great time. They looked good, the food was fantastic (sushi, spring rolls, pot stickers, chicken sate, appetizers at the bowling alley!... Jenn was sad to miss this trip and menu), and their chosen entertainment was a lot of fun.

The Bradley Family

Mom, Aunt Gwen, Uncle Keith and Aunt Suzanne arrived earlier in the week to help Aunt Beth get ready for the festivities.

Mom and Aunt Gwen planned the rehearsal dinner with the western theme: They're Gettin' Hitched. I set up a "photo booth" for everyone to have the picture taken with the Bride & Groom, and Mom took her photo printer so all of the guests could leave with their picture (see above). The Donati kids put a good Cowboy dinner together of Bar-B-Q, baked beans and cole slaw. Dad had even painted cut-out cacti (or is it cactuses) for the center pieces.

What a cake!

I mentioned the food earlier. And in keeping with Mom's motto, "Presentation Is Everything," the tables looked really cool.

Seaweed	Sticky Rice
Crab, Shrimp, Avacado, Egg, Cucumber	Pickled Ginger, Soy, Wasabi
Beta Fish as Center Piece

After the wedding, and "pre-reception, we went to Lucky Strike for some classy bowling.



So what was a busy stretch of weeks for me is winding down. When I left the hotel in Denver, Emily said, "The next time I see you will be on the beach." Holy cow! Jenn and I can't believe that in less than two weeks we'll be keeping Lincoln from eating sand! We're really looking forward to that time away with little responsibilities (not no responsibilities, but little responsibilities).

Lincoln has progressed from using his "lion car" as a tool to help him walk from point A to point B, and is now using it as his way to meander through the house. He's learning to steer, and when he gets to a place where he decides to play, he just parks the car and takes a seat for a few minutes. After he's bored with the stop, he hops back on the car and moves on to the next thing. Every now and then, he'll shimmy his way to the front of the car and turn on the music, then shimmy back to the handle and walk around to the music.

Yesterday, after I got home, we set up his bike seat and took him on his first bike ride. I'll get pictures of him in his seat and wearing his helmet sometime soon. It's real cute. He tolerates the helmet pretty well, and when Jenn gets up to speed, he says, "Wheeee! Wheeee!"