Baby Burgaken

Okay, so Jon and I thought it would be a good idea to see what our genes might look like when combined together. Maybe it is a good thing that they haven't figured out how to make a baby with two men's genes because apparently it creates a fungus-like growth on the baby's upper lip. FYI....this is a baby girl and her name would have been Joth Burgaken, which is a unique combination of both of our first and last names. We liked that better than Joke McMaburg.

Major Formatting Issues

Okay, I would like to state for the record that while I am formatting my blog, everything looks and behaves as normal. The second I publish my blog, the spacing gets all funky, my paragraphs run together, my fonts change color, my pictures move, etc. Also, out of nowhere, the spellcheck has stopped working. This is EXTREMELY frustrating and I would just like to say that I would never intentionally do this and strive for high quality, but this is totally beyond my control. Okay, I am off of my soap-box now.

The Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner

The church rehearsal and rehearsal dinner ALMOST went off without a hitch, but how could we tell stories about it for years to come if it weren't for a little bit of drama. Let's see, Kelly got her first bit of bride-gone-off-the-deep end moments prior to the rehearsal which was totally understandable, but also a little bit on the scary side. Just kidding of course......as long as you didn't make eye contact with her. No, she did great and had done such great planning that there wasn't much that could have gone wrong really. The rehearsal was great and it gave us a chance to interact with the rest of the bridal party and meet those we hadn't meet before. The rehearsal dinner was held at Macaroni Grill and was tons o' fun. Kelly and Greg made a nice heartfelt speech and gave out the bridal party gifts. Mine was a gift certificate to Banana Republic, a kitty cat who poos jelly beans, and a beautiful picture frame with family inscriptions on it with a hand drawn picture of me, Jon, Kelly, and Greg in our wedding day attire. Kelly said the hand drawn picture was only until we had a real wedding picture to replace it, but I told her I think the picture she drew was way too cool to replace. The only REALLY bad thing that happened on Friday was a little incident involving Jon, a funny joke my dad told, Jon leaning back for a huge laugh, him sitting on the edge of the bed, falling off the bed and onto his back to the ground, and really hurting his back bad. I knew it had to hurt because all the color drained from his face, he started shaking uncontrollably (as if he went into shock), and he had to go to the doctors to be sure he hadn’t broken a bone. He is very, very sore now, but at least nothing was broken. I guess my dad wins joke teller of the year!!! From top to bottom: Dad, Kent, and Mom Kelly "happily" standing next to the sign the hotel made welcoming her to the hotel. At least the Burgess-Giera Wedding got top booking over Pam's Scrapbooking or Kelly might have taken the manager out at the knee caps. Jon sat in the front seat on the way to the rehearsal and had the cahoonies to take a picture of Kelly right after we got stuck in a massive traffic jam that threatened to make us late to the church. Her eyes alone say, "back the camera away from my face." This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole weekend. Classic father/daughter moment.

The bridal party from behind.

Jon's first physical contact with a girl left him sweaty and confused.

Kelly mid-bite and with a glass of white wine in front of her. Nothing calms the nerves like a big ole' glass of white wine.

A candid shot of the bride and groom.

Denise who sat through dinner with a tiny piece of bacon on her forehead that nobody noticed but me. They all thought it was a beauty mark, but I knew better.

Kelly "attempting" to give a speech that lasted all of 5 seconds before she completely fell to pieces and started crying in a good way of course. Greg took over from there.

Tim, Jon, and Denise.

Joyce, Kelly, and Mom

Katie and I.

My cousin's Austin and Nick.

Rusty's tongue and Katie.

The Wedding Day

Well, the wedding day couldn't have gone any better if Kelly and Greg had been given 5 years to plan it. Everything was gorgeous including the reception site, flowers, bridesmaids..... BUT especially the bride (special mention goes to the bride's mom who also looked more beautiful than I had ever seen)! Kelly looked like she belonged in a bridal gown magazine and her dress looked like an elegant layer cake. She was perfection from her beautiful hair to her beautifully manicured toes which were in her beautiful shoes. She was surprisingly as cool as a cucumber minus her walk down the aisle where she fought back tears of joy with a mixture of laughter. The ceremony was short and sweet and didn't have any major snafu's to report.

The reception was in a gorgeous building with beautiful decorations and went off without a hitch as well EXCEPT for a drunken bridesmaid from another wedding who tried to come into our receptions, steal a gift off the table, to pass it off as her own. Thank goodness Jon and Kelly's friend Amy were watching her like a hawk because we got the present back. The dance floor was always bumping, there was an ice sculpture of a G (for Giera) and a tooth through which they poured martini's, the food was delicious, and the chocolate fountain was a giant hit. Additionally, Kelly and Greg's first dance (to a Mariah Carey song) was sweet and I always get choked up at the father/daughter dance which was to "Through the Years" by Kenny Rogers. Of course bringing it back to me, I was sick with dread at screwing up my toast to Greg and Kelly, but with only a few minor hitches (a few momentary lapses of forgetfulness and trying to talk while holding back an impending flood of tears), it was a success and I am glad to have lived through it.

It was definitely an event to remember and Kelly and Greg should be proud of the beautiful ceremony and reception they put together. And for those inquiring minds that want to know....Mr. & Mrs. Giera are in 85 degree Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic as I type this blog in 32 degree Minneapolis.

The bride drinking a Memosa and getting her hair started.

Dear God! What are they doing to Denise?

Katie Swan getting her locks prepared for the 105 bobby pins that would eventually be put into her hair. Yowsa!

The finished product! Kelly looked like a princess with her tiara and vail.

The salon took good care of us while we were there. They provided us with Memosa's and food. From L to R: Joyce, Denise, and my mom.

Denise showing us her huge "bouquets," but like most women, her left one is a little bit bigger than her right.

Denise, me, and Katie

One of my favorite pictures of the whole day. Jon snapped this candid little photo on the way to the ceremony.

Me, Jon, and Denise in the limo

Mom and Kelly in the limo

The gorgeous bride right before the ceremony starts...

The dress from behind

Mom helping Kelly put on the finishing touches and it show time!

The Bridal Party after the completion of the ceremony.

Me, Denise, Katie Swan, and Katie Davis right after the ceremony.

This was the ice sculpture though which the bartender poured martinis to make them ice cold. You can see the cursive G clear as day, but can you see anything else not immediately visible to the naked eye? How about a tooth?

Katie Swan and I at the head table.

Kelly and Greg's first dance.....awwwwww!!!!

Greg and Kelly cutting into their cake

Jon and Denise hamming it up!

My mom's cousin Chuckie and my mom.

Greg striking his best Uncle Sam pose.

Denise better not be trying to put the moves on my man...

Me looking a sweaty mess after a night of dancing.

Kelly living it up at the reception

Mom and dad busting a move on the dance floor.

My cousins Austin and Shelby with Aunt Robin.

Uncle Randy and Austin. Me, Katie, and Jon

If there was nobody else on the dance floor, you could always count on the Fab Four...me, mom, Joyce, and Aunt Robin. We were ALWAYS dancing.

An end of the night shot if you couldn't tell. Denise....hoping she was Cinderalla....just turned into into a Drunken Pumpkin when she found out the shoe didn't fit.

The next morning. Denise removed her bobby pins the night before, but with all the product and hairspray, this is what she looked like the second she woke up. Jon and I laughed for 10 minutes straight.

Howard, SD

Okay, I am a little behind the 8-ball with this post, but that is because I knew it was going to be another big one. We took a ton of pictures and crammed a lot of stuff into one weekend, so I knew I needed to wait until I had the time to dedicate to a good post. Well, for those of you that don't know, I recently took a road trip to Howard, SD with Matt, Dave, and Ryan. Jon had to stay home and be the responsible one between the two of us because of the dogs. It would have been just too expensive to kennel the dogs for such a quick weekend road trip. I am sure you are thinking what I was thinking...why Howard, SD? Weeeeeeelllll, it is the hometown of the famous Miss Matt Laible, Star Trek Aficionado & Queen of Vulcans. Okay, I am getting way ahead of myself here with the Star Trek talk, but you'll see. Our real purpose was to see the opening of Matt's mom's new coffee shop which was absolutely the cutest damn little coffee shop I had ever seen. In our two and half day trip, we went balls to the wall with the amount of activities we managed to fit in. On Friday, we drove 5 hours to Sioux Falls, SD, went out to the bar with Matt's brother and sister-in-law, and spent the night at their beautiful brand new house. On Saturday, we then drove 45 minutes to Mitchell, SD, home of the Corn Palace. When we rolled up to Mitchell, we realized their was a full-on parade in our honor or at least we like to believe that. We visited the Corn Palace and then were off for another 45 minute car ride to Howard, SD. We went straight to the coffee shop, had lunch, visited with Matt's mom and dad. We headed back to Matt's house and took a tour of his parent's digs. We then took Matt's grandpa's golf cart on a tour around town, but there was only enough room for 3 people, so I rode a bike alongside the cart. I think it was the strangest damn site that town had seen in 60 years. We ate dinner, went out to the local watering hole where we heard the worst/best karaoke in years. On Sunday, we had breakfast with Matt's family, visited his maternal grandpa at the nursing home, visited his paternal grandma at her home, and then took off for home. In between, there was lots of food, ice cream, Mad Libs, and uggggghhhhh, Star Trek Trivia. However, let me state for the record Ryan and I didn't participate. We just shook our heads and wondered how our friends traveled down such a dark and dirty road towards the dark side. The first picture from the trip....the Cheddar Cheese Chex Mix alone told us the trip was going to be good.

You thought I was kidding? Oh no, Matt and Dave both can spout off the license plate numbers of any Star Trek ship, plane, or floating house (whatever those damn things are called) like they are spouting off their social security numbers. Scary? A little.

A giant Buffalo we encountered on our way through Mankato. Coincidentally, we ate just moments later at Buffalo Wild Wings.....hmmmmm??? Maybe now that I think about it, it looks more like a Bison. I'll get back to you on it.

The Dairy Queen we visited where they prematurely shut off their lights to avoid customers. When we found out, we were pretty pissed and so Ryan did them the favor of turning it back on (without them noticing) and a huge rush followed behind us. They didn't look happy at all, but serves them right. How did they pay us back? This large, sweaty woman, with tattoos put on by a ink pen had employees wiping sweat off her face with a napkins AS SHE MADE OUR BLIZZARDS. Ewwwwww!!

Saturday morning and the inside of Matt's bro and sister-in-law's house.

I heart this giraffe. I wanted to steal it, but instead I looked at it longingly.

Outside of the house: Me, Dave, and Matt.

This was the parade when we got to Mitchell, SD. Yes, that car says the Corn Palace Hillbillies which appropriately set the tone for our visit.

The smoke is caused from the hillbilly car starting, stalling, sputtering, shooting sparks, and generally in need of a tune up.

Dave with Zeke.

The parade heading toward the Corn Palace (seen on the left hand side).

The Corn Palace. Yes, the entire outside decoration is made out of corn. The writing, decorations, etc.

Dave and Ryan

The welcome sign inside the building.

Matt, Dave, and Ryan inside the gymnasium.

An Indian Mosaic made completely out of corn.

I bought a gag gift for Jon which was a lapel pin, but it was far too fashionable to not share with the folks of Mitchell. Ryan pinning the fashionable pin on my jacket.

The pin made of feathers of some animal and the faces of Mt. Rushmore. I saw Gwenyth Paltrow wearing something similar to the Oscars.

Doesn't it look smashing??

While they look like the Gangs of New York....rough, tough, and ready to rumble, the most hurtin' these gals will lay on you is telling you not to wear horizontal strips, synthetic fabric, or white shoes after Labor Day.

Outside Higher Grounds Coffee Shop.

Standing in front of the fire place at Higher Grounds.

Standing in front of the fire place at Higher Grounds with Matt's mom and dad.

The girls looking out of the bedroom window. This actually was NOT staged even though we commented that the room felt very Victorian Bed and Breakfast.

Meanwhile this picture was TOTALLY staged and represents my deepest sadness of not having a Senior Picture where the curtain gently caressed my face.

The bike I rode while the Larry, Mo, and Curly got to ride in a golf cart.

Looks way more comfy than a damn bike doesn't it.

An action shot....I am the model of athleticism even in designer duds.

An action shot as I rode the bike and they zoomed past me.

In front of Matt's house.

In front of the famous "Welcome to Howard" sign. Matt actually drove us like 10 miles out of the way so we could come in the front entrance of the town and see this sign. I feel like I have now lived a complete life having seen it.

Dave in front of the Howard water tower.