Ezra Bear and the etrain

For part of last week we had the awesome blessing of having Ezra Gharst (affectionately known as Ezra Bear, Bear, or Bear Bear) stay with us. Since I was painting with Tom, Eric took on the role of Mr. Mom - and he made it look effortless. While they were on their last outing together, I asked Lauren to capture some photos, so everyone could see Eric in action.




Appropriately, their last afternoon activity was a visit to a coffee shop.



This one's my favorite.

When it was time to take Ezra home, we both felt a little sad and realized that we would miss our new little buddy.

Brandi's Wedding

Eric's aunt, Sandy, shared some of her photos with us, so here are some good ones from our time at Brandi's wedding. First, here we are at the Black Bear Restaurant in Green Mountain Falls, site of the rehearsal dinner and the best meal I've ever eaten in my entire life. No exaggeration. It was an amazing, gourmet, five-course meal. Ruble has exquisite taste in food, so I shouldn't have been surprised. But I was, perhaps because I'd never had anything like it before. Wow. It really made up for the fact that I almost froze to death during the rehearsal.


Here is the site where the wedding was actually held. The rain kept up, but it was a beautiful backdrop for the kilts and Braveheart music. A sunny day really wouldn't have been as perfect. And their Anglican priest who married them was hilarious. He obviously knows them well, which is always fun. And at one point he took of his prayer shawl-like garment, and when he put it back on, he kissed it like Jews do when putting their prayer shawls on. Very interesting.

Here we are, looking perplexed before the wedding starts. We didn't have our camera, so this is the only picture I have of us from the actual day.

The happy couple and their first dance. Brandi's dress was beautiful, and Ruble's kilt actually looked very dashing. It's not for everyone, to be sure, but he pulled it off nicely. Brandi's dance with Wolfgang was to a German rendition of a song from Fiddler on the Roof.

On Sunday we spent some time with Tom and Sandy, Eric's aunt and uncle. First, we went to

Manitou Springs, to look at caves where an indigenous group used to live. Then we got really adventureous and drove to the Royal Gorge. I was the only one who had never been there. We decided to skip the park with the bridge (since it cost $24 per person to get access to the bridge) and instead hiked a small trail down to the edge of the gorge itself.

We loved the time with Tom and Sandy. They live in North Carolina, so we don't get to see them as often as we'd like. They also have a villa in South Carolina, which is where Eric disappeared to last year, if you remember. Anyway, they are always a lot of fun, and this trip was no exception.