Memory Lane

Nine years ago today was our belated celebration of Chet Lee's 29th Birthday at The Mercantile (the Pioneer Woman's restaurant in Pawhuska)!  I love this group pic, and how great is it that I saw most of these friends four days ago for Chet's 38th B-day party!?

Side note for those who enjoy details:  My car battery died the day before, so the Wilsons picked me up at 6:15 in the morning - woof!  We met the group at Jeff and Kelly's.  Our road trip cars were Chet & Karli, Tall Kyle, and myself in one, then JEM, LB, and Jessica & Evan in the other (Jeff and Chet driving, of course)!  On my birthday that year, Kyle had met a woman named Sarah, and by July, they were dating pretty seriously - so I'm sure we talked about that to the extent he was willing to share on the trip down.  (Spoiler alert - they're now married with two boys and a third on the way!)

Random sign I liked documenting the town of Pawhuska.

The Wilsons had a surprise announcement for our group... they said that Karli's gift had arrived late, and when Chet opened it, there was a pretty memorable stunned silence as we all took it in and quietly waited for him to read the t-shirt and react. lol  (Whilst he was waiting for us to celebrate and be excited with them - we all caught up and got to celebrating eventually!)

This was the first of many pregnancy announcements in our friend group!

We also met Ladd that morning, husband of Ree, the Pioneer Woman!

Group pic with Ladd!  (Also, this is why I prefer group photos be taken with my phone.)

Getting healthier is fantastic, but photo editing is also our friend. lol

Karli waiting in the long line before the birthday brunch!

Front door sign

Sarah had something else going that morning, but I met her later that day for an afternoon swim at her apartment pool... Chet texted her the pregnancy news so that I would be able to talk about it freely, and we laughed about how it was reminiscent of her texting him her wedding news a few months earlier!

Pool pic!

P.S.  The first pregnancy announcement to the grandparents was caught on camera - love these pics!! lol

Since that time, Tate, Parker, Joy (in Heaven), and Paige have joined the wonderful Wilson family! ❤

And they continue to be the highly-valued connection hub of our thriving friend group, for which I am infinitely grateful!!

Mmkay, that's all my reminiscing for today.  Back to knocking out this protest hearing transcript - the struggle to stay motivated on those is real! lol  Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

❤ ❤ ❤