Hippos, baby chimps, owls....

 My Daddy was a preacher and sometimes when he prepared sermons, his main points would all start with the same letter.  I've known several pastors that do that.

Well, in my 3 posts of our trip to KC, I have started each post with the letter H.  Because this post will be about the trip to the zoo, a natural H word was Hippo.

We began our morning at the Embassey Suites dining room.  Omelets to order!  And so much more!

Emeri told me "This place is famous for its breakfasts!"

It was storming outside so we decided to hit the pool.  

Al first stopped off at the gym.

After lifting weights at the gym, he lifted more "weights" in the pool!

By 10 it was clearing, so we headed out for the Kansas City...

 We got there just in time for a bird show.

 They put this road runner on the railing and he ran back and forth so very fast!

 We see these here in the wild a lot!

Can I say "ugly"?!

The red-tailed hawk also.  One has even been on my deck.

 This owl was just adorable!!

Our next stop was the penguiins.  We LOVED them!

The penguins would swim real fast under the "ice" and pop out of the hole.  Josh explained to us about the bubbles on their skin that they use to make them go so fast.  It was all scientific.  If you want to read about it, click here.

 Racing Papa!

The zoo has an air tram.  Pretty cool!

I was telling Staci it was a good thing they didn't have lions below, because if someone fell out, they wouldn't be able to get away from them!

 But then, maybe these guys with their long horns would get ya!

Love those chimps.   This one had a little baby!

I don't want to be disrespectful, truly, I don't.

But I have always thought Grandpa Carl sort of resembles a chimp!

No?

This is a kori bustard.  Never seen this critter before.

Continuation to come....

Holy Matrimony

Keeping with the "H" post from the beginning of our trip to KC, today's post is Holy Matrimony.  We went to KC for the weekend to attend 2 weddings of our nephews.

The first wedding was Friday night.  It was for Clint, the son of Allen's brother, Harley, who passed away 8 years ago due to familial glomerulosclerosis; a scarring of the tiny tissues/membranes within the kidney. It tends to run in families.  We are crossing our fingers for Al.

Here are some pictures of our kids with their cousins, Jenny and Clint back from 1987.  Grandpa and Grandma Graber had brought them up to visit for the day.  The kids had so much fun!  This swing set was eventually relocated to the farm.

* * * * *

Clint and Erin's wedding was at the Twenty-eight Event Space.  It is in an old warehouse, minutes from downtown KC.

????

We were all assigned a table # for the reception.

 The wedding ceremony was so sweet and God-honoring too.

 After the wedding.

 The pastor was assigned to our table too.  He was so enjoyable to get to know!  He has been a missionary in Venezuela, Costa Rica and Guatemala so we had much to talk about.

 

The darling couple

Cousin catch-up.

 cute picture, Josh and Emeri!

photo bombing papa

******

The next day, my brother Doug's boy, Brandon, was married.

A couple photos of Brandon and our kids from many years ago.  (That upset little toddler, Josh ended up being a worship pastor and plays piano for his job!)

These pictures were taken 6 years ago.  

Doug died of a sudden heart attack 5 years ago.

Brandon and Sara were married at Eventful in Westin, MO.  The drive there was just beautiful!!  

Rolling hills and old farm country.  

I looked up Westin.  It is a cute little historic town that I think we need to visit someday!

Eventful is in the country.

The wedding ceremony was a small private affair.

Lots of friends and family came to the reception.

Brandon's mom and me.  She and her husband own the Sunflower Cafe in Olathe.  Infact, they provided the meal and cake for the wedding!

Emeri wanted us to do a silly face picture

There were several children at the wedding and they provided toys for them.

Cheryl, Brandon's step-mother, from Pennsylvania

It was getting pretty late for these kids

Blessings to both couples!

Keep Christ the center of your marriage!