Another Year of Babies, Brides, and BBQ (March & April)

I really thought life couldn’t be crazier than it was last year, but this year has seriously been insane! I am so blessed with the work that I have been doing and get to do, but I am ever so thankful for these babies and being the matron of honor to my best friend bride to be, Amie! Oh and I guess I am thankful for BBQ too. 😉

Babies!

So so many babies! From the ones turning 1 and the newborns and the ones still getting ready for their arrivals!

Owen

This last month we celebrated little Chunk’s first birthday. He has changed so much these last two months, losing so much of the chub and is looking more and more like a little man. And of course, celebrating his first birthday just made me think all the more of the day he blessed Jamie and Joey one year ago!

P.S. He even got his first haircut last week! So looking forward to seeing him in person!

Grayson

After not seeing Grayson much this first part of the year, I got to make up for it so much in April alone! We got to go and visit our friends in Redlands right before Kyrene had little Parker. And then of course he was on hand to strut his cute little stuff at his best friend Owen’s first birthday. Plus he was on hand at Lynzie’s wedding last month! Next up, his first birthday this May! Eeek!

Parker

Our newest babe is now 2 weeks old! Little Parker made his debut just weeks ago (which you can read more about here) and he’s already stolen our hearts… seeing his big brother with him was just the cutest thing ever… that look of curiosity in Hudson’s eyes was just adorable. And he was so gentle with him! We even got to grab a few photos of him propped up on their living room table! For a spontaneous photo shoot, I thought they came out pretty good! Plus I even got a photo with the 3 day old!

Amelia

Miss Amelia is planning her debut for this coming July. You all know her mommy quite well by now as she has been featured here quite a few times as a model and my Disneyland buddy.

Her baby shower is just weeks away, and I love how her invitations have come out! I gave you a little sneak peek into those last month!

And you also got a glimpse at this glowing mother to be’s first maternity portraits a few weeks ago but here’s one you haven’t seen yet!

Molly

Well this was the baby I hinted to in my last post… our wonderful bestie Trisha is having a baby girl this coming September and we could not be happier for her!! I am so looking forward to these coming months of seeing little Trisha’s belly growing, planning the baby shower, and then of course the anticipation of holding little miss Molly!

Brides

Amie

I think what I love most about the wedding planning stage is how much time I get to spend with the bride. Seriously, I think I have seen Amie more these past 4 months than I have seen here these past 4 years!

These last two months we have found our bridesmaid dresses, created a wedding website (pankratzwedding.com), designed and sent out Save the Dates (will show those next time :)), and then gone to the L.A. shopping district to pick out linenes and other items. Of course that’s just what I have been involved in, Amie has just been busy busy busy getting ready for her wedding. And I can. not. wait!

I don’t think there’s going to be too much to show in my next post come June but the next post in August will include her Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival bridal shower! Uh yeah, I like complicated and lengthy shower themes. 🙂

Lynzie

Bonus bride here! In case you missed Lynzie’s gorgeous wedding… check out her photos from J. Rose Photography here or my few formals here.

BBQ

March and April were very busy months for Rooftop, I wasn’t able to make it to a couple of them though… but good news is, Rooftop BBQ brought home 2 more Reserve Grand Championships (2nd place overall)!! Andy’s goal for the year is to win their first Grand Championship, so here’s to another step closer to making it to that!

Santa Anita

Santa Anita was a crazy busy competition at the race track… busy for our boys to keep up vending to the crowds. I love this competition though, its held within the infield of the track so the horse races go around all around us—literally! Plus its on grass (aaaahhhhh say my feet!) and that time of year is generally a little cooler. I rarely get photos of me at a BBQ event so I thought I’d show this one of me turning in all the hundreds of tasting tickets—for every two of those was a BBQ sample leaving Rooftop to happy waiting mouths. 🙂

Sam’s Club Series

I missed both of the Sam’s Club events! So so sad about that, especially since the first was in Salt Lake City, Utah where the guys got to stay with Andy’s aunt (remember how beautiful it is there!?). And even more amazingly, they won their second Reserve Grand Championship! Which led to them competing in Vegas just last week. You can read more about Salt Lake right here on the Rooftop Blog.

Stagecoach

Just last night I posted a few Instagram shots from our “weekend” at Stagecoach, what a weekend it was… the guys divided into two teams and then cooked 3 total competitions (chili on Friday, and then two chicken entries, two rib entries, two brisket, and one pork) each! The last two years we served up 500 tastings a day, but this year between our two teams we served up 600 samples and only served our leftover meat from the competition entries.

It was really a great weekend, plus at night we got to see some of the bands—another awesome change this year was being within the main Stagecoach area so we could actually see the stage from our booth! The last night, we all just brought our chairs just outside the pit area and watched the concerts right from there.

I just have to show this photo though, its a rare occasion to have a group photo! This is my BBQ family. 🙂 Andy wouldn’t be where he is today without the help and support of all these people. Go Rooftop!

Oh and of course, I have to tell you how awesome the guys did in competing!! They collectively won nine top 10 calls in addition to winning Reserve Grand Champion on Saturday!

And lastly, here’s a video of our weekend at Stagecoach, a little bit of work and a little bit of fun adds up to a pretty great weekend!

Follow past and upcoming Babies, Brides and BBQ here!