We flew up on Thanksgiving Day since the flights were so much cheaper (I definitely gave my sister a hard time for getting married on the most expensive travel weekend of the year!) Everyone else coming from out of town lives within driving distance so they arrived on Wednesday. This was a lucky break for us since it meant we drove straight up to dinner and didn't have to mess with any of the cooking :) Since there were over 30 of us there for Thanksgiving, including Casey's fiancee and five members of his family, we had dinner at the church building. In addition to my parents and our family, my brother Chris was there with his wife and four (soon to be five) kids, my brother Matt with his wife and one (soon to be two) kid, my sister Casey and her fiancee Gavin, my brothers Sam and Adam, and my sister Grace. My Grandma was there with her brother Chuck and a nephew of hers who loves in Spokane and my uncle Randy. Matt's mother-in-law also came since she did Casey's hair for the wedding. We had a full house, and it was so fun! After dinner and dessert, we went to my parents' house to hang out for the evening and watch a movie.
On Friday, we had lots of wedding details to take care of. Jordan got his tuxedo and we picked up some of the food items for the reception. Our family went out to lunch with Chris and Matt's families at Texas Roadhouse. Then we all met up at the church to decorate for the reception. As evening came, Jordan took our big girls along with the other families to Coeur D'Alene for the Christmas parade. They actually all missed the parade but got to see all the lights and the fireworks, which they said were awesome!! The rest of us stayed behind to finish the decorating. We were thinking about taking Reagan to the parade, but she was just getting over a little cold and the temperature never got above 23 the whole time we were there so we opted to keep her out of the cold and she and I stayed with the decorating crew. She got to hang out in the front carrier while I worked and even fell asleep for a little while. That night, we played games, which is one of my favorite things to do with my family!
Saturday was the main event!!! It was so fun to be at the temple with so many members of my family and to see everyone looking so darn good for the wedding! I was a little nervous about leaving all the kids, both mine and Chris', with my younger siblings, especially Reagan, to get ready while we were in the temple for the sealing, but they all did great! I'm so grateful that my siblings are so awesome with my kids!! After the sealing, I got to spend some time with Casey helping her get her dress on and get ready, which was really sweet for me! She's 10 years younger than I am so we aren't especially close, but I love her a lot and am so proud of the woman she's becoming. She also lived with us for four months when we first moved to Memphis and as a result is Madison's favorite person in the entire world!! She has set a great example for my girls with her decisions to serve a mission and get married in the temple. It was so fun to see all the family gathered after the sealing with all the little nieces and nephews in their cute outfits! It was ridiculously cold though so we did pictures quickly and then regrouped at the house to relax for a little bit before the reception. The reception featured a lot of dancing, which my girls loved!!! We had a blast on the dance floor! There was a moment when I was on the edge of the dance floor watching Madison and McKinley dancing with each other and Jordan dancing with Reagan that I seriously could not imagine ever being happier than I was at that exact moment! I love my little family so much!!! We had a great weekend, and I'm so glad we could be there to celebrate and have fun with my big family!!
In the Phoenix airport ready to head out. Don't let this girl fool you ... sleep was definitely a rarity for her on this trip!
This is the only picture I got of our Thanksgiving setup :( The kids were obviously much more interested in coloring than eating!
My sisters decided to take some selfies with my phone not knowing that my front camera doesn't work very well :) Points for trying, girls!
Madison was so proud of this turkey and Happy Thanksgiving message she wrote on the kids table
Reagan and Aunt Grace. We had some fun Friday night after we finished decorating while we were waiting for the others to get back from the parade.
My Grandma and Adam doing some karaoke
Reagan dancing with Grandma
A glimpse of the tables ... the picture really doesn't do it justice. It looked really beautiful!
More dancing!
We did a four generation photo with Reagan (being held by Aunt Grace), myself, my mom and my Grandma
Once the others got back, it was more dancing! Madison and McKinley LOVED all the dancing!!
Uncle Matt and Reagan
My family!!! From left to right it's Matt (and family), me (and family), my Mom, Casey and her new husband, my Dad, Sam, Grace, Adam, my Grandma and great uncle, and Chris (and family)
Look at these adorable girls!!!!! We all pitched in on the flower girls' ensemble. My sister-in-law Wendy got the dresses, I made the headband and hair wreaths and my mom and sister Grace made the flower baskets. They seriously looked so cute!!!
My little family. I think we clean up pretty well :)
My nephew Lincoln enjoying his pasta. There's also a pretty good look at the beautiful flowers! They're all fake, but look amazing!
Dancing Princesses
So cute!
LOVE!
Ha ha! Waiting for our plane home in the Spokane Airport ... think they're a little worn out?!
Absolutely a fantastic weekend spent with all my loved ones. So much fun. Jen your pictures and dialog express it so well. Loved spending time with all. It was a hectic four days filled with work, laughter, fun and lots of love.
ReplyDeleteThis all looks so fun! I'm so glad yall were able to make. You looked beautiful and the girls darling!
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