We were SO happy to welcome Allison into our family -- officially! She really has been part of the family for years, but it's good to make it permanent:)
We started the celebration with a Groom's dinner at the Country Club. By the way, this was way back in May. The last day of May, to be exact. Yes, I'm THAT far behind.
We were so excited to celebrate with Sam and Allison, and both sides of the family. We were also a little nervous, because Haley was leaving for Uganda the very next morning. We weren't sure how the next month was going to go for her in Africa, but we were glad that she was able to make the dinner (she missed the wedding).
The kids are always happy to sit with the Grandmas and chat.
A sneaky picture of the groom:
Speech, speech!
Aunt Jill and Uncle Anthony, keeping cousin Isaac busy:
Aunty Anne and Uncle Curtis:
Joey sitting with Aunt Jill:
And the day of the wedding arrived! We went to the art museum early for pictures. The kids were so happy to be with their cousins.
We were a little nervous with the "you break it, you buy it" policy at the museum. I kept eyes on Matthew, he being the most famous destroyer of all. But we made it through the day with no tragedies.
Waiting, waiting...
When it was time for some pictures, we popped outside and tried to stay clean.
The bride and groom with the flower girl and ring bringer (that's what he called himself):
We took the opportunity to take a quick family shot, sans Haley:
Joey busy coloring the welcome sign:
Aunt Emily (Ben's sister)
And the father of the groom with his mom, aunt, sister, and Wilma:
The mother of the groom, with her sisters (including her identical twin!)
The Flower Girl and "Ring Bringer"
Cousins Micah and Kanalu:
The very awesome band:
A little more waiting:
Getting ready for showtime!
My instructions to the Ring Bringer were to walk slowly (Flower Girl's job was to grab his hand and not let go until they were at the finish line)
Ring Bringer's very special job was to make sure he gave the Best Man the ring as soon as he headed down the isle. Father of the Groom was not sure he would do it (Ring Bringer is notorious for doing whatever he pleases whenever it pleases him). But Father of the Groom doesn't know my secret for getting Ring Bringer to do anything I want him to do: bribery. And as soon as the ring was safely in Best Man's hand, Ring Bringer sat down on my lap and asked, "Did I do it good? When do we go get my ice cream?"
More shots of the ceremony:
The bride and flower girl:
Conspiring:
The best part of the day (I mean besides Sam and Allison getting married, of course), was the dress up photo booth. It was absolutely hysterical. We were there for a very long time. Ben and I even got in the act -- I'll try to find those pictures and scan them it. It was awesome.
And, as always, Joey doesn't get to eat the buffet with everyone else, because he will die. So he goes through a little pouting and then we go to Wendy's.
