Wedding Wrap-up

After an amazingly restful night of sleep, we woke bright & early to more fun with cousins. The hotel set-up was cool because we could step out of our room & look over the ledge down at the lobby, glass elevator, & other floors to see who was awake. First we saw uncle Dave, then uncle Kyle, & then Teresa asked for (great) uncle Ralph. :)

Burning a little energy before family Mass with Fr. Jon.

Here's Mom with a few of her sisters who made the trek.

Teresa loves her Godmother, Aunt Denise. After countless hugs, we were on our way home again.

We stopped in Sidney at Cabela's for lunch & "the wildlife".

It was such a fabulous trip! Welcome to the family, Diane! You're the best birthday present ever. May God bless your marriage with much joy!

Wedding Adventure - Part 3

Back to the hotel for more photos & a cocktail hour

Teresa couldn't enjoy the cocktail hour without some acrobatics for all to see.

After greeting the wedding party with cheers & millet (from Doug's farm!), they let all the kids take a ride in the Hummer limo. My Dad & I were the token adults on quite the thrill ride! Then it was to the reception for a delicious meal. We sat with Darren's parents, my aunt Lois, aunt Janice, & uncle Ralph. Andrew was interested in the disposable camera on the table. Ralph kept Teresa happy (& in her seat) with random fruit from his plate. She thought he was pretty awesome!

Rebecca didn't even wait until we had our food to start twirling with her cousins. I love how she dances.

One of my favorite things I'd never seen before was at the reception. At the end of the father/daughter dance, they called all of the fathers out to dance with their daughters. Then the same for the mother/son dance. It was so cute! It was really fun to see my sister Melissa out there dancing with her 7 boys all at once, too. :)

About 9:30 Colorado time, the kids were DONE. So, we walked upstairs to put them to bed & Darren decided to crash as well. I went back down to party the night away. Chatting with my family, crazy dancing with my nieces & nephews, enjoying Joe dancing to Michael Jackson tunes, seeing the newlyweds so happy, & realizing out of everyone there that my parents were the longest married couple made for a fabulous end to my birthday.

Wedding Adventure - Part 2

I have always LOVED the mountains. I remember countless family vacations for camping, hiking, fishing, & skiing in the mountains. So, everytime that I looked out the window it made me catch my breath & smile. It was a fabulous place to spend my birthday. :) It was obviously a unique one... complete with red velvet cupcakes for breakfast & elevator birthday serenades... not to mention a brand new sister. After a morning full of fun at the hotel with all of our relatives, we grabbed a quick lunch at Taco Bell, fancied ourselves up, & took the drive to the wedding. We were all exhausted, so I was glad it was a 40 minute ride. After we arrived Darren stayed with the snoozers in the van until it was time for the Mass. It was in a beautiful Church in Greeley with gorgeous stained glass windows. Mom looked gorgeous & held it together amazingly well. She is so happy for Doug. Doug & Diane were so kind by having a lot of the grandkids play a part in the wedding. Julia & Clara were the lovely candlelighters.

Joseph was an usher & got to bring in my Mom. Maria, Veronica, & Lucy were the flower girls. Matthias was the ringbearer. Here comes the bride...

Fr. Jon, two other priest friends from college, & Diane's grandpa who is a permanent deacon all witnessed the ceremony. Augustine, Micheal, & Samuel were the servers. Andrew was so honored to bring up the gifts with cousin John. This was only his second time ever & he was very focussed. My Dad was the best man & Diane's sisters were the maids of honor. Doesn't he look handsome?

Here's our crowd! Diane puts our immediate family count up to 38!

The biggest surprise of the weekend was walking into the Church & seeing Darren's parents! They drove all the way that morning just to be part of the fun. We really enjoyed having them there.

Tea for two (dozen)

My brother Doug has been preparing my birthday present for MONTHS. Yes, this is rather out of character. ;) Lucky for me it is the gift of a new sister! He will marry Diane on November 19th. In anticipation of the happy day we hosted a bridal shower for her at my parents' farm.

My mom loves to collect teapots, cake plates, really dishes of any kind. Most of the time they sit pretty in the china cabinet(s), but we gave them a workout at the shower!

The guys decided to stick together among all this girliness.

It was a lot of prep work, but turned out so nice & was a fun party with family & friends.

Even adults love a tea party. ;) Lunch with Grandpa at the kids table: Check out Andrew's black mouth courtesy of the groom cake pops that Melissa made. Yummy! Adorable! M.e.s.s.y. My niece Veronica follows Diane around like a puppy. She just adores her. Diane is such a sweetheart! She'll make a great aunt & sister.

Here come the brides

The dress the bride competition led to a whole array of creativity for the rest of the day: hats, skirts, scarves, shirts... & in Andrew's case bombs. And, no, I have no idea what Rebecca is doing! (The kids also enjoyed some pumpkin hunting & tractor steering with Grandpa who graciously took along my camera but unfortunately took super cute video instead of photos. When I figure out how to pull photos from them, you can enjoy.) Here are the gals out in the new sunroom. It was so fun to be with you all! Can't wait to be all together again for the wedding. Welcome, Diane!