Wedding Day!

Last night when we went to bed, the weather forecast was calling for a good chance of rain for today.  Luckily, we did have a back-up for the wedding ceremony (an older church that is on the Historical Society's land), but when we woke up this morning...the rain had been taken out of the forecast!  It was to be mid-70's and partly sunny.  In other words: PERFECT for an outdoor wedding.  All of the girls headed uptown to Katie's hair stylist, but before we left, Ma-maw had to steal a kiss!

Our cousin, Kathleen, also met us at the beauty shop to do everyone's make up.  I ended up leaving early to take the girls back to the house, in hopes that they would get a bit of a nap before the party started!  Julianne did fall asleep, but Reba was too excited.  Doug, Dallas and Pa-paw made it back in time (they were setting up chairs at the wedding site) to stay with Julianne while Reba and I went to the church to get dressed.

Reba loved being able to do all the girl things!

The garden was ready...

Instead of lighting a unity candle, Katie and Brian had loose wax to pour and make their unity candle during the ceremony.

I thought this was a great picture of GG and Aunt Katie before the wedding

We did all the pictures before the ceremony, and then made our way back to the basement of the church for a late lunch (sandwiches).  Poor Julianne kept walking out her shoes.  This particular time she didn't see where I was, so Rob (the groomsman) simply put her on his knee and put her shoe back on.  It was quite an accomplishment as Julianne doesn't let very many people pick her up!

All the family had arrived...it must be time to get the show on the road!

Thankfully, GG sent a few of the pictures she took during the ceremony and I grabbed some from the wedpics app they used, so I able to share actual wedding photos!!

The newest Mr. and Mrs.!

Katie and Brian are snow people - hence the snowflakes on the cakes and the snowmobile photo booth, so they decided to use the snowmobiles as a get-away for the wedding party!  It was an awesome idea

Doug was pretty excited that Katie and Brian asked him to drive the tractor and wagon!

It is common in Iowa for the wedding party to go to a local bar (or two) after the ceremony and before arriving at the reception.  Unfortunately, Humboldt only had one bar open that time of the day, but we still had a fun time driving down the main street and enjoying a few drinks!

Once we arrived at the party, they cut the cake before serving the meal - that way people could grab a piece at their convenience.

Brian was nice to Katie, but Katie maybe wasn't so nice to Brian...

Julianne was very much attached to me from the moment we (the wedding party) arrived at the reception, so she got to sit at the head table with the wedding party through the meal and toasts.

After everyone was finished eating, it was time to start dancing!

Little Miss was pretty excited that she caught the bouquet!

Let me just say, my kiddos tore up the dance floor!  Julianne quit about midnight when I took her and Ma-maw back to the house.  Reba fell asleep in my arms about 12:30, and Dallas crashed about 1 a.m. as I was driving back to the house...

Until next time...

Granny's Surprise Birthday Celebration

This summer my Grandma (also known as Granny and GG) will turn 80! We thought it would be wonderful to have all the grandkids and great-grandkids "home" at the same time to have a birthday dinner.  When my mom shared the news with Granny a few weeks before the party, she was beyond excited to have everyone there.  But what she didn't know was that we were also have a surprise party for all her extended family and friends after lunch and pictures!

This weekend was the best time to get everyone together.  We met at the Putnam Inn in Greencastle for lunch, and then we headed to a local park for a few pictures.  

One funny story I have to share is this: My sisters and I met my aunt and uncle before lunch to decorate and put out the cake, plates, snacks, etc.  My aunt had purchased a balloon bouquet, with one of the balloons saying "Happy 80th Birthday".  Fast forward an hour or so - while eating lunch, Aunt Katie and Dallas are talking with GG.  Aunt Katie says, "Dallas do you know how old GG is?"  Dallas answers, "Yeah, she's 80. Didn't you see the balloons?"  Luckily, GG didn't hear the latter part of the statement and didn't ask anymore questions!

Here are a few of the wonderful memories we were able to capture!

GG and her great-grandkids

L-R: Dallas (6), Julianne (6 mo), Hailee (3), Owen (10 days), GG, Reba (4), Brinley (3), Sariah (5)

The whole clan!

My three kiddos with GG

The grandkids.

That photo was inspired by this one from a few years ago...

As I mentioned earlier in the post, after pictures we headed to the Farm Bureau building where Granny was completely surprised to see friends and family waiting for her!

I didn't take too many pictures at the party, but I did catch the little girls gathered together watching a Tinker Bell movie!

Until next time...