10.02.10

I stood up in a RAINBOW Wedding on October 2nd and this is the first picture I've seen of the day! Isn't it fantastic?? I loved every second of it (even the freezing cold outdoor beautiful ceremony part). That's me in the middle - Apple Slice Green.

Congratulations Sarah & Dejesus!

10.10.16 Sully & Ale's Wedding

The weekend after my cousin's wedding, Casey was the best man in his friend Mike Sullivan's wedding. Here's Sully, his parents, his brother and Casey waiting for Alejandra to come down the aisle. In this traditional Mexican wedding it's customary for the parents of the groom to stand at the alter to welcome the bride and her family.

During the ceremony, the couple's godparents presented them with "gifts" ... coins, a rosary, a bible and a lasso (shown below).

(and the pictures stop after the ceremony ... also, you'd think it would have occurred to me to get a picture of Casey and I with Sully and Ale.) The wedding was beautiful, the reception was quaint with GREAT food and entertaining company.

The bittersweet part of the day was that due to unforseen circumstances, we were unable to attend Casey's dad's last game as a high school football coach ... his last game of 40 years of coaching. His last game was supposed to be the following weekend except that team ended up forfeiting due to a teacher's strike. See the details here. We were thankful that Mallory got to join in the on the fun! Another end of an era!

10.10.09 Megan & Kevin's Wedding

My cousin Megan got married earlier this month ... I was her matron of honor, Casey an usher. I have learned that I am horrible at taking pictures of an event when I participate in it. The only pictures I took that day (aside from the family shots below) were taken before I even laced her into her dress.

... getting her make-up done ...

... a snack before the ceremony ...
... reading her card from Kevin, pre-dress, many tears followed ...

(Kevin was an usher too)

it was a perfectly executed day

(albeit freezing!!)

Weddings are so fun!

The Ordeal

Disclaimer: I apologize in advance as I'm well aware that this is a "had-to-be-there" moment, but even so I just can't not share the hilarity.

Dad and Lynn's reception not only included really yummy food (by the same caterer we had at our wedding), family and friends ... there were also yard games to be had.

Ladder golf was the game of choice and it never fails that one of the "balls", in a fit of rage or frustration (thank you to my cousin Andy :)), ends up in a tree twenty feet off the ground. Brilliant.As it turns out, it was OUR game, but after several (too many) failed attempts to retrieve it from the tree (hello, rope wrapped around the tiniest branch in the world) and learning we could buy more "balls", we opted to call it a loss. Or so I thought.

Fifteen minutes later I turn around to see this................My ever competitive husband wasn't going to take no for an answer ... he was standing on a picnic table with ... wait, what is that? Oh right, he disassembled the ladder itself in order to create a "tool" he could dislodge the ball with. (Mind you, this is after a handful of arrogant and determined guys threw footballs, softballs and other objects at the tree for over half an hour ... no lie.)

Well, looking like he might actually have a chance at getting it loose, I moved in for a closer look. And, what do you know? Eventually, he did.

This is honestly the best part and I'm upset that I didn't remember not to turn my camera while shooting the video (and also unhappy to report that I still haven't installed the software my brother lent me which I'm sure would have allowed me to turn the video, but I digress...)

So, my dad watches Nascar. Casey likes to give my dad a hard time about how every driver, in every interview, is notorious for name dropping their sponsor and that each driver sounds identical to the next. Hopefully you'll get it after watching the video ... I promise it's funny. (It also helps that Casey managed to flawlessly pull off the interview.)

The Reception

Following the church service was, of course, dinner and the reception. It was held at a park in a pavilion. Without naps, Mallory and Ember could only handle so much adult conversation, ha ha, so we opted for activities instead.

The problem of only one child swing was solved by putting two children in at the same time. They didn't seem to mind - in fact, it was quite a hit.

No trip to the park is complete without a run down the slide. Especially one this fun!

mommas and babies. so cute.

it was her 10 month birthday.

and without ANY naps it was a long day.

Dave & Lynn Hammen

beautiful weather.

two people who are SO alike it's nearly scary.

lots of family & friends.

July 11th, 2009

Dave & Lynn Hammen

(my brother and i may or may not have been making faces at each other in this photo. how immature!)

the happy couple.
with Lynn's kid, Scott & Sarah.

the fam.

a perfect day.