s & k get hitched part 3: the wedding & reception

...you can find parts 1 & 2 here and here.

We all got the the wedding venue just in time to take a few pictures before the guests started showing up. Pretty soon, it was just about go time.

The wedding was stunning. It was moving. The flower girls did excellent. They even managed to stay up front the entire ceremony. My brother choked up. It was the sweetest thing. I am just so thrilled that they took the time to have this celebration with all their family and friends. It really was such a special day.

Then it was time for the reception. Which wan an absolute blast. There was tons of dancing (especially by K's great granddad), tons of laughter, tons of photos in the photobooths and tons of drinks. It was such a great party. It was so fun to just relax with friends and family that we don't get to see much. It was the perfect party.

So much fun. I need people to get married every weekend. It's just so fun.

s & k get hitched part 2: getting ready

Kiki and I had to get up far too early (especially after the previous night's shenanigans..) to help her Mom set up the venue for the big day. Or course we got out there to find that none of the vendors were on time so we set up as much as we could before leaving detailed instructions of what needed to be done when we went back to get ready.

K had set it up that both the lady doing our hair and the lady doing our makeup were coming to the pool house to meet us. So we laid out a spread of snacks and mimosas and set up for a big 'ol girls day.

We tried so hard to get the little ones to pass out and take a nap, but they were NOT having it. They wanted to be right in the thick of things; getting their nails did and hair curled. No lie, it was actually kind of sweet and I know it made their days being included with the "big girls".

Getting dressed at the house had a few other perks as well. K's grandma was able to meet us there and was able to help K get dressed which I know meant a lot to the two of them as well as K's Mom.

Eventually it was time to get ready, well after a million more pictures because, well, duh.

Then it was time to get dressed... and K was absolutely stunning.

Finally it was time to head over to the venue. So we packed all the girls up and headed on over....

eight.

Eight years ago I married my best friend.

Never could I have imagined what would come after that day.

In eight years babe, we've experienced some of the highest highs and some of the darkest lows. It hasn't always been easy or sunshiney but we made it. And there's no one else I would have rather had by my side.

Eight years ago I had no idea that our life would include multiple job changes, homes in 3 different states, a struggle to start a family, and a beautiful daughter who has completed our lives.

I couldn't have planned this life if I tried. It's better than anything I could have ever asked for. You made it that way.

Babe I love you more today than yesterday. You are still the funniest person I know. You still know how to push my buttons better than anyone else. And you still give me butterflies.

I love you. Happy Anniversary babe.

s & k get hitched: part 1

My brother and sister in law got married last year in a simple, sweet ceremony in the park. It was between deployments and moves and baby and was low key and sweet and quite simply, perfect.

However, they both wanted a big wedding. A big celebration of sorts to show all their friends and family a good time and to have everyone celebrate them as they became a family. So on the one year anniversary date of their wedding, this past Saturday, they renewed their vows in front of family and friends. And it was perfect.

Mr. P drove down to Charleston the day before for some work stuff so he was planning on meeting us down there Friday. BG and I were meeting my aunt and Papa Friday morning to head to the beach in time for the rehearsal. Only, as usual, my work day became a complete cluster and we ended up leaving Florence way later than we intended. Fortunately the little gave us a bit of a break in that she slept most of the way down there allowing for zero stops. Praise.

When we got to town, we had to make a mad dash to change clothes and make it over to the Rehearsal. Only we didn't because as per the norm, everybody in my family was late. They will all be late to their own funeral. Mark my words.

Once everyone got there, it was rehearsal time.
It was hot, but everyone was in fantastic spirits. They couldn't have a funner group of people to surround themselves with and we girls laughed the whole time we were there as we caught up and made new friends. It was such a relaxed atmosphere even in the midst of the stress of getting things set up. Which thankfully took no time at all.

After the rehearsal, we all headed back over to Kiki's parents' house for dinner and drinks. Family quickly joined us and it became this loud affair with so much laughter. Kids were running around playing, drinks were flowing, amazing view of the beach; quite simply, I never wanted to leave.

We girls all spent the night in the pool house at Kiki's parents' house. Only as we sat there talking and drinking a bit, we realized we had completely forgotten to go pick up the flowers earlier. Which lead to the five of us mad dashing it across town, in our pajamas, to pick them up. Thank goodness for Mother's Day weekend which had the florists still up and hard at work.

K wanted to go straight home, but the rest of us kidnapped her and drug her to a local bar (yes, in our pajamas) for a few drinks and a low key "bachelorette party". It was so fun. Those girls are a riot.

We finally made it back to the house only to find the boys had shown back up too. So of course we all stayed up way too late playing games, shooting the breeze, and yes, having a few cocktails. Finally at 1, K and I called it a night and dipped out for bed. There's no telling what time the rest of the crew died out.

The next morning dawned bright and early with K's Mom busting into the pool house looking for help to go to the venue to set up. But that's for another day :)

real life.

I have a million things that somehow have to be done in a very short amount of time. This weekend is one of my biggest events at work and I won't even be here. Nice right?

So not only am I trying to pull off my biggest weekend of the year, I'm trying to pull everything together for my little family to go out of town and be in a wedding this weekend. To say I'm stressed out would be an understatement of epic proportions.

How about a bit of real life?

For Easter I wanted one decent family picture. One.

Not too bad except for Mr. P and those blasted glasses. These are about as good as you get with the little these days but I decided we had to try again without those glasses. So we did.

Some day these family pictures will be funny right?!