This past weekend, our little family and Zue-Zue drove to Tennessee to watch Josh's cousin, Allison, and her fiance´, Spencer, get married. We met Spencer a couple of years ago and really enjoyed getting to know him. He fit right in with the family. Back when they announced their engagement, I jokingly mentioned that I had a ring bearer if they needed one. Well, it just so happens that they did! This was going to be Eli's second time to take a trip down the aisle as a ring bearer (the first was when he was the ring bearer for Uncle Josh and Aunt Andrea's wedding last year). I called my friend, Cheryl, whose little boy, Brody, had just been in a wedding over the summer as a ring bearer, to see if we could borrow his tuxedo. She was more than happy to let us borrow his tux, so the next time I went to my parent's house, I picked it up from her. We were ready!
We left Thursday, October 13th, around lunch time so we would get an early start on the road (it takes about 8 hours to get there). We made it there in great time. Eli was such a trooper! He's such a great road traveler and never once complained or whined about being ready to get out. He did, however, talk incessantly about seeing his Uncle Dave. He and Uncle Dave really hit it off this past March when we visited them when Josh's grandfather was in the hospital in TN. He and Uncle Dave worked in the yard, took nature walks, and used their binoculars to look for animals in the yard. So for about eight hours straight our conversation in the car went something like this:
Eli: Momma, where we going?
Me: We're going to see Uncle Dave.
Eli: I want my Unca Dave.....
Five minutes would pass...
Eli: Mommy, I want my Unca Dave.
Me: I know, but it takes a long time to get there. We'll see Uncle Dave soon.
Eli: But I want him....
This went on for about the entire trip there. We finally arrived at our hotel that night around 10:00. Thankfully, Eli had been asleep for about two hours, so I didn't have to explain why we weren't going to be able to see Uncle Dave that night.
We woke up the next morning, got dressed, and went downstairs for some coffee and breakfast. Since it was vacation, I let Eli indulge on a chocolate chip muffin and chocolate milk for breakfast. He was very happy about that :) Josh and Shane went golfing and Zue-Zue, Sara, Eli, and I went to visit Uncle Dave, Aunt Lisa, and Allison for a couple of hours.
Eli was SOO happy when he finally got to see his Uncle Dave. The moment Dave walked out of the house, Eli ran to him and gave him the biggest hug. Then he just laid his head on Dave's shoulder and let him hold him for the longest time. It was the sweetest thing ever!
Dave, Lisa, and Allison had SO MUCH to do to get ready for the wedding, but they graciously took some time out for Eli. That's just how sweet they are :) Eli and Uncle Dave took a walk in the woods where Eli was able to find huge mushrooms and kick them over. He loved that!
Eli and Dave got back from their nature walk and Eli went into the house to look for something and this is what he came back with. His memory amazes me sometimes. We've only been to Lisa and Dave's house one time, and Eli remembered exactly where the binoculars ("nocs") were.
Eli found Uncle Dave a pair of "nocs" too and they spent a few minutes looking for squirrels and birds in the yard.
Uncle Dave had to go to the wedding site to hang lights, so now it was Aunt Lisa's turn to have some time with Eli. She and Eli went to the swing and had a great time swinging together.
While the boys were in the woods playing, Sara, Sue, Lisa, and Allison worked on making the bouquets for the bridesmaids. I'm not that great at flower arranging so I was the self-designated memory catcher (A.K.A. photographer) of the day.
Eli saw what the girls were doing and he wanted to help, so he and Lisa created this bouquet for me :) It's the best bouquet I've ever received!
Eli also made a pretty bouquet for Zue-Zue. She loved hers just as much!
We left Lisa and Dave's after about an hour because we quickly realized that Eli was not going to let Lisa or Dave out of his sight and they had TONS to do before the wedding the next day. We went to a few stores so Sara and I could get stuff for our houses (we both just moved into new houses) and then went back to the hotel. Eli fell asleep in the car, so Sue stayed with him. While he was sleeping, Sara and I got ready for Allison's lingerie shower that her sister-in-law, Deb, was hosting. Deb spent the morning baking lots of yummy goodies for the shower. We were in chocolate heaven :)
We played a game where Deb read us a list of questions that she'd asked Spencer and Allison and then read an answer she was given from one of them. We had to guess who we thought answered the question that way. Sara and I had lots of fun with the props and Sara actually won the game! I was very impressed because she'd only met Spencer that day!
After the lingerie shower, it was time for us all to go to the wedding rehearsal. Eli found my mustache prop from the shower and had lots of fun playing with it on the way to the rehearsal.
The site for the wedding was simply beautiful-trees everywhere you looked, a bridge, a pretty meadow, and a beautiful house.
Eli was ready to practice!
The owners of the property had a big, black lab and Eli really enjoyed playing with him while he waited for his turn down the aidle. They played catch over and over, which had Eli cackling out loud. Every time Eli tried to get the ball, the dog would make a move for it and would accidentally lick Eli's hand. Eli thought this was great fun!
It took a couple of tries for everyone else to get their parts down, so while we waited, I happily snapped pictures of my cute, little man. He was very cooperative with me, too.
Allison's dad, Dave, was not only walking her down the aisle, but he was going to be the one to marry them as well. He married his son, Corey and his wife, Deb, a few years back too. What a special memory it will be for both couples to know that their Dad was the one that married them!
The plan for Eli was that he was going to sit with me until Uncle Dave called for him to come down the aisle. That seemed to work out perfectly. When it was time for him to go, he walked down the aisle just like he was supposed to and gave the rings to Uncle Dave. We found out right before he went down the aisle that Allison wanted the real rings to be tied to the pillow that Eli was going to carry. I was a little scared, but we had Eli practice with some rings and he did great. I just told the lady that was in charge of the pillow to tie those strings really really tight!
Afterwards, we had some time before leaving for the rehearsal dinner, so I snapped some pictures of our family that made the trip for the wedding.
Sue and Jordan
Corey and Sue
Jordan and Sara (with Baby Brett in her tummy)
Deb and Sue
Me and my sweetie
Can you believe we'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary in January?
We went to a local Italian restaurant for the rehearsal dinner and it was YUM-O! We had a blast getting to enjoy each other's company over the delicious food as we celebrated Allison and Spencer and their love. We left with full bellies and happy hearts. It was going to be a great wedding the next day! We all couldn't wait!
Sara and Shane
Josh and Sara
Me and Eli
Jordan, Logan, and Addi
(Jordan and Logan get married next in December!)
Eli and Addi
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