We made it to the BIG DAY! Mom, Ginger, Linda, and I started off our morning by going to get our nails done. Mom had never gotten her nails done, so it was a treat for her! She wasn't entirely thrilled that I took a picture of her getting her nails done, but I explained to her that I had to document every part of this experience.
While I was getting my nails done, I got a call from our alarm company. Apparently, our door wouldn't shut and the alarm kept going off. My mother-in-law, Sue, God bless her heart, had been trying her hardest to shut the door, but couldn't. The police arrived and they couldn't do it either. I told her to call Josh and he was able to help. YAY! Glad everything got resolved!
Aunt Linda getting her nails done
Waiting for our nails to dry
The finished product. Three sets of beautiful nails!After a yummy lunch at Newk's and a trip through the deluge (made me think of Alanis Morisette's song, "Ironic") we made it back to Mom and Dad's house. Josh had stayed behind to make sure Eli got a nap, which he did thanks to my wonderful hubby! Dad and Caleb had left to eat with all the groomsmen and Joshua at a local restaurant. The rest of the family was resting until it was time to leave. I did my hair and makeup, gave Eli a bath, tried to get him to eat a little bite of something, and Josh and I started to gather up our things to take to the church. I wasn't going to put Eli's tux on until the last possible minute because I didn't want him to get it dirty.
Right when we were about to leave the house, the phone rang and it was my brother, Caleb. He'd had a wreck! I thought he was kidding at first, I mean, what are the odds? But, he was telling the truth. Two of his tires had blown out and he'd ended up in a ditch. He was perfectly safe, thank you, Jesus, but quite shaken up. As providence would have it, my Uncle Judd and my cousin, C.J., were right in front of Caleb, so they saw the entire thing and stopped to help. While Mom was talking to Caleb trying to make sure he was okay, my Dad got back from running errands. I wish someone had thought to take a picture of my Dad so you could get the full effect of what I'm about to describe, but no one was thinking clearly at the moment apparently. Mom is on the phone talking to Caleb when Dad walks in. She is in panic mode, but the sight of my Dad in what he is wearing is enough to make her stop in the middle of her conversation with Caleb and say, "Dear, please tell me that is NOT what you wore to the lunch with Joshua." Dad had left the house in a purple, blue and gray plaid shirt and matched it with a pair of blue and gray plaid shorts. In his mind, since the colors in both sets of the plaid coordinated the outfit worked. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Poor guy needs someone to get him some Garanimals :) Mom regained her thoughts and explained what had happened with Caleb and passed the phone to Dad. The rest of the night though whenever anyone mentioned Dad, she started laughing thinking about his outfit. You gotta love DRAMA! :)
Josh, Eli, and I left to go to the church and made it there a little late because of all our last minute excitement with Caleb, but everyone else was still getting ready, so it was okay. I threw on my dress and then dressed little man in his tuxedo, but not before he had a mini-Tom Cruise moment :)
Josh, Eli, and I left to go to the church and made it there a little late because of all our last minute excitement with Caleb, but everyone else was still getting ready, so it was okay. I threw on my dress and then dressed little man in his tuxedo, but not before he had a mini-Tom Cruise moment :)
"Just take those old records off the shelf...."
Our happy family :)
Me and the cutest ring bearer EVER!
My two handsome boys
Gin-Gin and Eli
Cousins!
Grammy and Eli(Eli has actually started calling her "Gan-Gan")
Love these two!
Me and my parentsAfter the pictures inside the church, we took Eli outside to take some pictures with the groomsmen. It looks like you turned a switch on my child. He went from such a happy child to a very solemn looking child. This is when we knew that he was getting tired of pictures.
Eli and Joshua
Joshua with his groomsmen
The three kids
Me and JoshuaAfter this set of pictures, Josh took Eli and sat in the car with him while he watched Praise Baby to calm him down and relax him. We wanted him to be on his absolute best behavior during the wedding. It must have worked, too! Eli and Mattie did great coming down the aisle together. He walked down, gave the pillow to the priest, looked around at everyone, and then started to make his way over to me. Josh grabbed him before he could get to me and Eli wasn't happy about that. He kept saying, "Ma-ma, Ma-ma, Ma-ma!" Josh and I knew that this would probably happen, so Josh left with Eli and took him to McDonald's where the poor thing scarfed down a chicken nugget Happy Meal. My poor baby was hungry :( I felt like an awful parent when I found out, but I'd tried my hardest to get him to eat all day long and all I could get him to eat were snacks. Oh well, I'm glad he was able to get what he needed so that he'd be energized and in a better mood.
While Josh and Eli were at McDonald's, the rest of us were watching Joshua and Andrea. Andrea looked radiant in her dress and I have never seen my brother look happier. I was so happy for them both!
While Josh and Eli were at McDonald's, the rest of us were watching Joshua and Andrea. Andrea looked radiant in her dress and I have never seen my brother look happier. I was so happy for them both!
After the wedding was over, Josh and Eli met us back at the church for more pictures. I was dreading this because I thought Eli would not cooperate (hard to blame the little guy if he did). Luckily there were enough people there to keep Eli entertained for the pictures he was required to be in and everything turned out great!
Our whole family :)
Adding the grandparents
The groomsmen were supposed to jump, but a few of them decided to fake it.
Yeah, we're tough!
The entire wedding partyWe left the church and headed to the country club for the reception where we had SO MUCH FUN! All Eli wanted to do once he saw Josh and Andrea out there on the dance floor, was "dans!" (dance) If you didn't get the chance to see the videos of all the dancing that took place that night, you can click here. Joshua and Andrea surprised everyone with their first dance and then my dad and Andrea's dad had me laughing so hard that I was crying when they both went out on the dance floor. As you can tell from the photos, Andrea and EVERYONE ELSE there thought it was hilarious, as well! (By the way, thanks, Ginger for the pictures. I "stole" them from your Facebook page).
I was one of the the only ones from my family not dancing, but towards the end I did get out there for some old school hits like the "Cha-Cha Stomp" (I think that's what it is called) and the "Macarena." Josh and Eli left early so little man could get some rest, but I stayed to watch the cutting of the cake and their departure. Everything was beautiful and perfect!
Groom's cake
My brother is a HUGE Notre Dame fan and even named his dog, Irish, after them.
Sadly, Irish didn't get to see Joshua get married, but Joshua put out some pictures of Irish on this table, so he was with us in some way :)
Cutting the bride's cake
It got kind of messy here!
Leaving for their honeymoon in St. Lucia!
Congratulations to the happy couple! I love you both so much! I can't wait to see all the wonderful things God has in store for you as a couple!
