My Best Friend's Wedding!

(aka... My Sister Becky's Wedding!)  This happened about a month ago, and I'm just now getting around to posting about it.  It was a whirlwind weekend that went by in a blink, but it was SO much fun!  Phil and I had decided at some point to drive up there instead of fly (the wedding was in Youngstown, OH), which was probably not the best decision considering we had just finished our cross-country trip a few weeks prior.  I think we had talked about flying at the beginning and then decided it would be much cheaper to drive... well, in hindsight the cost difference probably didn't outweigh the stress of driving.  At one point on the drive home we were kind of adding up costs to compare and kicking ourselves a little bit for not thinking it through more.  But for as awful as the drive was at times, the wedding celebration made up for it tenfold!  It was just so wonderful to have my whole family together and to get to honor my sister and her new husband and celebrate this truly special event!!  

To start, here's Emmett trying on his tux that I ordered off of amazon.com.  He was SO excited! Becky really wanted Jackson, Emmett, and my nephew Cameron to be her ring bearers, but in true Jackson fashion, he declined right away.  :)  He said, "It's okay... Emmett can do it... I just want to sit with Daddy."  He made that decision the first time we talked about it and never wavered!  I was a little worried that Emmett would back out at the last second, but he did amazingly great.  

The weekend before the wedding we went down to Ocala to spend some time with my family and visit my grandparents on Grandparent's Day.  Reid was very interested in my Pap-pap and his wheelchair and I managed to capture this sweet moment on my phone...

My sisters... my best friends...

Reid loves to put on other people's shoes...

My mom snuggling with Emmett...

In our packing/moving craziness we completely forgot to pack Phil's suit for the wedding, so one night we got to go on a date and pick out a new suit.  Here was the coat of the winner...

And a pic of the loser...  :)

Ugh... then we started our drive.  Not too many pics of that.  We took the truck this time because we had so much stuff to bring with us.  Probably the worst part was having to put Reid in the middle right next to Emmett... E doesn't have much patience for R and had trouble tolerating Reid looking at him or touching him in any way.  Ugh again.

Luckily they all slept pretty well with the noise from the diesel engine...

I've said this before, but I just cannot resist Reid's feet.  I probably need therapy.  That big toe just kills me.  I took this pic while he was sleeping and when I showed it to Phil he said, "Geez... that big toe!  Did he get stung by a bee??"

The boys loved riding on the luggage cart...

Popsicles for dessert at the hotel restaurant...

More sleeping... sweet baby...

It was really neat to be back in Youngstown!  We lived there when I was 10 for about three years and we all absolutely loved it there.  We left and moved to Florida when my dad had a job change and I've never been back until now.  Becky's husband, Ryan, also lived there when he was younger and still has family there so that's why they decided to get married in that town.  The whole weekend was just so perfect... everything went off without a hitch and I know everyone had a great time!  Here are some pics from the rehearsal dinner...

Check out my sister's legs... lucky!  Best legs in the family.  :)

I don't know what was with Phil and his fist pose that weekend!  :)  Becky's mother-in-law found us a great babysitter through their family church and Phil and I were able to have some alone time for the big events that weekend.  It was SO WONDERFUL!

I felt like we hadn't taken any pictures up until this point so we took some posed shots that night.  But we mostly did a lot of this...

We just LOVE Ryan!  So glad he is in our family now... he is such an amazing guy and so perfect for Beck!  And his family is very similar to our family... very fun and silly and happy and we all just had the best time together.

With my sweet cousins Graham and Gretchen... We just love them so much!  And Gretchen seriously kills me with that bod and hair.  How come I didn't look like that in high school??  Don't we share some of the same genes?  haha! :)

It was so hard to get my dad to take a serious picture!  He was either really tense-looking or being silly! We were laughing so much trying to get him to either relax or be serious!

Here he is posing with my Aunt Becky (his youngest sister and Graham and Gretchen's mommy)...

And then it was wedding day!  Becky looked SO beautiful!!  I really hardly got any pictures and could just kick myself.

And my little Emmett-bear looked so handsome! I was so proud of him... he walked slowly down the aisle like a pro and looked so grown up!

My nephew, Cameron, looked so handsome and grown-up, too! They were so precious together.  

Like I said before, everything was just perfect!  The ceremony was perfect and so special and the reception was beautiful and so much fun!  Becky did all of the decorations and flowers herself and they seriously looked amazing.  The reception was in an old railroad station and it was really a neat venue.

It was open bar, and boy how I was wishing I wasn't pregnant that night!  Boo!  My dad, aunts, and uncles were having so much fun and were just on fire!  I was laughing so much.  :)  Here's my dad dancing with his oldest sister, my Aunt Pam, right before dinner.  :)

And then my Aunt Becky and Uncle Greg got caught up in the moment and started dancing, too!  :)

Father/daughter dance.  :)

The new Mr. and Mrs.!!

Phil and I with my grandma, Mimi.  We were all really missing my Pap-pap who wasn't able to make the trip.  :(

Phil (with his eyes closed!) with my uncles and male cousins.  Love these guys so much!

Family shot time!  :)  I love Phil's face here.  I'm not sure if he's making that face because of what my aunt is saying or the shot they were taking!  :)

Becky changed into the cutest little party dress later in the evening...

I love my sisters so much!

And a last sweet shot... Reid woke up super grumpy from one of his naps that weekend and only wanted to snuggy with his Popeye.  :)

What an amazing weekend!  At the end of the reception Ryan's dad told Becky, "That was the best party ever!" and I totally agree.  We were just all so very happy for Becky and Ryan and truly enjoyed spending time with each other and celebrating this wonderful occasion!  I love you so much, Becky!  :)

Warm Rain

I don't think my boys in their lifetime have experienced a torrential downpour of rain.  Let alone rain in warm weather that could actually be played in.  So on the morning after we arrived in Florida when it started pouring rain (and there actually wasn't any thunder or lightning accompanying it) we went outside to watch the rain and I ended up just letting the boys go out and get soaked and enjoy playing in it.  

Emmett wanted Percy and his freight car to have a washdown...

He was the most excited to play in the rain.  :)

Emmett stayed in the puddles in the street, but of course Reid went straight for the wet sand...

Even Jackson went out and got a little wet!  Fun times.  :)

The Rest of Our Cross-Country Drive

Here are the lost pictures from the rest of our trip.  I left off with our night in St. Louis, I think.  The next morning we decided to do something fun and take the boys to the zoo for a little bit.  It started out as a good idea and we had a nice time for the first hour or so.  Jackson was obsessed with checking the map to see where we needed to go.  

Emmett was obsessed with walking in every single puddle he found.  :)

We soon remembered that we were not in the dry, cool West anymore.  It was as hot as Hades without any breeze at all.  Totally stagnant.  Ugh.

Aahhhh... the sweet, cool relief of the penguin exhibit.  Gotta love that Antarctic air!  :)

The boys actually weren't really that impressed with seeing the animals.  Most were far away from us and as soon as we would see them J and E would be like, "Okay, let's go find the _____!!"  They were more interested in running from exhibit to exhibit.  They did love the penguins and Emmett was just in awe of the chimpanzees and orangutan.  They were right up against the glass, which was so cool!  I loved them too and could have sat there and watched them all day (in the air conditioning, of course).  I'm always amazed at how similar they are to humans.

Oh, he loved this orangutan.  He put his head down there and said, "Ohhhh, I like you."  And then just sat there with his face up against the glass and stared at him.  So adorable.  I wanted to take that orangutan home with us... he was so cute and looked so sad.  :(

I don't even remember how long we were there, but it felt like a long time. We took this pic right before we left the park, and also right before Emmett threw the most atrocious fit of all time.  I don't even remember what he got so mad about.  It wasn't just that we were leaving... I do know that.  There was something else that set him off, and I'm sure being super hot and hungry (and overtired from a week of short naps in the car) didn't help.  Ohhh, it was ugly.  Phil basically had to carry him out of the zoo over his shoulder as E was screaming at the top of his lungs.  Yes, we were those people.  Emmett's fits were pretty bad on this trip, but thankfully now (a month or so later) they seem to be almost non-existent.  Knock on wood!!  Praying that he has outgrown this phase, because Reid has started throwing some good ones lately... sigh.

Reid conked out right after lunch...

Then we entered Kentucky, and in Paducah we stopped for a break at the mall to let the boys run around and for Phil and I to get a coffee.

By this point in our trip the boys had started to recognize certain restaurants (other than McDonald's), and E spotted Chick-fil-A (by shouting "CHICK-FIL-A!!!!" at the top of his lungs... he's just like his Mama) so we stopped for a snack.  Reid LOVED having his own cup with a straw just like the big boys.

That bun was my go-to "I'm living in a trailer and haven't washed my hair in four days" hairstyle.  :)

Then we sped through Tennessee...

And made it just over the border into Alabama for bedtime.  This was the best pic I got with my phone because the flash went off... but you get the idea.  :)

That night there was a HUGE thunderstorm that woke Phil and I up.  I just laid there praying three things over and over... 1.  Please don't let the camper get struck by lightning (as we were parked out in the middle of a field).  2.  Please don't let the thunder wake the boys up.  3.  Please don't let the power go out!  I was also planning in my head what we would do if the power went out because there was no way we could have stayed sleeping in that camper with the air conditioning off.  Miraculously, the boys all stayed asleep and the power stayed on!  I was very thankful.  :)

Then the next day we stopped for lunch in Montgomery at a really nice Panera Bread.  Yum.

I don't know why Jackson always juts his chin out when he smiles!  He does it all the time lately.  :)

And then a few short hours later we reached our destination!  Hooray!!

That was Phil's fourth time driving across the country and my sixth.  Hopefully we don't have to make that trip again for a LONG time.  And next time it will be in a posh motorhome or something... and with NO CHILDREN under the age of at least 10!  Haha!  :)  All joking aside, though... the trip really went well considering our situation.  The boys had their moments but were really, really good overall... much better than we had expected.  And that camper was truly a lifesaver.  And so was my patient, resourceful husband. Thank you to everyone that prayed for us along the way!