We just got back from a fabulous trip to Denver for my baby brother's wedding. We left Thursday, Sept 1 and came back Tuesday, Sept 6. It was a great little escape! The kids did great on the plane ride there...the iPads came in really handy! They were so off on their schedules & out of our timezone that sometimes they were fussier than normal, but overall they were great! Friday, the boys all went fishing up in the mountains and the girls had a lovely bridesmaid's luncheon at The Augustine Grille. Emme fell asleep on the way there and then was an absolute monster most of the time. I felt really bad, but everyone was really sweet & understanding about it. II hate it when the kids make a scene or fuss in public. So I was super on edge, but the food was yummy & I loved visiting with Megan & her family. Aaron said that Jackson had an absolute blast even though the river was moving way too fast to catch any fish. He ran around with a net & put everything you could imagine in that net. He also hung out with Beau, Megan's parents' black lab. This is pretty major because he has always been afraid of big dogs, but he has mentioned several times that he "loves Beau"!
Friday night, Megan's parents had people over to their house. They live in an absolutely beautiful mountain neighborhood! Mitch, Megan's 15 yr old brother played with the kids all night.
Saturday, we had the rehearsal during which neither Jackson nor Emme would cooperate and it really looked to us like they might not make it down the aisle during the wedding. This rehearsal was also held during their normal nap time, so we were working with sleepy kids. They did not want to walk with the junior bridesmaids and made it abundantly clear! We scrambled to come up with a new plan - Jackson would walk in with Brennan & the groomsmen and Emme would walk in with Nana. We crossed our fingers that this would work. Aaron & I whisked the kids back to the hotel for a STAT nap! And all was right with the world again! Saturday evening, my parents hosted a perfectly lovely Rehearsal Dinner at Brooks Steakhouse. It was held in their wine cellar where wine & champagne flowed and the food was phenom! The kids looked so cute in their "party clothes," as they called them and they did very well! Kirbi, the babysitter we had lined up for the reception came to the dinner too so that the kids could meet her. She & Mitch go to school together and she was really good with Jackson! Emme didn't want anything to do with her.
Sunday morning, mom & I went to Megan's parents' house to get our hair & makeup done while Aaron & the kids stayed back at the hotel. Our #1 priority was for the kids to get their naps in before the wedding! We all met at The Sanctuary at 3pm to get dressed. 5pm was show time! Jackson looked so precious in his tux and Emme was a princess! Loved it! When it was time to line up, I hid from the kids - we all thought the kids might do better if they didn't see me. It took all the bridesmaids, junior bridesmaids (Peyton & Spencer) and Mitch to distract the kids & keep me hidden, but in the end, Jackson grabbed Mitch's hand and said "Let's go" and literally dragged Mitch, running behind him, down the aisle. Emme held Peyton & Spencer's hands and they walked down the aisle, tear free! I felt like crying just because they did it so perfectly! No one knows how worried I was about this...Thank you, Jesus for hearing my prayers! The ceremony was beautiful with the Rockies in the background. I will say it was pure torture for me because from where I was standing I had a clear view of Brennan the whole time and he kept looking at me with tears & pure joy in his eyes and I was toast! Of course, Adriana (maid of honor) & Michael (best man) were blithering idiots as well, so at least we were consistent! The reception afterwards was so much fun, with delicious food, dancing to 80s music and a photo booth. Aaron & I left to go pick Kirbi up at about 9pm and took the kids back to Megan's parents' house, got them settled and then went back to party! We all had such a fabulous time!
Monday was a brunch at Megan's parents' and then we just relaxed all day. Tuesday, we headed home. Emme was a little restless on the plane, but there was in flight DirecTV, so the kids watch Phineas & Ferb, I watched The Kardashians and the 2 hour trip flew by. Fun times!
Now for an insane amount of pictures:
Friday, Sept 2nd
Mom & Megan at the bridal luncheon
Saturday, Sept 3rd
B & Meg at the rehearsal
Rehearsal dinner menu
Bride & Groom
Dad, Nana, B, Mom & Clay
Aunt Megan with the kiddos
My dad, Brennan's friends, Adam & Benji and Megan's dad, Terry
The Best Man, Michael, Aaron & me and Clay (my uncle)
Yaya with her babies
Me & my Bubby!
Megan's family
Terry, Sarah, Meg, B & Mitch
Our family
Me & the Chicken
The "Sibling" picture
Mom, Dad, Jackson & Clay
Sunday, Sept 4th
Silly Peyton. She is Megan's 6th grade cousin & a junior bridesmaid.
Adriana, excited about getting her makeup done by Brooke
Spencer, Megan's 8th grade cousin & junior bridesmaid
Meg getting her hair done
Me & B right before the wedding
Sarah, Me & Adriana
B watching his bride come down the aisle
Brennan with our cousins, Jennifer & Andrea
Jackson pretty much ran everywhere from the time the ceremony was over until we scooped him up to take him to the babysitter - he was having a ball!
The shot my cousin's husband called "All the President's men"
The groom's pies
Emme taking full advantage of the photo booth props
Adriana, mom & Clay
Josh & Brennan being silly
Not really sure what Brennan & Matt are doing here!
Nana dancing with Megan's grandpa, Mel.
Utter elation!
And because Blogger makes it extremely difficult to change the order of pictures, these are from before the wedding...
The handsome groom
My man - looking very debonair
The judge
Look at my little man with his ring bearer pillow.
It has a little dinosaur tied to it.
Jackson with photo booth props - of course, a dinosaur!
Brennan & Jackson on the guys' fishing trip
My handsome fella!