The Wedding

We departed for Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday, November 3rd. Our goal was to leave at 4 AM so we could get the kids into the car and back to sleep. We were afraid they'd stay awake if it was much later and that wouldn't be good! Shockingly, we managed to pull out at 4:05. We had a little scare when Kathryn, eyes wide open, announced, "I'm not tired!" But, that didn't last long and she was sound asleep within 10 minutes. They all woke up around 6 AM (a bit earlier than we'd planned, but better to have 2 hours behind us with them sleeping than none.) They were absolutely perfect the whole way - all 3 of them- and we arrived in NC at 1 PM.

We had to hang around the hotel for a while waiting for our room to be ready, but there was a huge parrot in the lobby that kept the girls entertained. We got settled in and Nate took the girls for a swim while Alexander and I rested before heading out to the rehearsal. After the rehearsal, we returned to the hotel to get the kids ready for bed and turn them over to Nana (Nate's mom), who graciously offered to babysit while we enjoyed the rehearsal dinner. She and PopPop (Nate's step-dad) kept our 3 and their cousin, Gabriel (13 mos.) (Yes, they were very brave!) We had a great time catching up with friends and family at dinner and stopped at the hotel bar for a drink with Andy and Kim (Nate's brother and his wife/Gabriel's parents) before calling it a night.

We laid low the next day not wanting to do too much to exhaust the kids prior to the wedding festivities (and Nate was feeling rather poorly after having mixed wine and beer the night before.) The kids and I enjoyed a great breakfast in the Atrium of the hotel and they played for a while before the ceremony. Nate departed early to report for his Usher duties and I got the rest of us ready (no small feat, I must admit.) I was dismayed to discover upon putting on my dress that I'd forgotten to shave my legs...and underarms! Geesh! Thank goodness I realized the pits before heading out. Unfortunately, taking care of said hygiene took valuable time I didn't have so we were running a little late to the ceremony. (Yeah, I know. What else is new?) Thankfully, Nana met us at the car and helped whisk everyone in and get them dressed and picture perfect for the big event. The kids all did a great job walking down the aisle and they were all absolutely adorable. It was a lovely ceremony and the bride was beautiful and couldn't have looked happier. We are so glad that she and Chris found each other and have a wonderful life ahead of them.

Here are a few pictures from the ceremony. To see all of them, click on the link at the right to access Snapfish.

Juliana, Kathryn, Leigha and Griffin

Kathryn, Alexander, Griffin, Juliana and Samson

Our beautiful girl (and the back of Alexander)