The Night Before the Big Day

The night before "the big day," we had dinner out at Grandma Carolyn's!  Almost all of families had arrived and it was so much fun to see everyone again!  (The last time I had seen my Grandpa Don was when Christian was a baby!)  Good food, good company, good timers!

Erin, Em, and Aunt Barb (who makes the BEST French Toast EVER and is brilliant and kind and  oh-so creative.)

Left to right:  Cousins Anna and Amanda, Gpa Don, Uncle Tom, Aunt Sharon, and Harvey's sister, Hazel

The Bride and Groom-to-be! (and Juliana :-))

The evening cooled off very nicely (it was actually cooler outside than in!)...and we found out later why it was cooling off.  A BIG storm came through that we literally just BARELY beat home (like, we were driving home just barely staying one step ahead of the storm and it started pouring just as we pulled into the garage.)  But, I digress.  The cooler weather made for pleasant times on the porch in pretty rural-ish Ashland :-).

 Juliana loved playing with the ice cubes--Cubby caught a shot with one in her mouth and the next moment when she spit it out.

 Christian and his "accessories."  Not sure if I've touched on his OCD tendencies before, but here goes.  As recently as this winter, Christian started insisting to bring various items with him--everywhere.  In the wintertime, it was his hat, mittens, and two jackets.  Sometimes an extra pair of shoes if he just couldn't choose between two pair.  Then, as the weather warmed, and he still wanted to wear/bring them everywhere, it got a little ridiculous.  But, Christian is extremely stubborn and it took a loooong time to persuade him to ditch the winter clothing.  (Good thing it was a cold spring!)  Now-a-days, he wears his Angry Birds hat, sunglasses, CTR ring, and a long-sleeved shirt (just in case it gets cold...even when it's 90 degrees).  As of two days ago, we've been able to leave the house a couple of times without the shirt and he's been ok with leaving his hat/glasses/ring in the car for swimming or sports.  Yeah, this was important to document b/c I want something to show him when he comes to me complaining that his kids are OCD.

And here's baby J with the most wonderful Great-Gma you could ever ask for.  Juliana loves her so and often reaches for Great Gma to hold her, even when my mom or me has her!

Sweet baby, getting so big!

Snapped this picture on the way out to the car...the wind was picking up!  A very nice, laid back evening with family--what more could you want on the night before your big day?

At LAST!

The beautiful bride!

At LAST!  The most anticipated wedding of the past decade (for our family, at least)!!  After 14 1/2 years of friendship and dating (including a 7 YEAR engagement), Mom and Harvey FINALLY GOT MARRIED!!!

Now, as a disclaimer, I in no way captured all of the various parts of the day.  That's what they got a wedding photographer for, right?!  I don't even have shots of Harvey's family from the wedding day (I do have some from the dinner at my Gma's the night before, but that will be another post).  I'm hoping we'll all get a nice organized copy of the wedding cd, chalked full of pictures just waiting to be posted.  But, in the mean time, here are some of the candid shots I got of the big day!

Em and Gpa Harvey, looking so nice!

 The original plan was to have the wedding in my mom's backyard.  She and Harvey both work very hard on it and it's beautiful.  However, the weather forecast was all kinds of crazy with a 60% chance of afternoon thunderstorms and hot/humid after the rain.  So, the ceremony was moved to the primary room of our church.  Not exactly picturesque, but I was oh-so grateful when that AC kicked on and the cool air rained down!  My Uncle Rob officiated the ceremony (like he did for Cubby and my ring ceremony so many years ago!) and Emily and Kari were flower girls while Christian was the ring bearer.  My sister did a reading and Harvey's sister, Hazel, sang a song.  (She has a beautiful voice!)  Kyle and my Gpa Don walked my mom down the aisle.  It was very simple, very sweet, and very personal to my mom and Harvey.

Keeping the kiddos occupied prior to the ceremony

A few tips before the big event!

Erin, Gpa Don, and Mom

We asked Maggie to come and chase after Juliana for the afternoon so that we could enjoy the ceremony/reception.
She was worth it!

Grandma Beckie and the two sweet flower girls

Daddy and his girls

Me and my favorite ring bearer!

Uncle Kyle and Christian--sporting the bow-ties!

 After the ceremony, we drove back to my mom's for pictures and the reception (dinner, cake, dancing).  By that time, the rain that had come through had past, and it was still hot, but my mom's backyard had shade so it was comfortable.  We did eventually go home and change into casual clothes--after it's all said and done, it's all about comfort in our family!

Gpa, Gma, Daddy, and three of the four Amigos

Kyle and his girlfriend, Chelsie.  Don't they make a handsome couple?!

Me and my siblings!

 And, here are just a few of the flowers and the cake.  What event of my mom's would be complete without bunches of gorgeous flowers??!  My friend, Bridget, was our "cake lady" and the white almond buttercream cake was FANTASTIC.  (And I won't mention names, but many of us had two slices!)

So, even though it was completely stressful (of course) for my mom, the day was beautiful and it was so wonderful to be surrounded by so much family, many whom I hadn't been able to see for maybe 5 years!  And, now that it's over, the happy couple is able to kick back, relax, and FINALLY enjoy married life!

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hudson!

Kari's turn...to DANCE!

To say that Kari was excited about "finally" getting to start dancing would indeed be an understatement!  She woke up last Thursday morning and started hopping up and down shouting, "I get to do ballet today! I get to do ballet today!"

So, after 3 whole years of waiting, Kari is finally old enough to start her career of dance!  Her class this summer is a "Pre-k Princess" ballet class and the girls can dress up like a princess, or just plain fancy if they want to.  Kari, of course, wanted to be "I Know You" (aka Princess Aurora), complete with pink flower clip in her hair.

Her favorite parts of class included twirling with wands and doing "plies" (where you're supposed to bend your knees, but she kind of just bends all over at this point).  But, she does it with pride and gusto.

Kari was a little disappointed the next morning when she asked what time dancing was that day and I had to tell her not until next week.  Yes, she wants to go to class EVERY day.

Fun Day #1 at Swim Lessons 2013

'Tis the season...for swimming lessons!  It was Kari's first year in her big-girl non-Mommy and me class.  She LOVED it!  She was the only one who would put her head under water and even though some of the days were pretty chilly, she was always excited to swim.  (It may have also helped that they cranked up the heat in the pool!)  

Strutting her stuff...

The final day is always "fun day" and Kari was just itching for a chance to jump off of the diving board!  She remembered going off last year and warmed up to doing it all over again pretty quickly.

Does this little bear dare to jump?

Yes.  She dares!  (One of Kari's favorite books right now is The Spooky Old Tree.  She can "read" it herself and her favorite parts are when the three little bears dare to go into the tree, or through the hall, or over Great Sleeping Bear.  "Yes.  They dare!" she says.)

There goes Christian!

Emily enjoyed swimming with her friends and her lifeguard friend, "Miss Emily" (Miss Caitlin's sister!)

 Juliana also got to get in the water on fun day!  On previous days, I've had to chase her around b/c we aren't signed up for Mom and Me until our next swim lesson session in July.  (I've learned that it's not always very warm in the beginning of June and getting in the water did not sound like fun to me.)  However, Juliana has other ideas and now I'm looking forward to Mom and Me so I won't have to chase her around and keep her out of the water!

Daddy took the day off and was able to join us for fun day too!  We also packed a lunch and stayed to swim a bit when the pool opened that afternoon.  It was so much fun!

Happy Birthday, Gma Karen!

She made it!  It seemed for so long that 57 was an illusive number to her, but, it finally arrived!  (Due to a stipulation by the military, if Mom were to remarry before 57, she would lose a monthly stipend from them that was significant enough, that she was determined to wait!)  So, the big day arrived and we celebrated out at Auntie Erin's and Uncle Kyle's place!  My sister worked very hard putting together a very nice evening and party and we all had such a fun time!

After dinner, we went for a walk on a path by a BEAUTIFUL lake just outside of their apartment complex!  It was a gorgeous evening and I took the opportunity to do an impromptu photo shoot of Grandma and her grandchildren!

 First up, just the little girls....getting them to sit still and look at the camera was a challenge!

 Soon, they became interested in the beautiful daisies that grew wildly along the trail.

 It's all just too sweet!!!

 Here's another color/black and white shot...I love them both so here they are.  Little Kari is just so darling.

 And then the big kids came around the bend on their bikes and joined us for a few shots!  (And I thought it was tough to get two kids to pose!)

 Happy Birthday, Grandma Karen!  YOU MADE IT!!!  HURRAY!!!

Dance Recital

Emily's dance recital was the first weekend in June.  This year, she was part of the "big show" at the Music Hall!  (Previously, she had been a part of the Kids Review show).  

Her first number was tap and she danced to a Charlie Brown song, "Why is everybody always pickin' on me?"--Actually, I'm not sure if that's the official title, but that's what I know it as.  Her costume was modeled after Lucy from the Peanuts gang and there was a little boy (who's a great little tap dancer) who played Charlie Brown.  Tap is tough for Emily and she worked very hard to memorize the dance and learn the steps.  She did very well and it was such a cute dance!

Emily and her dancing friends, back stage, before the show

Emily's ballet number was to the song "Working Song" from the movie Enchanted.  It was darling and Emily did really well!  Her facial expressions were adorable and you could tell how much she enjoyed doing the dance.

Here she is, getting a little post-dancing congrats from Gma

Big smile from the beautiful ballerina!

 I love this picture, both the color and black and white, so they're both posted.  Emily is just so lovely and I think this picture captures that!

 Emily was most excited about her flowers that she got afterward.  They came from my mom's garden and made her feel like a professional dancer after her big concert!

Over the past year she's worked so hard (and got awards for both perfect attendance and entrance into the "splits club"!).  We loved watching her dance and can't wait to see how much she'll grow in the years to come!  Way to go, Em!