Wedding Weekend

So, I am back..... If I would have foreseen the sickness that would swoop through this house, I think I would have mustered up the energy to blog about these pictures back on Tuesday, when I posted them.

The wedding extravaganza of my brother, Shawn, and his bride Kaitlin, started on Friday morning.

We met at a country club for a bridal luncheon.

Food was awesome, and this is where us girls got to meet a good majority of Kaitlin's family... the female side anyway. What made it even better is that my sister, Jill, made it all the way from Utah. She had to travel without her family this time, but it was great seeing her. It had been since 2009 for me.

Kait's family has a "bridal fortune cake" tradition. Inside the cake, they bake tiny charms. You pull a charm out by a string, and each charm has a fortune to go with it. Here is my sister, Jill, who pulled out a charm that meant 'twins or finding a perfect mate.' Since Jill has wrapped up her child bearing years, she has decided her fortune is that someday her husband will be her "perfect" mate. Brian might make it there someday, Sis! Haha!

Here is my sister, Jody. I'm racking my brain trying to remember her's, but it had to do with travel in her lifetime..... I thought it fit her well. Out of all of us siblings... I think she's been the most traveled. My mom got a moneybag, which meant she would have a wealthy and secure future. Let's hope that turns out true..... And I got a dolphin, which meant 'a joyful and playful life.' Doesn't that sound wonderful!!??

Then there was the bride.... her charm meant a healthy and wonderful marriage. Let's definitely hope for this fortune to come true!

Here are Kaitlin, and her bridesmaids.... her sister was the Maid of Honor, but was busy running around doing her hosting duties.

I had to post this picture.... I have been given grief... A LOT.... about how my tiny eyes won't stay open for pictures. Well, maybe it runs in the family!? At least we make the bride-to-be look good!! That's what's important!

Here are the 4 hostesses.

Ellie (Kait's cousin in law), Mel (Kait's aunt), Lindsay (Kait's cousin) and Allison (Kait's sister.)

A picture with the soon-to-be-Beggs girl!! Love it!! Can there really be too many of us?? Haha!

Jill, Jaime, Jody, Janet, Kaitlin, and Jacque.... Hmmm.... that "K" sticks out just a bit, but we love her anyway!!

Sisters.....so rarely we are together!

What do you think of Jaime's hair? All we do when we introduce her is say, "She does hair." And everyone understands.... I personally LOVE it! I find myself jealous that I don't have the kind of hair that can pull off ANY style!

Kait's mom, Mindy, her paternal grandmother, Doris, Kait, her Aunt Joyce and cousin Whitney.

I hope I got that right, I'm terrible with names.

After rehearsal, we had our rehearsal dinner at Kait's Aunt Mel's house. It was gorgeous, and once again the catered food was amazing! Kait's family isn't used to the mass of children our family brings, and they were so thoughtful to the menu kid friendly, they had a separate table for them, and even had a ton of entertainment for them. Most people would probably panic having this many rowdy kids in such a nice home.... they never seemed to mind! Kait's cousin, Lindsay, even had purchased a bucket for each of the kiddos. She personalized them, and had it filled with candy and little activities for each of them. It was so thoughtful!

Above is the flower girl.... Camryn, Shawn's youngest.

Below is an usher.... Colby, Shawn's oldest. He was giving me trouble while trying to snap some pictures. Ornery kiddo, but such a gentleman at the same time!

Here is the morning of the wedding. Reece was relaxing on the air mattress, and says, "Now this is the life!!" He cracks me up!

We had to get Riley and Reece haircuts before the wedding.... little did we know, this may have caused us to fall WAY behind in our schedule, but we survived and at the end of the day, Shawn and Kait were married!

My handsome boys..... who can't act natural for the life of them!

Cousins.... Reece, William, Riley, Hannah, Jack and Alex in front.

Riley, Aidan and Reece.... seriously, my camera scares Riley!!

Riley and Aunt Jill at the reception.... we rarely get to see her!

Wow!! Our family in the same place at the same time! Snap a picture, quick!!

Reece and Aunt Jill.

The newlyweds got to be announced from the balcony. The reception was in the "Sawyer Room" in the Mark Twain Towers, downtown KC. I'm sure the professionals got a better angle than me...

My sister, Joanna's family. Ben, Joanna, Alex, Jack, Will, and Hannah.

Can't leave out Aunt Jaime! Love this goofy picture!

Riley, Colby, Reece and Aidan.

Colby and Aidan were anxious for the dancing to begin.... and anxious to be tough food critics. FYI.... the food was AMAZING!!! Kids just don't understand!

The bride and groom.... I doubt they got to touch their food this night!

Jake and I!

The groom's cake.... Shawn's 2 favorite things. Jayhawks and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

My nephew, Owen. He is funny about food.... way too busy to care about it!

My beautiful cousins, Kara and Katie.

Don't forget their mom, Kelli! She looks too young to have these young adults!!

Mom and Dad.... a.k.a. the parents of the groom!

I snapped these pictures, because Reece kept on visiting the men's room.... turns out, there were mints in there, so this is why!? Silly boy.... I think Colby tipped him off!

Sisters.... My Aunt Peggy and my mom. My poor mom had a headache all weekend.... we'll blame this and not genetics on her struggling to keep her eyes open.

Mommy and Reece!

Aunt Jaime and Riley!

Cutting of the gorgeous and oh-so-yummy cake!

(My camera died right after this picture.... sad because my nephews were a crack up on the dance floor, good because no one needs to capture this white girl dancing.)

And lastly, the most amazing party favors ever.

A back story.... at age 9, Kaitlin was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The Children's Miracle Network Foundation was her foundation at the time, so in honor of her guests, they donated to the Network.... and the Jayhawk cookies made the favor a bit sweeter!!

****

That wraps up Shawn and Kaitlin's wedding festivities!

Here are some pictures I didn't take before my last post.

What I think Reece looks like is an elephant,

but what Reece feels like is Darth Vador.

Mother nature was so kind to us.... of course we had this scare, less than a week before the wedding, but it was very treatable, and we are no longer giving Reece breathing treatments.

But while in KC, Jake and I, and even my sister Jody, woke up with scratchy throats.... Jody and I had speaking parts in the wedding, so we were a little nervous. It definitely hit Jody worse in KC, and when the bride started tearing up, it was tough on Jody to keep clear enough to not be sniffling during her part.... thank goodness she had Kleenex. I teared up a lot too, but I had started the congestion part of my cold, so I was in good shape.

When we returned home, Jake's cold acted up, but not too badly. Then on Tuesday, Riley came home with a fever, but thankfully it only lasted 24 hours, but it was after his fever, my cold set in hard!! It was awful! I tried cold meds, and it didn't cut it, so I tried allergy meds and took Friday as a sick day to get some rest, and I got better quick. The allergy meds seemed to have dried me up.... but before that I was so incredibly achy, I was sure I had a fever, but the fever was never there when I checked. Now I'm feeling so much better, and just counting our blessings that this all waiting until after the fabulous wedding weekend!

There.... this was long, but now it's time to relax!

Congratulations Shawn and Kaitlin!!

(This is too long for me to edit..... hope there aren't too many mistakes!)