The WEDDING

It's amazing how we anticipate these big life events and with the blink of an eye, they pass by and leave us with memories galore.  That's how I'm feeling about my bro's wedding.  We shopped, anticipated, packed, traveled across the country, partied, dolled up, celebrated and now I'm blogging to tell about it. 

The festivities kicked off Friday with Becky's bachelorette night in Grand Rapids.  It was a perfect opportunity to meet the other bridesmaids and spend some QT with Becky before the craziness of the wedding.  We chowed on tapas and sangria and ended the night at a swanky bar close by. 

 

Saturday evening, all those involved in D-Day met at the church for a run down on the day of.  Following, we gathered at a local park for a pig roast of sorts.  Food was delish (thanks Mom and Becky's fam for going the extra mile in making that happen) and the kids got to play at the park.  Perfect. 

Sunday morning my Mama, Kira and I met to have our hair done at the one salon we could find that would take us on a Sunday.  This is GR we're talking about. It was a warm, sunny morning to start, which put smiles on every one's faces after a bunch of cloudy gloom preceding. 

The wedding party people got their fancy on at the church, including my little Dude and nephew Dylan.  2 little dudes all handsomed up?  Couldn't get enough of them.  Thank heavens for the toy filled nursery, which kept them occupied during all the down time.  We didn't get any ceremony shots since I was kinda standing up front and Tim was wrangling the two boys.  THANK YOU to my rock star husband for taking on the duty of babysitter for the day.  It allowed us to enjoy the day that much more. 

A few pictures, dedicated to the boys and their cuteness.....

Some day they'll hate us for this.  Until then, we'll enjoy their willingness to kiss each other.

The ceremony went smoothly and was a beautiful testament to Becky and Kyle's love for each other.  My favorite moment of the day was watching Kyle's baby blues well up the second he saw his lovely bride enter the church.  He's an emotional cat - love that about him - and this day pulled on his heart strings for sure.  They both made it through the service like champs.  Following the service the party hopped in a snazzy bus for photos and a leisurely drive to the reception.  By this time the rain (and tornado warnings) had come out in full force, but Becky handled it like a champ.  We were gifted with umbrellas, which will make for some fun photos to come.        

The reception....the photo below sums up Tim and my highlight of the night.  My dude.  The dancing KING.  He would not exit the dance floor.  Not for a computer game, not for chocolate, probably not even for a Disney parage.  This kid has moves friends.  And rhythm.  We did not stop smiling and laughing at his energy and spunk.  Dylan got his groove on too - watching the two boys dancing together will be a memory that won't quickly fade.   

Our Gigi made it to the dance floor too!  Way to be Gigi.  We love you!

My other Grandma and Grandpa were there too, along with four out of five of my mom's siblings and a big group of cousins. 

 

Aunt Kira was dragged into dancing with Duder - over and over and over.

It was a great day.  A great weekend.  We're SO happy for Kyle and Becky.  She's a fabulous addition to our family.  Thanks for including us in the celebration guys.  We're glad we could be there to celebrate you.  

Cousins n Stuff

Here's a little wedding picture teaser....aren't they precious?  I'll do a post dedicated to the wedding soon, but there are a TON of irresistibly lovable pics of cousins and family surrounding the wedding that need attention.  I apologize for the mass amount of kid snapshots- these little people (and bigger people) live deep in my heart, so they get prime blogging space.

We arrived in Chicago last week Wednesday afternoon in the midst of severe weather (thank you Mr. Tornado for staying away while we were mid flight).  An hour delay was manageable and the kiddos made it in one, happy piece.  My nephews, Dylan & Hudson, were waiting for us with Aunt Kira at Nana and Papa's house and D stayed with us until Friday.  THAT was a treat.  The boys ate up their time together.  As did their Nana and Papa, might I add.  On Thursday Tim and I brought Squirt downtown to meet Uncle Nick, Aunt Caylei and cousin Chase (3 days younger).  It was rather priceless to see the two of them together.  Caylei cooked up a masterpiece meal for us - sure do wish we could see them more often. 

 The Kwas/Vog boys at Nana & Papa's park. 

 This is heaven to my parents.  Does it get better than 4 grand kids all in one place?  I think not.

 Little clean bundle.  No more airplane heebies. 

 Brownie picnic on the kitchen floor.

On Friday we headed up to Holland, stopping at our favorite lunch spot, Cranes- a quaint orchard with home made pie, fresh cider and a simple menu.  A little taste of Michigan heaven if you ask me.  The boys relished their time on the stationary tractor and I took advantage of the rustic photo shoot opportunities. 

 The afore-mentioned stationary tractor.  Provided a good 45 minutes of entertainment.

 Love this shot. 

They both love to randomly hug each other.  Just doesn't work out that they love it at the exact same times.

    
Next stop was Tim's family cottage in Holland.  Our favorite place to be.  We both said, over and over, how it needs to be our goal to spend summers there some day.  How?  I haven't the slightest, but we can still dream, right.  Tim's brother's family graciously drove in from Toronto to spend Saturday with us, which was just what the doctor ordered.  The kids got to spend time together and they all got to meet our little Squirt.  The cold, rainy gloom didn't stop us from hamming it up.  Thanks for the visit guys!  Wish we could do it more often. 

 My big dude.  Isn't he so studly?

 After all the kid pics, I thought it might be refreshing for you to see the face behind the camera for once.  You're welcome.

 The Vog boys, minus baby Chase.

 So spankin' cute.  Some day Squirt will make the pictures. 

 Grandma's brood! 

 Squirt's first beach intro.  Didn't have much of an opinion either way.

 We walked all the way to Big Red (the lighthouse).  Dude ran the whole way there in excitement to touch the huge red structure.

 Our chubby monkey and her Nana in their matching green.

 

Ahhhhh.....

Tim's mom did a lot of babysitting of Squirt for us during wedding festivities, which was a life saver.  Quality Grandma time is always welcomed.  Memorial Day ended up being a great beach day - thank you God for that!  We needed a sunny, warm day to end our vacation.  My mom spent the night with us too and we all drove back to Chicago Tuesday morning for a Wed flight home.  All in all, it was a fabulous trip.  The kids were happy, healthy and well behaved, the wedding was a lovely family event to be remembered, we got tons of quality time with both families and no major catastrophes took place during our 7 days away.  We do wish we could have hung with more friends, but time was extremely limited this go round.  

 Doesn't she look like BamBam? 

We're back in the swing of life now and happy to be home.  A wedding post will come soon.  Don't you worry your pretty little heads.