Celebrating the Best Friend and Bride-to-Be

A week ago, Megan's bridesmaids hosted a bridal shower to celebrate her and Kyle.  After countless emails between the bridesmaids, I think we were able to make Megan feel very loved.

We decided to go with a sunflower theme, since that's Megan's favorite flower.  Everyone brought food Megan either had stated that she liked, or that have been big hits at parties.  Whitney made a super cute Bride-To-Be banner, and brought thank you cards.

ATTENTION FUTURE BRIDESMAIDS! This is one of the most practical things you can do for your bride-to-be.  I saw it at a bridal shower I attended about four years ago, and fell in love with the idea.  A bridesmaid buys thank you cards.  Guests who bring gifts write their address on the envelope.  Then, the bride doesn't have to worry about addressing envelopes (on top of other wedding thank you notes), and she doesn't have to worry about if she got the address right.  My bridesmaids did that for me; something that I appreciated so much.  And as a bride, you seem to write the thank you notes more quickly.  It's always good to be able to check things off lists (at least for a Type-A person like me).

Hannah brought index cards on which people wrote an embarrassing or memorable moment of/with Megan.  Hannah read it out loud, and Megan had to guess whose memory it was.  It was a great way to get to know how people knew Megan, and to share in some laughs.

Prior to the shower, I sent Kyle a bunch of questions to answer.  Mr. David (Megan's dad) mentioned to Kyle that it would be neat if he could Skype in during the shower.  Megan answering the questions was the perfect time.  It was really special to see the interaction between them.  Kyle's expressions and responses were hilarious.  What a wonderful idea Mr. David!

While Megan opened up all of her gifts, the guests played bridal bingo.  She got some fantastic and practical gifts.  So neat to see things she will be using in her married life.  We also did a bridal quiz.  The top two winners of the bridal quiz and first three bingo winners received a prize.  For prizes, we bought some of Megan's favorite things and placed them in mason jars.  We gave away chocolate, sunflower seeds, watermelon sour patch kids, a Bojangles gift card, and a Starbucks gift card.

Overall, we had a blast celebrating the upcoming marriage of Megan and Kyle.  I am so so excited to see how God is going to use them for His kingdom.  I know He had great plans for them.  Love you Monk and (little cuz) Kyle!

Pretty sunflowers Jess brought.

Meesh! (Please excuse my face.  I got really burnt at the GWU/Charlotte game the previous day)

Prom pose with Megan, Jess, and the corsage Jess had made.

Kyle Skyping in. Hilarious.

Megan's friends and family

Some of Megan's bridesmaids.  We love her.

Old Wilson friends!

Love my best friend and soon-to-be cousin.

Oba loves Megan.

Blended family. Spivey, Ott, Veale, Hickman, and Lloyd women.

My best friends. Wouldn't know what to do without them.

And while I'm at it, I'll share some pictures Dad took of Oba and her sister Yoshiko, who is visiting from Seattle for a month.  If you could see this whole string of pictures, you would be crying from laughing so hard.  These two little ladies are hilarious.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the two of them.

My daddy

My Growing Family

No it's not what you're thinking.  There is no bun in the oven for me.  A week ago, my brother proposed to his girlfriend Kelci!  We knew it would be coming soon.  Chris sent me a link of the ring early last week.  We couldn't be more excited!

I already have two sisters-in-love from Brett's side of the family.  I am so excited to be adding a sister on my side of the family.  Although I haven't met Kelci (aside from FaceTime earlier this week), just from a week of texting, I know we are going to be fast friends.  I'd say we already are.

Chris and Kelci, I am so excited about your upcoming wedding and your marriage.  I know God is going to bless you and use you two in mighty ways.  Kelci, I'm so excited to come alongside you during the planning process.  Let me know if I'm ever overwhelming ;)  I can't wait for a life-time of sisterhood with you.

Congratulations!  Love you both!

Lake Shower Fun

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been MIA...again.  Things have been crazy in June and July so I haven't taken the time to blog much.  Brett's football players reported yesterday (YAY!) so we are in the midst of football season now.

Anyway, in July, Brett and I were able to go to Ocean Isle to celebrate Sam and Maggie's engagement.  Brett's aunts and uncles hosted a lake shower for our wedding, and they did the same for Maggie and Sam.  The shower had a picnic theme.  Unfortunately, the lake had a whole bunch of rain the morning of the shower so we had to eat inside. By the end of the night though, it was drier so we were able to hang out on JoAnn's new deck in their backyard.

Since both Maggie and Sam grew up in the same town, a lot of Maggie's family was able to come to the shower.  Her family is a trip.  I love being around them.  And man, were there babies galore.  Brett's cousin Bryan and his wife Courtney brought their son Ethan; Will and Laura brought Laney; and Maggie's sister-in-love brought her daughter Lillian.  I have to say, they sort of stole a little bit of the show :)

At the end of the night, Will and Maggie's dad brought out the guitars and put on a little show for the family.  We even got blessed by Miss Leslie's singing!

So looking forward to Maggie and Sam's wedding in December.  We love you two!!

Lilly with Leslie

Mags with her mom and grandma

Bride and mother of the bride!

Maggie, her MOH Blair, and flower girl Lilly

Lilly loves her Uncle Sam

Laney and her Daddy

Poor Justin was asked to hold Laney while she was crying.  He was a trooper though.

Second cousins: Ethan with Carey

That's a hot set of parents right there!

Maggie with some of her bridesmaids and flower girls

The engaged couple with two of their flower girls. Laney was not interested though :)

And of course while we were there, we took a lot of pictures of little Laney.  Can't wait to see this precious girl again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Largest Wedding Party

So I don't know if I'll ever see a wedding party as large as Meghan and Drew's (11 attendants and 6 honorary attendants for each of them), but Maggie and Sam's wedding is the largest wedding I've ever been a part of.  I think it's 9 bridesmaids and one junior bridesmaid if I'm not mistaken.

After Christmas, we were able to get most of the bridesmaids together and go dress shopping.  The first place we went was local, which was nice.  Maggie grabbed dresses for each of us to try on.  If there was a dress we liked, I tried it on because I represented the "hips" girls.  Thank you Mom and Dad.

We found one that we liked, but had one more store to go to in Wilmington.  I have to say, the service at the Wilmington store was not near as good as the service we got at Coastal Knot in Shallotte.  All the bridesmaids agreed with Maggie that the dress she found in Shallotte was the dress for us.  After that, we went to a restaurant in downtown Wilmington for lunch.

For me, bridesmaids dress shopping was so much more memorable than me finding my wedding dress. Finding my wedding dress seemed like so much pressure.  Finding the bridesmaids dress was so much fun.  Each girl brings a different point-of-view and personality to the table.

I absolutely loved getting to know Maggie's friends and family better.  She has a great, funny, strong group of women surrounding her.  You feel like you have known them forever.  Thanks for letting me be a part of your wedding party Mags.  Love you future sister-in-love!

Such a great group of women

So much fun

Happy Engagement

As you may know, Maggie and Sam (Brett's younger brother) got engaged in the middle of November.  Christmas was the first time both extended families have been in town so Maggie's family hosted an engagement party, an oyster roast.

Oh my goodness, I have never felt so southern in my life.  There were so many foods I have never tried before.  I had collards, chicken bog, rutabagas/turnips, and black eyed peas. Maggie's family is in the restaurant business so I shouldn't have been surprised that all the food was wonderful. Her grandma makes the best cornbread I've ever had, and the homemade apple pie and ice cream was out of this world.  Maggie's grandparents live on the river so they harvested the oysters themselves.  They had pans and pans of them.  There were even some left over, which was amazing given that about 30 people were there.

I really enjoyed meeting her family.  Everyone was so nice and warm.  You really feel like you've known them for years.  I think that's a testament to how wonderful her family is.  They have taken Sam in as one of their own, as we have with Maggie.  We can't wait to have Maggie as part of the family!

It's Official!

I have the best sisters (in-love) ever: Laura and Maggie!  Sam, Brett's brother, popped the question to Maggie today.  She will officially be a Hickman next year.  She's been considered a part of the family for a while though.

Sam and Maggie are perfect complements of each other.  Maggie keeps Sam in check, but Sam also brings out the goofy side of Maggie.  They are inseparable and never seem to tire from each others company.  She knows how to deal with his embarrassing comments (ones that would most definitely make me blush).  They are two people who are so happy and in love.  It is evident.

I am so happy for these two.  Soak it all in and enjoy this stage in your life.  We love you!