A Bachlorette and Babies

The week before Maggie and Sam's wedding (December 28th), we celebrated Maggie getting married.  Brett and I drove down to Myrtle Beach Saturday morning, as Sam was having his bachelor weekend as well.  Because we live almost 5 hours away and we were in football season, I had only been able to go to one of Maggie's showers.  I was excited to be a part of her bachelorette weekend.

The other bridesmaids did a great job coordinating everything.  The theme was pink, black, and glitter.  Laura had made a shadow box with all the invitations from Maggie's showers that was put on display (and there were a lot of invitations), and Danette had glasses made for us with our initials and "Bridesmaid"  or "Bride" on the bottom.  Such a cute touch and memento from the weekend.

One unique thing about this bachelorette party were all of the babies!! Laney, Lilly, and Isabel were at all of the events that night, and one more baby was at the dinner.  It was quite an entertaining night.

Beautiful Laney

Sis-in-love and niece.

We had dinner at Midtown Bistro with all of the bridesmaids and some other guests  Gail (my mother-in-love) and all of the females in Maggie's family joined us.  Some of the comments made by the other ladies were hilarious.  I won't disclose what any of them are though :)  Maggie left with quite the stash.

Only some of Maggie's presents

Bridesmaids minus one and two flower girls

High school friends: Hanna-Lee and Maggie

Hickman girls

All of the Hickman ladies

Maggie with her and Sam's mom.

D'Agnese women.

Laney loves her Auntie Maggie!

Sweet, sweet niece

After dinner, we went back to the condo and played some games.  Laura went above and beyond planning all of the games that night.  The babies were up until 1 am, and I went to bed around 2 am.  Definitely too old for that kind of thing.  Anyway, there was a ton of laughs, which is always good for the heart. Stay tuned for pictures from Maggie and Sam's wedding weekend!

One of the many games we played.

Lilly giving Laney kisses.

Happy Birthday Sis!

Happy birthday to my sweet sister-in-love Laura. I have loved getting to be her sister the past year and a half.  From our shared looks where we know exactly what each other is thinking to the joy of showers and weddings, I have enjoyed every step of the way.

It means so much to me when I get random texts from her with a picture of Laney, or just a text to see how I'm doing.   I have been blessed watching Laura transition from being a wife to a wife and mom.  Watching her and Laney together warms my heart. 

Love you, Laura!  I hope you have a wonderful day!

Marrying Off My Best Friend: Part 2

Megan and Kyle's wedding day was anything but calm.  We woke up to rain. Some wind. Colder weather.  As I said in Part 1, we were functioning under a ceremony and reception outside plan.  Of course Megan had a back-up plan, but she had been dreaming about an outdoor wedding in the fort since she was a little girl.  We wanted desperately for her to get her wish. 

A few of Megan's friends were in charge of keeping an eye on the radar before the wedding. The bridesmaids tried to keep Megan calm and focused on the purpose of the day: the display of the Gospel through her marriage with Kyle.  We ate breakfast, had our hair done, and changed in Gingko.  All the while, we were checking our phones.  Throughout the morning, the ceremony was teetering from being inside the auditorium to outside in the fort.  It was quite an emotional time for us. I can't even imagine what Megan was feeling.

God answered our prayers with a break from the rain 30 minutes after the original ceremony time.  So Megan and Kyle made the decision to push the ceremony back 30 minutes so it could be outside, but to have the reception in the caf.  For the next 2 hours or so, Kyle, all of the groomsmen, and some other friends gathered the reception decorations from outside and set them up in the caf.  My brother sent me a picture of Kyle on a ladder, in his suit, hanging up lanterns.  What a picture of a servant's heart.  Gets me choked up.

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful! The wind died down, and the sun even tried to peak out of the clouds.  Josh, one of Megan's best friends, was the officiant.  His message was about how a marriage is a covenant, and the picture of Jesus and his bride, the church. You could feel God's presence, and that He was smiling as Megan and Kyle made that convenant. 

After the ceremony, we were able to get pictures at the fort, and then move to the caf for the reception.  Kyle and everyone else who helped did a wonderful job of decorating the place in such a short period of time.  I could see a change in Megan's demeanor.  She was relaxed and joyful.  She had the ceremony of her dreams to the man of her dreams.  And now, she could celebrate that with all of her friends.  Those friends included some of the Irates and Bailey from Black Pearl.  It was so great to see them and catch up with them.  I hadn't seen any of them since my wedding over a year ago. 

Although it may not have been the stress-free day we were all hoping for, it was the perfect day.  God's sovereignty was displayed mightily, and his love was clearly seen through the love that Kyle and Megan have for each other and for Him. 

I'm so glad I was able to be a part of such a beautiful union.  Love you, Megan and Kyle!

My sis-in-love Maggie came to do our hair!

A little bit of Papa Jim at the wedding

What a silly little cousin

The new married couple

Love

My parents dancing

Megan's parents

Mimi and Pappaw won the couple married longest dance.  66 years!

The newest married couple and the couple married the longest.

Love this sweet lady.

Pearl and Irate people.

My family minus Brett

So great to see Dawn and Stephen

Glad they drove all the way from the ATL to come to the wedding.

Sweet friend Kristen. She did such a great job all day.

My lovely grandparents.

Parents of the groom.

Glad Colleen and Adrian couple make it from Boston too!

Siblings

Brother and now sister-in-love :)

Love my Jess

Don't know what I'd do without this sweet neighbor.

One of my favorite families.

My girls.

Marrying off My Best Friend: Part 1

More than one month later, I'm finally blogging about Kyle and Megan's wedding.  As most of you know, Megan and Kyle met at my wedding in June 2012.  My family has been dropping their names to each other for many years, but the night before my wedding was the first time they met.  Within the year, they were engaged.  I was asked to be the matron of honor (thanks for making me old Brett). 

When I got to Caswell on November 22, it was a beautiful day.  It actually felt like a summer day given how muggy it was.  The bridesmaids stayed in the beautiful Gingko.  Unfortunately, Brett wasn't able to come since he had his last football game (so goes the life of a coach); so I was roomies with the lovely Whitney. 

Anyway, we were keeping an eye on the weather the whole day, as a storm was supposed to roll through on the wedding day.  We functioned under the outside plan, with the ceremony and reception outside.  There was definitely some tension hanging over our heads, not knowing if we would be able to have Megan's dream wedding outside.  Megan had lots of projects going on so November 22 was spent trying to help her finish and set things up.

After we ate the rehearsal dinner, Megan and Kyle went through each of their attendants and said a few words about them.  Man, there were a lot of tears shed.  The thing that got me most was seeing how choked up my cousin Brent (Kyle's brother) got when Kyle was talking about him.  There's just something about seeing men that you care about get emotional.  Not to mention I about lost it when I looked at Aunt Nan when Kyle was talking about Brent.  Their tribute to each person was a really neat way to get to know everyone's stories.

The women joined up for flower hour after the rehearsal to make the bouquets and boutonnieres.  There were some really crafty women there.  I stuck by the glue gun and left the designing of the bouquets up to the pros.  Afterwards, I stayed up late talking to the bridesmaids and praying that Megan and Kyle would have great weather the next day.

I have to say this one more time.  I have never been involved in a wedding where the bridesmaids had an instant bond after being together for such a short time.  I can say that about Megan's wedding.  She has the most Godly, wonderful, supportive, and open group of girlfriends I have ever met.  It felt like I had been close friends with the girls for a long time, even though we had only been around each other for a short while.  I know that is because we have the common thread of love for our Savior that makes us sisters.  It really is amazing to think about.  Although the weekend was trying emotionally (you'll see why in Part 2), I felt refreshed at the same time because of the Godly fellowship. 

Here are some pictures from November 22.  Stay tuned for pictures of the gorgeous bride and groom and their perfect wedding day.

The house the bridesmaids stayed in.

Tree picture ;)

I love this family.

The bride and groom at the rehearsal

The beautiful ceremony location

Brent and Danielle

Besties

With the bride at the rehearsal dinner.

The famous hand shake

With Uncle Ed.

So blessed by Mimi and Pappaw and their marriage

Making the bouquets during flower hour.

Happy Birthday Hubby

Not only is today the first day of 2014, it is my hubby's birthday!! Happy 28th birthday to the man who makes me laugh, comforts me when I cry, shows God's love to his players through his actions, and works diligently to make me feel like the most important person.  I cannot imagine my life without him now.  Here's to many, many more birthdays to come.  I love you, Brett!