My Sister Got Married!

The last of my single siblings got married on Thanksgiving weekend.  We drove straight through from the Seattle area down to the SF Bay Area in one day, and the kids did great!  They did just as well on the all-day ride back as well, and although we won't do that again for a long time, at least we know we can do it.

At one of the rest stops on the way down we saw two foxes.  There were also two black cats that joined them, so I think they hunt together.  I took a picture of them as well, but it was too dark and didn't turn out well.

Thanksgiving Day, Grandpa reading to my kids and one of their cousins.

Pretty Thanksgiving table.  :) I love the plates, they're so festive!

The foodz.

The kids' table.  Next time we get together and the kids are still young, we'll have a few of the grown-ups supervise.

The store-bought veils were way too expensive, so my sister made her own.  It was really pretty.

Outside the Oakland temple where they got sealed.

 Her dress looked fantastic on her!  It's just the style I would've picked for her.  Foofy ballgowns aren't her style and they don't fit her personality; this dress does.  :)

The newlyweds with his family.

Little One in Mc's jacket.  It was a bright clear day and so windy, and everyone was really cold.

 Cousins trying to keep warm.

Pretty pretty pretty.  And cold!

One of my sister's best friends and bridesmaids. My sister was really happy to have her there.

Little One really wanted to spend time with her.  You can't tell here, but his heart was broken when he didn't get to hold her hand when she walked out of the temple.  In all of the family pictures that followed, he's crying in them.  We had him stand next to her and hold her hand for the pictures to help him feel better, and I think that helped a little.  Here she got to spend a one-on-one moment with him.

He likes her a lot, and he felt better after that.

 The view of the Bay Area from the Oakland temple grounds.  You can see all the way across the Bay to San Francisco.  The air doesn't get that clear very often; it was really cool to see.

At the reception.  I was running around the whole reception trying to make sure things got done that my sister wanted done, so I didn't get many pictures.  The ones I did get were of the decorations afterward when we were cleaning up.

Here's the cake.

 That cake was seriously the best-tasting cake I've ever had!  And I've tasted a lot of cake.  ;)  My family is going to be lifelong customers of this cake lady.

The greeting table.

My sister didn't want a wedding book that she's never going to look at, but she and her husband do play Jenga, so the guests signed Jenga blocks instead.  It was a cute idea.

The table centerpieces.

The drink fountain.

Baby Girl eating her cake in my sister's seat at the head table while we cleaned up.

A decoration with pictures of my sister and her husband.  This was next to the receiving line to give the guests something to see while they waited to greet the bride and groom.

The receiving area.  I wish I could've gotten a picture of them standing in front of there; it was really pretty and elegant.  (and that's my other sister in the background helping to clean up).  ;)

Decoration in front of the head table.  I loved the fall decorations.

Those are the pictures I have of my sister's wedding.  If I could do things differently I would've encouraged my family to spend less time and energy on Thanksgiving and to focus more on getting things ready for the wedding.  The food was delicious, but I felt like Thanksgiving took too much of a priority when it's really not that important compared to a wedding, and setting up for the reception ended up being very stressful and it took longer than some of us thought it would.  But things for the wedding turned out pretty well in the end, and I did my best to help my sister take care of things and de-stress.  I love her and I wanted to be there for her on this special day, and I did my best.

I love you, Girly!  <3