The blushing bride, Monique.
I'm so excited! I've always wanted a sister, and now I have one...and an amazing one at that!
We drove down to Portland on Wednesday night, June 18th, with our really good friends Berto & Jenny...they're family, really. What usually is a 2.5-3 hour drive took us 5...needless to say, we had a lot of fun along the way. Thomas was waiting outside for us when we finally showed up at his townhome around 10:30pm, totally goofy and wired. We spent the next two days in a flurry of activities and errands leading up to the big day.
Highlights for me were getting to spend some quality time with Jenny, mostly laughing and reminiscing, but also having serious talks about life, love & our searches for happiness. We also did some major sales-tax-free shopping, which is always a great time.
It was also really fun to have all 5 of us under the same roof again. Eating together, playing video and card games, and generally doing a lot of laughing. A LOT of laughing.
The wedding itself was beautiful, located at the Heritage House in Wilsonville, Oregon. Surrounded by hazelnut orchards, the Heritage House has beautiful, lush gardens which served as the backdrop for both the ceremony and reception. It was sunny and hot with an occassional cold breeze.
The ceremony was very traditional with lighting of the unity candle, readings and classic vows, but was punctuated by a very spirited choreographed dance by most of the bridal party and a few extra cousins to Queen's "Somebody to Love". Oh, and it was hot outside.
The reception was filled with dancing, yummy buffet food, beer & wine, laughter, cake, more dancing and more wine...oh, and the heat. There was also the heat.
We stayed until after the sun had set, our feet ached, our bellies were full and our backs were wet with sweat. Needless to say, we slept really soundly that night.
It was such a special day getting to watch Thomas marry the gal of his dreams and getting to welcome an amazing woman into our little family. We did it with some of our closest friends by our sides, all of us with smiles on our lips and tears in our eyes.
Monique and Heidi (a bridesmaid) sippin on some cocktails at the bachelorette dinner.
Thomas, the groom (on the right) and Berto, the co-best man (on the left) dancing up a storm.
Jenny & myself surviving the blistering heat, and lookin fine!
Berto & Jenny groovin (aren't they adorable?)
Monique performing a choreographed dance and lip syncing "I Love You, I Do" (from Dreamgirls) for her new husband...SO cute!
In what has become a new tradition in our family, Berto merengued with the bride,
which is not an easy feat in a wedding dress...trust me!
Kelly & Don, mother and father-of the bride.
Dale & Tanya Schienbein, our Canadian cousins who made the trek down for the wedding.
Connor, one of Monique's little cousins, who was a total dancing machine. Seriously, this kid did not stop!
These were the table name cards that Monique made. Each table was the name of a location that was meaningful to them as a couple. Our table was Karkeek, which is the name of a local park where Thomas proposed. Aww...
This is their beautiful and delicious cake. It tasted like layers of banana bread with buttercream frosting...SOOO good!
Thomas and Monique are spending their honeymoon in both England and Ireland, how fun is that?
Congratualtions to you, brother & sister. We are so excited for the life you will be sharing and cannot wait to spend many holidays and other life milestones together!
***
By the way, I realize that there are no pictures of Erich, but I SWEAR he was there. He always manages to sneak out of the shot...sneaky husband!
Connor, one of Monique's little cousins, who was a total dancing machine. Seriously, this kid did not stop!
These were the table name cards that Monique made. Each table was the name of a location that was meaningful to them as a couple. Our table was Karkeek, which is the name of a local park where Thomas proposed. Aww...
10 comments:
k I've been negelecting blogs for far too long and now am officially caught up on yours!
so yeah! Happy Birthday! The crab shack! HA! We ate there as a fam when we took David to college.
And the wedding is/was BEAUTIFUL! so glad you shared pictures!
and I miss you.
the end.
WOW could that first picture BE more beautiful?!? Blew me away. That looks like it was such a fun and beautiful wedding. The cake was too adorable!
Yay for a new member of the family :)
congrats on your new sister. so exciting! love the table name cards and the cake was adorable too!
Dude that cake is ridiculous!!
As for a Seattle trip, I'd love to but I'm enter crazy "no time off" time at work, and with gas being so stinking expensive the only way I could afford to come is if I rode a bike, and I'm not Lance freaking Armstrong, so that's not gonna happen. I'll have to save from my weddings and whatnot this fall, and plan a trip in early spring...believe me Seattle has been calling my name big time lately, maybe it the heat, or maybe it's my heart, who knows, all I know is that Seattle has, and always call to me in a way no other place I've ever been has!!
Sneaky Hubby indeed!! Looks like a super-fun wedding - congrats on the new sister!
Wait, wait. I can redeem myself. :) Both of my parents were Drillers, and I wanted to be a Driller so badly when I was a kid, I begged my parents to enroll me over there. They wouldn't because they said it was too far to drive each day. :(
So I am a Driller by blood. That should count for soemthing. I even dated a Driller because I wanted to be one so badly.
Once a Driller, always a driller.
And what a beautiful wedding. Congrats on gaining a sister. It was just me and my brother growing up, so when he got married, I was beyond thrilled to finally have a sister. And to make things even better, she had three sisters, so I like to think I gained four sisters that day. :)
Yay for love! Sisters are great, aren't they? She is beautiful and the cake is spectacular!
YES!! That is Maureen. She's my sister! She and my brother were high school sweethearts. How do you know her? What a small world.
looks like a wonderful time ..... and seriously, you need to get on the photography bandwagon ... I think you can do it ;)
... also, wanted to stop by to let you know I let Brandon win. The butter in the butter dish, out on the counter? Yeah, it started "sweating" the other and totally grossed me out! Until I can get around to buying a fancy new butter thing with water in it.. back in the fridge it goes!
she was a ranger! I hope that didn't bother you all night. :)
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