Brandon & Adriana's Wedding

Brandon (Brian's youngest brother) and Adriana's wedding was last weekend and it was so beautiful and perfect, I've been trying to get all my pictures together so I can post them all at once. Avery was a flower girl, along with Adriana's younger sister, Isabella. And Tatum helped me hand out programs in the foyer before the wedding and they both did a super job with their very important tasks. They both got "princess" dresses and I had fun braiding their hair and making it fancy with little flowers in it. Laney and Tara (my neice) got matching dresses and bows for their hair too. They all looked so pretty! I really think they thought the night was all about them. They owned the dance floor. Tatum twirled in circles for at least an hour straight, just watching as her dress flowed all around her. Avery loved dancing with Brian. Laney just ran all over the dance floor and she & Tatum ran around the dance floor like a choo-choo train, just laughing their heads off. At one point the choo-choo train fell over on top of each other and Tatum must have hit her eye pretty hard on the back of Laney's head because within 5 minutes, she had a huge purple shiner! I tried to get some pictures of it but they never show up as dark in the pictures as it really is in real life. Anyway, the wedding and reception were a lot of fun and we are all very happy to have Adriana as part of our family now!

The two princesses

Avery asked Brian if he would marry her real quick before we left for the wedding. So we had a short wedding ceremony in our gameroom.

The blushing bride and her daddy... er, groom


Flower girl pose

I wish I wasn't in the background... it would've been cute of the three of them. oh well.

GiGi and the girls

Avery lost her second front tooth at lunch the day of the wedding. i was so excited because I had secretly hoped it would fall out in time for the wedding so we could get cute pictures of her with her two front teeth missing. That morning I checked it and it wasn't loose enough to pull, so I gave up hope. Then at lunch she bit into her Bagel Bite real hard and that tooth came right out almost by itself. So here she is without her two front teeth.

My mom came in town to play the piano for the wedding, so here's NaNa with the girls before she had to head back to San Antonio. I loved the songs she played for the ceremony... Canon in D and Ode to Joy... two of my favorites!

Tatum's hair before the wedding. By the end of the reception, I think only one of those poor flowers was still hanging on. I did Avery's the same way. I must say I loved the way it turned out.

Tatum showcasing her dance skills. She is so fun to watch because she could care less who is watching her or what anyone else is doing. She dances to the beat of her own drummer and she gets out there and does her thing. I just sat in a chair and stared at her for half of the night because I wish I felt as free as she does... there's something beautiful about a person who is completely unaware and uninhibited by what anyone else thinks.... just feeling it on the inside and following her heart. That's Tatum and I love that about her.

My little neice Tara... she's not too sure what to think about her three crazy cousins but I am glad that she is getting used to Aunt mel and letting me hold her. She & Laney looked so cute together in their matching dresses and bows, but I did not get a single good picture of them together. I'm sure one of these days they'll be best buddies.

The beautiful bride and handsome groom

Here's the picture of the purplish color on her cheek toward the end of the night. It was also pretty swollen. By the next morning, it was a full fledged black eye and she was pretty proud of it too.

Grandad dancing with the girls

Tatum and Laney on the dance floor

Avery and Brian dancing

This week we also celebrated Brian's 33rd birthday! Which also marks the 10 year anniversary of our first date! I still can't believe he wanted to spend his 23rd birthday with me, when we hardly knew each other. But he did and I remember that day like it was yesterday. I always remember thinking in my head, "I don't know if I'll marry him, but I'm pretty sure I will never want to break up with him." Nine months later we were married! I hope and pray Brandon & Adriana will look back 10 years from now and be more in love with each other and more thankful for each other than they could possibly imagine right now.