Wedding festivities

The girls got to be involved in one of the prettiest weddings last weekend. To say they were over joyed is an understatement. Ryan said it best, you could see the joy in their eyes! 

Let me back up a bit. Several years ago, Ryan's cousin-Leigha moved just down the street. We started having her over for weekly dinners and the girls clung to her. Lincoln came along and she continued to come over whenever our schedule would allow. She's even brave enough to babysit all 3 of them, sometimes at 7am so we can be crazy and run a 5K. We all love her! 

Once she met Craig, he would join us when his schedule allowed; the girls liked it best when they would beat Leigha in their regular game of Old Maid. 

One night at dinner after their engagement, she surprised the girls and asked them to be a part of her wedding as usherettes. To them, it was like winning the lottery! They were so excited! 

She picked out some adorable dresses and the girls fell in love instantly. We fielded question after question about weddings as the months went on. Finally the day arrived and they got to put on their pretty dressed for more than an alteration session. They got to pick out a cute hair do and Vicky did amazing at dolling them up.

"Look mom!" I heard over and over again.
But they were just so beautiful in their twirly dresses. 

We spent several hours ahead of the wedding having pictures taken and enjoying the sunshine. Despite the bugs and the bees, I had so much fun watching our girls be a part of Craig and Leigha's special day. And shockingly, never once did I hear "are we done yet?", or "my feet hurt" or "can we leave?". They wanted to be right where the action was at any cost. 

They entertained little Eddie a bit and fell more in love with that little boy. 

Their official "job" was to hand out programs and guide guests to their seats before the ceremony started and then be the first to walk up the aisle with little Eddie. I heard multiple times just how adorable they were and I completely agree! 

They took their job seriously I tell you, planning out where to stand and how many programs to hold at a time. They were so grown up!

Finally, the rest of the family showed up. This stud-muffin was something else. (on a side note, a cutie like him is hard to resist and we are about ready to purchase a few t-shirts for these large parties to help inform well-intended people from feeding the kid with food allergies-yes, they actually make tshirts for this reason....we did a lot of chasing him all night). 

However, we purposely put him in pants and long-sleeves....the bugs were out of this world bad! Poor buddy kept asking for "sade" aka: shade, because he was so hot. He may have watched the bulk of the ceremony from beneath a tree :) 

With the girls busy at work, we snapped a partial family picture, but I love how it turned out. It's so fun to get everyone dressed up sometimes and even better when we get a cute picture too. 

The girls and Eddie were the first down the aisle and did a wonderful job. The instructions were along the line of 'if it takes Eddie too long, or he gets distracted, pick him up'. He was just as happy being carried so that's what they did part-way up the aisle. And how pretty were they walking up. 

Leigha was simply stunning in her gown....all day (and night, and weekend), the girls would tell us that "Leigha was the prettiest!" and "she looks like a princess!". Sidney went so far as to say she's using Leigha's dress for her own wedding one day :) ha! 

Before leaving the ceremony venue, we snapped a quick full-family picture with the whole gang. We then spent the night eating and dancing and having a grand time celebrating. We are so grateful that Craig and Leigha choose the girls to be a part of their wedding, it is something they will remember forever! Thank you!