The Wedding





I'll be honest...our wedding was not all roses :)

Lets back up to the night before....We ended up spending the evening at the hotel with my family just chatting by the pool while my nieces and nephews went swimming....I was QUITE relieved when Matt's friends DIDN'T try to take him out for a night on the town...I wouldn't have put it past them, and even MORE so, I was grateful that he chose to spend the evening with me and my family. 

Angie's Family



The next morning, we got up and got things going.  We had a brunch at The Lion's Den and all of our families were there...aunts, uncles, besties, etc...



Matt's Family

My little brother had recently had his colon removed, and so was wearing a colostomy bag (outside of his body, but under his clothes).  I have to give it to him, he has embraced this challenge in his life and has treated it with a great sense of  humor.  Mom had given him EXPLICIT instructions to keep things under wraps and to behave.  At one point during the lunch, we hear EVERYONE at his table cracking up.  Come to find out, Nate's sitting there telling everyone not to pay any attention to "Phil" as he called it.  and that "Phil was always trying to be heard and that he was full of crap"....pretty funny to say the least as it would gurgle, and was literally full of...well you know...it WAS a colostomy bag.


Anyway, by the time the brunch was done, it was a mad dash to the church to get the chairs and everything else set up and do the finishing touches. By the time everything was set up and ready to go, I only had about 30 minutes to get myself fully ready.  No time for a shower, and barely time to wash my face and re-apply...

In the meantime,  I got word that my cake was in a near crash, and the back side of it was a little "mushed".  Fortunately, the design was such that there were ribbons draped down the backside, so no one would really notice it.  Additionally, the a/c was out in the building...and there wasn't much we could do about it...so....not only was I all hot and sweaty and not able to take a shower, but I would continue to roast as they day progressed....keep in mind...this was JULY 5th!!!



The ceremony was nice, no disasters, ring exchange went smoothly, and all was well.  We had a great mix of 50's music playing in the background (thanks to Matt...it was his pride and joy).  We didn't coordinate any kind of dance, or anything like that....we almost missed the whole "cake cutting".  Needless to say, we were NOT wedding planners, but it all came together, and the memories are great in spite of the disasters.



The Loot!



That night, we loaded ALL of our presents into my brother's car, and took everything to our hotel.  We went through most of it, and took the majority of it home with us in our suitcases (All complicated, of course, by the fact that we lived in Arizona and everything had to go home with us on an airplane).  The only 2 things I REALLY remember not making it home with on that first flight was a package of 4 coffee mugs, and a barbecue grill...other than that, it pretty much all made it.  We didn't do typical "wedding night" adventures as the day was too much...



The next morning, we got up and flew home in a hurry.  We had 1 day at home, and had to be to the airport the following day to fly out to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  In the hurry and hubub of it all, we had failed to get Matt's birth certificate from his mom, and couldn't locate his passport.  We were in trouble.  We made several frantic phone calls, and eventually found out that we could have the airport sign some kind of affidavit with a notary...which would suffice as a "passport" into and out of the United States.  Fortunately, it worked. 

We had a wonderful and relaxing vacation, got some sweet souveniers, and then came back to reality.



Awwwwwww.....Wedded Bliss :)