WEEKEND WEDDING

Two weekends ago we traveled to Brenham for Thad and Jenny's wedding. It was the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to. It was held at the Antique Rose Emporium and it was absolutely breathtaking. I was honored to be a part of it.

Our trip was in true Griswold fashion though.

On Thursday we headed out of town after lunch to stay at Mom and Dad's for the evening and so I could attend the Bachelorette party I had helped put together. We stopped in Wichita Falls to pick up some stuff for the party...Chris had way too much fun in the party store. He had never been to one and I think he could've stayed for a couple of hours trying on hats, masks and dressing up Liv.
We made it to Bridgeport with barely enough time for me to get ready and head to Jenny's....I'm late of course.

We drive to Fort Worth and have dinner at Joe T. Garcia's...very yummy...wish I had some of those tortillas right now. Then we were off to Pete's Dueling Piano Bar. Just one glitch...not all of us were 21 so we couldn't get in. Jenny had already talked to the manager and worked something out. Of course, it was a different manager working that night and he had no recollection of the conversation. Bummer. Jenny was sad. I got to hear them sing Sheryl Crow's "The First Cut is the Deepest" and then we were off. For being 8 months pregnant I was really looking forward to hearing them play all night.

THE BEAUTIFUL BRIDE-TO-BE


So we were off to 8.0 (pronounced 8-Os). There we opened lingerie gifts and read excerpts from her juicy, sex books....we laughed forever about some of the "tips." Jenny got to hand out some fun stickers to guys with the best biceps, best dancer, etc. And that was it. So back home we went. Nothing crazy here. Just a good time with the girls before the big wedding.

THE MAID OF HONOR AND SISTER OF THE BRIDE, ANNA, LAUGHING AT THE SEX TIPS


THE BRIDE AND HER GOOD FRIEND AMANDA


Friday morning we have breakfast at IHOP and then make our way to College Station which is where everyone stayed. We made a quick stop at the outlet mall in Hillsboro, a quick stop for some McDonald's fries and then arrived at the hotel with just enough time to get ready for the rehearsal. Almost late, of course.

THE HAPPY COUPLE AT THE REHEARSAL


THE RING BEARER CJ, FLOWER GIRL JADE AND FLOWER GIRL OLIVIA


CJ AND OLIVIA


OLIVIA AND JADE


My poor mom had been crazy stressed about the rehearsal dinner and had made cute souvenirs with our menu selections and pretty little keys (the new last name..clever and cute) and she had made some centerpieces for the tables, but sadly they were running way behind because she had gotten car sick as she was trying to put the finishing touches on the decorations in the back seat of the car. They had to pull over at a car wash to rinse the car and her hair that had already been done for the rehearsal. I felt soooo bad for her.

THE MENUS


They arrived 30 minutes late, to the great place they chose for the rehearsal dinner, a little Italian restaurant called Volare. Dinner was delicious.
Dad gave a toast before dinner and told them to never go to bed angry and that he knew they were going to be happy because they always made each other laugh. So sweet and at this point I'm thinking, "Oh my gosh, my little brother is getting married!!"

I STOP PAYING ATTENTION FOR 2 MINUTES...LIPSTICK EVERYWHERE!!


Most of the crew went out in College Station after dinner, but I went back to the hotel with Liv who woke up at 1 a.m. with a stomach bug. No fun. Then again at 4 a.m. Her poor blanket was ruined for the night and the hotel didn't have machines for me to use or any extra comforters. We did get a couple of clean sheets thank goodness. I was worried we were going to miss the wedding...but nope she woke up at 8 a.m. sharp asking for wedding cake! From then on things were good.

Except, Chris had woken up with a scratched cornea. One of them groomsmen had slapped his shoulder but caught his eye by mistake. So he was in pain and irritable.

We went to the mall to shop for Chris a shirt for the wedding. I had found him the perfect shirt that matched Liv's flower girl dress and it was on sale for $15. But Mr. Ralph Lauren just couldn't do it. Ugghh. Are you kidding me? He spent forever in the Polo section torn because he wanted to wear Polo, but he hates spending money and the shirt he wanted was $95--But his pretty wife was holding up a great shirt that was only $15....oh the dilemma. We left the mall with neither.

We were also looking for Liv some black socks...but Gymboree didn't have her size. She ended up with some Halloween socks from Target that said BOO on them...we just turned them wrong side out...perfect.

On the way to the wedding I rode in the very back of our Tahoe so the groom and one of the groomsmen wouldn't wrinkle their tuxes. We had taken the 3rd row seating out so we would have room for all of our stuff to make the trip so that was comfy for a pregnant lady.

Then we had 4 hours of pictures and waiting, but somehow we didn't get a big group family picture of us. Whoops. Some of our family had showed up at 6:30 just for this picture, but it didn't happen. I didn't even think about it until after the wedding.

Finally, 8 o'clock arrived and it was getting dark and with all of the lighting and flowers it was just gorgeous. They were married in the gazebo. The bridesmaids wore black dresses each with a different style and the flower girls were in these gorgeous green colored dresses. Olivia was a flower girl along with Jade and the ring bearer was C.J. The kids were such troopers and did a great job and they were just adorable.

THE ONLY PIC I HAVE OF MY BEAUTIFUL FLOWER GIRL


The ceremony was great. My brother looked down at me right before he put the ring on her finger and he just looked so happy and blessed. I couldn't be more happier with the spouse he has chosen.

Then we were on to the reception which was held outside under lots of white lights and the DJ was very entertaining. He had all of the guests involved all night up until the couple's departure at midnight.

BRIDE'S CAKE

GROOM'S CAKE



Some of my favorite moments from the reception were:

1) The DJ had them play this Mickey/Minnie Mouse game where they sat in chairs back-to-back while each holding a stuffed Mickey and Minnie Mouse. He would ask them questions like, "Who cooks more?, Who's family is wackier?, Who wears the pants?" Then they would answer by holding up the correct mouse. If they held up the same mouse we clapped, but if they disagreed we would tell them to "Kiss and makeup!" Too cute!

2) The dance to get the garter was classic. The DJ had Jenny sit in a chair across the dance floor from Thad and he played this sexy, dancing music and told Thad he had to show how much he loved her by doing his best dance across the floor to her. Then he gave Thad some sunglasses so he would feel invisible like the cute kid from the movie, "Big Daddy." Watching Thad dance was classic and so funny! Then it was Jenny's turn to get the bouquet from Thad. As soon as her music started she wasted no time making her way to him.

3) The best man, Bruce, had caught the garter and his fiancee, Angela, had caught the bouquet. They blindfolded Bruce and he was making his way to Angela to place the garter on her. He was very excited until he realized he was actually putting the garter on Thad because those hairy legs could not belong to his fiancee. So funny to see his face filled with disappointment.

4) The DJ had all married couples make their way to the dance floor for a special dance. Chris and I got to share a special moment on the dance floor while he was holding a sleepy Liv. Chris and I do not dance, but this moment was sweet and it made me feel not as awkward to have Liv out there. Chris is just so much taller than me and I always want to lead. Fortunately, it was a slow song.

5) The departure. They held hands and made their way to the car through an aisle of huge sparklers.

The day after....

We checked out of the hotel and headed to my aunt and uncle's new house in Waco. Beautiful house....spent some time with them and then got some directions on the different routes to get home and headed out.

Chris decided on the "scenic route". We were going to take Hwy. 6 to Wichita Falls so we can stop and buy some stuff for the nursery. Liv fell asleep and I popped a movie into the dvd player....love that I can watch a movie...in a car! Hours down the road we stopped at a gas station to spend a crisp $100. Ouch! Inside Chris looks at a map and then announces...

Chris: Tara, I messed up.
Me: Oh yeah, how so?
Chris: Well, here is Wichita Falls (way to the right) and here is Abilene (a little to the left) and here we are (somewhere in the middle)
Me: How far is Abilene from here?
Chris: About 40 miles.
Me: Okay, sounds good.
Chris: Do you guys want some snacks?
Me: Nope.

About 30 minutes later Chris starts talking about how we should've packed some sandwiches or how great it is that we had some lunch leftovers. I'm not getting it.
About 45 minutes later he asks...

Chris: Are you sure you don't want any of these chips?
Me: No, I'm just going to wait and eat in Abilene.
Chris: We're not going to Abilene.
Me: WHAT?????
Chris: Yeah, we're just going to take Hwy. 6 up to Crowell.
Me: There is nothing between here and Crowell...so we're not going to eat or buy paint or anything else?????
Chris: Nope.
I am devastated. What was another 40 minutes at this point? I should've definitely spoke up and told him what I thought the plan was way before now. Oh well, I decide to sit back and enjoy our "scenic route" home.

To top off our trip in Haskell he got pulled over for going 80 in a 70. He was so mad. What could we do at this point?
The DPS guy asked where he worked and Chris told him TxDOT.
After he signed the ticket and we pulled off he said...

Chris: Man, that TxDOT thing sure didn't work.
Me: Yeah, you guys are the ones that put these signs up...I don't see how it would. You should know not to speed.

We just laughed the rest of the way home.

Oh, I forgot to mention that it was the first Sunday of FOOTBALL SEASON! So we listed to XM Fantasy Football for 7 HOURS!!!! 7 HOURS! Now, I like football quite a bit and I love to watch it on TV, but how many times do we have to hear about Tom Brady getting injured or Vince Young or the fact that 2 rookie coaches with 2 rookie quarterbacks were playing? And about 10 other stories over and over!!!????

Overall, it was really one of the best trips we've had in a long time. All the laughter was well worth all of the Clark & Ellen Griswold moments we shared.