Happily Ever York

One week ago, my baby brother said "I do" to an amazing woman that is now my sister.  The past few months have been a flurry of wedding preparation and celebration, and now the end result is a happy union and a new member of our family (even though Laurenn has really been part of the family for a while).  I am so thankful to have both of them in our lives.  I am also appreciative that our entire family got to be part of the special day.  It was a whirlwind in many ways, but we had so much fun. 

We had been trying to prepare the kids for their roles in the wedding for some time, and fortunately, it doesn't take much to get children excited about being in a wedding.  Audrey was, not surprisingly, elated with the idea of a pretty dress and "high heels" that she insisted on having.  In fact, she told Laurenn when we were dress shopping that Laurenn could pick the dress she liked the best, as long as Audrey got to wear shoes with heels.   Barrett was also beside himself with excitement over wearing a suit like daddy and getting to walk down the isle with Audrey.  The little "suitcase" that he got to carry  helped too. 

In the end, I was amazed by how good they were through the whole process of the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, two days of shorter than normal naps for Barrett, the full Catholic mass during the ceremony, and taking many photos.  I had many people tell me how amazed they were by how well-behaved our children are.  Admittedly, I think I was more amazed than they were. I know how much they love their uncle Brian and aunt Laurenn and how honored they were to be part of their special day, so I guess they knew that part of making the day extra special was for them to behave really well. Barrett started to melt down after dinner at the reception, but he and Audrey both made it through a few dances before Bill and Lana took them back to the hotel. 

I tried to take photos throughout the weekend, but, as you can imagine, that was difficult to do at times with two children to attend to.  So, here are some of the images I captured of the kids and our family.  Barrett barely had enough stamina to make it through the professional photos, so I don't have too many of him. 

Lunch on Friday with the wedding party

 

 

 Rehearsal

 

 

 The Big Day

 

 

 

That last picture is one of my favorites.  My mom was dancing in an attempt to make Barrett smile for the picture.  I love the way it captures what went on behind the scenes to make the picture happen.

 

Brian and Laurenn are in Hawaii on their honeymoon now.  I can't wait until they get back so we can all share stories and reminisce about the day they were joined in holy matrimony.