My cousin Natalie got married last weekend in Dallas. I've been looking forward to it all summer for lots of reasons. Number 1, I love weddings, especially when I am close to the ones getting married. Check. Number two, several of my closest cousins were going to be there. Number three, my wedding photographer Erin was going to be Natalie's photographer and I was excited to see her! Oh and number four (why am I numbering these??), a few of Kanyon and I's really good college friends live in Dallas that we hadn't seen in a while and we made plans to see them. Lots of reasons to look forward to it!
Getting stuck in Denver put a kink in some of my excitement though, since I would have about 24 hours between getting home and then leaving again. All while packing, sleeping, and working somewhere in between that.
We got to Arlington, where the wedding was held, on Friday about the time the rehearsal was starting. Family was invited to attend and eat dinner after. We had a great time catching up with lots of family although all weren't there yet because of work or other commitments.
The wedding was at Howell Family Farm and the kids had fun running down the fence where the longhorns were kept and watching them. It was a beautiful venue. It consisted of a farmhouse where Natalie and the bridesmaids got ready upstairs and a few parts of the reception were held downstairs. Also, a big barn with horse stalls on the first floor and room for the caterers to set up the buffet. The second floor was where all the tables for eating and the dance floor were at. It was also air conditioned, hallelujah. Outside the barn there was a simple setting for a wedding where they had white chairs leading up to a raised stoned area for the wedding party. Beside this area, there was a large field with a softball diamond in the corner. Natalie rented a bounce house that was a big hit for all the cousin's kids!
I didn't get any pictures of Friday night because we were busy helping with the rehearsal or talking to family or eating the amazing Mexican food they had for us.
Saturday morning, we got up and had breakfast with all the family staying at the Embassy Suites and mostly just hung out while more family kept arriving. My mom's sister and her kids arrived Saturday and my parents got there a little before the wedding Saturday night. Kanyon and I got to see and catch up with our friends Kaelyn and Bryan, who live in Coppell and Fort Worth. I was so glad we got to spend a good amount of time with them. Both were in our wedding and we hadn't had a chance yet to come visit them.
This is my great Aunt LaVerne with her great-grandson, Elliot! You can't see much of him but you can at least see his super cute nose :)
Saturday night brought the wedding which was an absolute blast. The wedding was beautiful and all the neices and nephews were in it and did a great job. After the ceremony, we made our way into the barn and had a BBQ dinner and drinks while the wedding party took pictures. The reception was great!
This made Kanyon's night.. Several of my cousins have kids and they are all adorable. We love getting to play with all of them and Kanyon loves it when they warm up enough to let him hold them :)
Here is Natalie and Corey Nenovich! These pictures are horrible quality because my point-and-shoot died and I had to use my iPhone. You can see the field and some of the softball diamond I was talking about outside the window.
Bethany, Sara, me, and Emily with the bride!
The reception was held all over the property. There was a bounce house for kids outside and I think some guys were even playing some softball! In the farmhouse, there was a candy bar and a slideshow of pictures in one room and a photobooth in another where you could make picture books! My cousins and my mom and aunt had a lot of fun with that! They had props and funny hats for you to dress up in. In the barn, there were cigars and pictures and a quilt to sign for the bride and groom, and then dancing and drinks in the second floor of the barn. They made it so fun for everyone. We danced for hours... I probably burned off my dinner and cake that night just dancing. Which is my favorite way to burn calories! My cousins are all dancin' fools. I wish Cole would have been able to come from Colorado... he would have owned that dance floor.
Kanyon was a baby magnet that night. Or maybe he just gravitates towards them. Either way, most of the time he had one of my cousin's kids.
Sunday, we went to church with our good friend Nicole Killebrew Childers and my parents went to church with her parents at their's. We hadn't seen her in a while and her church's worship was great! I was excited to see a part of her life in Dallas. She was in grad school while I was in under-grad at ACU in Abilene so we saw each other all the time before we both moved. After lunch at Pei Wei, we headed back home to Welch. Its been a crazy week since we got home but I finally got some cleaning and laundry done this weekend and slept in on Saturday a little. I am looking forward to a low-key week this week.. Maybe I'll go see Harry Potter again. It was amazing. My eyes are so puffy today because I cried the whole movie. But I am kind of a huge fan.
Off to bed! Getting up early to drive the elementary kids to church camp at work!
Family, old friends, and alot of dancing...it doesn't get much better than that:)
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