Watch Out Texas, Here We Come, Part 3

Saturday - ABBIE & ZAC's WEDDING DAY!!!!
The big day arrived!! I can't speak for my sister and her fiance, but I know that the Melder family was super excited for the big event and that Doug and I again were quite prepared to pull off another well-planned day.  In the morning, Abbie was able to drop by for a bit and pick me up for a delicious and delightful bridal party brunch with her bridesmaids and her friend who was serving as wedding coordinator/detail person.  If you are ever in Austin, try TNT for brunch.  It was fantastic!!  Before we left for the brunch though, I caught these pictures of Daddy and Ab practicing their dance on the patio.  Pretty priceless photos in my opinion.

After the brunch, Abbie went to get her makeup done by friend and bridesmaid, Rachael.  I was picked up by Doug and the boys who had been at a playground getting tired out for an early nap laydown.  We got them home, fed them lunch and Tav was down for nap at 12:30pm and Penn at 12:45pm.  These kids were exhausted by all the fresh air and exercise they were getting, so thankfully an early naptime went swimmingly.  The plan was working!!  Now, I had to leave with my dad to pick up the bride at 1pm and Doug had to get the boys to the wedding by 3pm since he was officiating (he likes to be there an hour early).  That gave the little guys an hour and 1/2 approximately to sleep and gave Koen time to watch a movie.  Although Dad and I were off picking up Abbie, my mind was half on my little sister and half on my boys getting ready to go (I think I sent Doug 10 texts and my mom 5 with reminders).  I accompanied my dad to pick up his youngest daughter for her wedding day.  Doesn't he look proud!  And Abbie looks excited!

Here's Abbie, Rachael and Dad.  So special Abbie could have her dear high school friend with her on this special day.

Rachael and I had the important job of transporting the dress with minimal stress to the finished steam job.

Once we girls arrived at the venue, we spent most of the next 2 hours in a little room specifically reserved for the bridal party's preparations.  Here's the dress in waiting (much like we were!).

Douglas did a magnificent job of getting the boys out the door, into the outfits I had carefully ironed, set out and explained and he event gelled their hair.  They looked priceless and I was dying to get out and see how they were doing, but I was also wanting to be at Abbie's side in these final moments for any detail I might get to help with.  It was a fun time of preparation and anticipation.  Abbie remained cool, calm and collected.  Due to the fact I was in the wedding party and busy with these final details, chatting with the party and getting pictures taken, I have very few pictures until the ceremony was over.  In the coming weeks when there are photos up on the wedding photographer's website, I will be sure to post a link to the blog.  For now I will just tell you a bit about the ceremony.  First of all, the venue was lovely.  Simple, natural and exquisite.  The bride was beautiful and emotional as she walked down the aisle.  The groom was handsome and sleek and stayed strong while also showing his joy in his eyes.  Doug and Zac's brother-in-law, Buddy, co-officated and the ceremony was God-honoring, a beautiful testimony to the gospel of Jesus Christ and an amazing start to this marriage.  There was no real drama/funny moments during the ceremony, it was pretty seamless although very memorable.  I had a few oops myself though.  When I was supposed to head up the aisle, I was looking at the boys and totally forgot to go and started my way up a little late.  Sorry, Ab!  Then when it was time for me to take Abbie's bouquet I was so caught up in the flow of the ceremony that I forgot to loosen my legs and step towards her to get her flowers, so she ended up having to come towards me.  Again, so sorry, Ab!  Other than that, I think it all went so well (so yep, that's just the MOH that had a few fumbles, hopefully not too noticeable to most though).  Now, you may be wondering how the boys fared with their mom as MOH standing up front and their dad officiating up front?  Well, we had a master plan that worked masterfully (by the grace of God!).  All 3 deserve major kudos for being awesome little dudes to pull off entertaining themselves and one another quietly and cordially for a good hour through the prep, procession and ceremony.  I had a big talk with Koen about how we needed his help to keep an eye on his brothers, mostly Penn, and he did an amazing job leading his brothers.  We set them up on a blanket under the trees, right behind the rows of chairs and near the musicians in the back.  Koen had a bag of books for Penn, Penn's blanket and crackers for all three of them.  He had specific instructions on when to give out these different things and he totally followed through.  When Penn would wander away, Koen would fetch him, pick him up and drag him back to the blanket and get him interested in something new.  A few times I heard Penn pipe up pointing to trucks and things in his books, but other than that they were quite quiet and hardly noticeable.  Apparently Koen was catching Doug's eye through the whole service winking and giving thumbs up to which Doug responded with winks and smiles.  That kid is too much and oh so special.  He completely rose to the occasion and our hearts were bursting with pride for our 3 boys that they could act so gracefully at such an important moment to all of us.  It didn't go unnoticed.  Everyone talked about how well they did and were happy to give them praise and thank them for their helpful and obedient behavior.  It always feels good when they come through like that and you can see all the potential they hold and that your instruction is not going completely in one ear and out the other all the time at least.  Something must be sticking (again, total grace of God here, but we are so thankful to see flickers and glimmers of our efforts being honored).  I wish I had pictures of them on their little blanket, perhaps I will receive some and can update this post accordingly.  For now, here's a picture of the dapper crew (with Zac's 5 nephews, Buddy's boys) with the bride and groom right after the ceremony.

After I was released from pictures with the gorgeous bride and handsome groom (and I will update you with those when I can!), I had some time to take a few pictures of my crew.  Water break with Daddy.

I think that Penn thought this party might have been for him.  He loved the rugged terrain and spent most of his time there walking around praising himself with oohs, aahs and claps as he successfully made it from one challenge to another.  

He also stole my bracelet for a bit as he is so into putting anything onto his wrist that is in a circular shape right now.  Eventually I stole it back.  Couldn't resist putting this cheesy smile on the blog!

My Aunt Glennie and her husband, Uncle Vic, were in attendance (again, so special to have some NH relatives represented!).  It was so great to see Penn playing with Aunt Glennie.  She loved it and he of course loved the special attention.

The boys were a little restless as we waited for the bride and groom to return from their photos, so I took them over to where the ceremony had been.  They had fun running around and sort of posing for my camera (so hard to slow these 3 down at the same time for a pose!).

Koen - handsome, Tavin - ode to a wedding program, Penn - he's off.

My little mover off again.

The big boys - superhero pose.

Koen and now Tavin are obsessed with asking if they can use my camera to take a picture (what did I expect pretty much snapping pictures on a daily basis?).  I gave in and Tav caught this pretty good one of Koen and I as the sun went down.

How did Koen get this grown up?  Look at my handsome almost 7 year old.  He was squeezing lemons into his ice water to make his own lemonade when I caught this sweet face.

And here's the bride and groom!  Sorry, not the best photos, that's why you hire a photographer without 3 kids in tow.

Happy first dance.  

Daddy and his youngest girl.  Ah, the relief, the joy.  So sweet!  Dad was such a gracious father-of-the-bride yet again.  No holding back, all happy for his little girl.  What a great dad.

After the super fun dinner of fajitas (Zac & Abbie's first date meal so the easy choice for their reception meal), the boys were the first to hit the dance floor with the other young ones in attendance.  It was entertaining and exhausting.  I was a little afraid they would upset the dessert table or knock over a baby or something, but thankfully there were no major accidents and instead they just had a blast.  Phew!  (Please note how into this dancing/clapping thing Penn is...hilarious!).

Eventually some adults wedged their way in to take over the dance floor, including the bride who spent most her evening out there (so fun!).  Before I sent the boys home with Doug, I had a nice dance with Koen and then Tavin (during that one Koen got to dance with Aunt Abbie, the bride!) and then Koen again.

Penn's pretty much pooped at this point.  Doesn't this face just scream, "I'm done"?  

I was so thankful I got to stay after the boys headed home for bed.  It was late and I was tired, but I was happy to take advantage of the precious family moments that occurred.  For instance, time with my brother Phil and his wife, Leah.

We all pretty much hung out on or around the dance floor.  In one of the restful moments off to the side we got to witness a sweet moment between my Uncle Vic and Aunt Glennie.  Uncle Vic is 88, Aunt Glennie, 80.  Aren't they amazing to be dancing together?  They met dancing in Boston decades ago.

Abbie and Zac had a tribute to all of the grandparents on both sides.  Here are some photos of them.  I love these old family photographs.  I know it's hard to see, but my sister thinks that the toddler picture of my dad (2nd face from right) is reminiscent of Penn's look.  

I took a picture of my Aunt Glennie next to the picture in which she is sitting with my Nana and Papa at about 2 and 1/2 years of age.

Well, that is all I was able to capture on film.  It was a fabulous, fun evening.  I loved being on the dance floor with my sister and brother having a happy, good time all together.  I stole a few dances with my dad which were also precious moments for me.  As planned things ended around 9pm and the newlyweds headed off in their cool turquoise vintage pickup truck.  The guests disbanded and Mom, Dad, Phil, Leah and I (with Diana and Greg too) did the cleanup and final exit of the event.  It's always so odd to let these highly anticipated events go, but this day was everything Abbie wanted it to be I believe and she did a beautiful job planning it and bringing it to fruition.  It was lovely and fun and most importantly, a beautiful and meaningful start to their marriage.  God bless your marriage greatly, Abbie & Zac!!

PS - I'm too tired to finish the vacation posts with Part 3, so there will be a Part 4 in the next day or so.  I just had to get the wedding info out due to popular demand (that's sort of a joke, I know my blog is not that big of a deal!).