For those of you that don't know, I grew up in Nebraska. I lived in Lincoln until nine and then Grand Island until I was sixteen. We moved at the end of my sophomore year which was DEVASTATING at the time. But I got over it, made new friends and became a Kansas (and now Missouri) girl. When people ask me where I'm from, I never know what to say. I have lots of friends that lived in one town until they left for college and I wonder what that would be like.
Last weekend we made the drive to Lincoln for a wedding. We drove past our old house so I snapped a pic. I lived in this house until I was nine years old. It's amazing how different a place can seem as an adult. The street is so much shorter, the houses are closer together and our house is smaller than I remember. I have so many memories of this house and that tree out front.
One of my Nebraska memories is buying corn on the side of the road and husking it on the porch. We don't live close to the KC city limits so this corn came from the store. But it was fun teaching Louis how to be a little corn husker! In case you were wondering, we do let him root for Nebraska football as long as it's not against our Alma Mater KSU! "GO BIG RED!" is something you can't shake if you were born & raised in Nebraska.
Let me get back to the reason we went to Nebraska for the weekend. My niece's mom, Anna, was getting married! I borrowed some pics from Anna for this blog. Here is my favorite engagement pic of her and Damon by Sarah Cal Photography.
I actually knew Anna and her family back in my Grand Island (GI) days. Her little sister, Chrissy, was one of my first GI friends and they lived around the block from us. And I went to school with Damon although he was a couple years older than me.
This is Chrissy and the bride's mom, Sheryl. Chrissy has since had the baby she was pregnant with and her kids are about the same ages as mine.
The wedding was in the country. Poor Anna had a rainy day but, in the end, it made for even better memories and some pretty moments. My pics aren't that great because I was using my phone and watching my kids. Plus I still have about 30 lbs to shed from my huge pregnancy gain. I wore some Spanx that might have been a little too small. They kept rolling down each time I sat so you can imagine trying to wrestle those back up secretly.
I'm pretty sure Anna and her mom did most of the decorations. They did a great job but I wish I had gotten more pics! Here are a few of mine but, as I mentioned above, I also borrowed some from Anna. They were shot by friends and family but the professional ones are by Sarah Cal Photography.
There were three barns. One for the ceremony, one for dinner and one for the band, bar and party.
Ceremony Barn.
I loved how they had a chalk board program instead of handing out individual printed copies.
Here is the beautiful bride walking down the aisle. The rain held off for the ceremony and the couple exchanged personalized vows and also gave McKinley and Aysha rings. It was an emotional moment for the couple and Anna's two girls. There were lots of tears from the guests too as we watched a family come together.
It started raining after all of the guests had made it here for some yummy pulled pork and chicken.
Pics of the couple surrounded the gift table.
The bridal party may have been disappointed by the rain but Louis was thrilled.
Here is my family's table.
Nola would not take a bottle which sucked for me! I couldn't drink as much wine as I originally planned.
This is my beautiful niece, Aysha sitting in the bar area.
This is the only full pic I got of Anna walking up to the party at the bar.
The band arrived and the dancing & party started! I didn't get a pic but have to admit I got a little choked up watching Anna & Damon's dance with Anna's girls. Anna has been an amazing single mother to her girls. I'm so happy for them to finally have a great guy like Damon to complete their family. It always makes me a little sad too, to think about these special moments in Aysha's life that my brother, Matt, is missing.
I love this pic of McKinley and Aysha.
Louis and my brother's girlfriend, Megan.
These sweet kids started dancing with Louis and he was thrilled.
My mom looks on as Uncle Josh holds Nola.
Louis and Aysha. He has been talking about her since we left.
Since we had our kids, we had to leave early. As we were packing up we found the bride taking a break. It was nice to chat with her a little and get a pic with Aysha and Anna.
Louis was catching rain drops as Joe was taking down sweets at the candy table.
As we were leaving, there was excitement outside at a double rainbow! Anna and Damon have both lost their fathers and Anna wrote, "It was like our dads each threw one up for us." Wow! What a beautiful moment to witness. It made all of that rain worth it!
This was the sunset on our way home. I couldn't capture it's true beauty on my camera.
It was one of the prettiest weddings I have been to and I had a great time catching up with a few old friends. If you want to see more great pics, check out the photographer's blog of her top ten favorite moments of the wedding here.
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