What you've all been waiting for

Whew! I've finally made it to THE wedding day! I had to have the girls at Kye's by 4:00 to get Madelyn ready for her portion of pictures. When I got to Kye's - it was raining. Do you know how wet you get getting 2 kids outta the car & walking slowly enough so the 2 year old doesn't fall on her face? Wet enough to curl the hair you took great care scalding straight with a straightener.... And I'm uber disappointed in myself because I didn't get a lot of candid shots. And they're my favorite! You know, catching people in their natural states in the wild?! But I was still on Payton detail & it's hard to take pics & make sure she's not eating something she shouldn't, getting stepped on or crying...

They took all their pics before the wedding (which is a good idea!) During that time, a transformer outside Kye's caught on fire & the power went out. I had to get Payton ready for her pic time basically in the dark. They have a dressing room for the bride & bridesmaids but the power was out. All that was lighting the room was the emergency exit lights. Good thing she doesn't have any hair I had to fix!!!

Fast forward a couple of hours. I got myself all ready & was promptly in my reserved seat for the ceremony (more on that later...). Then I got word that the power was out again. So the pastor came out & explained that a large section of the area was running on only 1 phase of electric. They said that to restore it quickly-they needed to shut everyone down to repair the problem. Which meant the ceremony would be delayed for 1 hour. And we were outside. Under a tent. In the chilly air! So they allowed us all to go into the reception area & eat h'oderves & they opened the bar! Score!

Everyone was worried about how Erin was holding up - so you know me, I just marched myself up there to check on her! She was doing fine but she was worried about everyone else! I said, "Oh-everyone's fine! They're eating & drinking! No problem!"

Derik & Brady walked Lora up the aisle. Don't my little nephews look so handsome?! When did they grow up?! (And of course, Lora ain't too shabby herself!)
Mike & Lora walking the bee-u-ti-ful bride up the aisle!

Hug (& tears...) from momma!

Can't forget about dad!

Exchanging rings & vows.

It was very breezy Saturday night. And they had this curtain thingie as a backdrop with the candles in front of it. And the curtains were blowing gently from the wind. And I was just waiting for the curtains to catch fire & burn that place down! Luckily, the wind blew out all the candles first. The pastor had to re-light the moms' candles because they had blown out!

There's my man Cole! I was SO mad at my camera because the stupid flash didn't re-set in time for me to get him & Madelyn coming down the aisle! But this little guy sat right there behind Eric's mom the whole ceremony. Just watching. I heard him say, "I can't wait until the part where they kiss!"

Here it is!

Mr. & Mrs. Eric Hoehn. Sigh...I don't know if I'm gonna get used to Erin Hoehn...

I did get Cole & Madelyn walking out!

You may be wondering how I got such close up shots of the ceremony? Do you think I had my super zoom lense on the camera? Oh, no, no, no my pretties.... I had special reserved seating! Did you think I wouldn't?! I had asked Erin months ago about where I could sit. I told her I wanted to be close to the front! So she said, "How's the 2nd row?!" Uh-works for me! She said, "I'll just tell the boys that you're sitting in the 2nd row. Do you want the aisle?!" Uhm - yea I do!

At the rehearsal Friday night I gave the ushers a lesson in what I like to call, "The 2 seats on the aisle in the 2nd row are reserved for Jaime....& of course, B-rad..." Then I'd quiz them through the night. I said, "Brady - it's tomorrow night. Someone wants to sit in the 2nd row. What.do.you.do?!" He said, "I don't let them sit there!" And I said, "Why?" He said, "That's Jaime's seat!" RIGHT!!!! Brady is quite the funny guy. When I went out to have him seat me he said, "Jaime-I sat someone in your seat." I said, "Nu uh!" He said, "No, I didn't. I told Adam & Derik to not sit anyone in the first two rows." Oh, that's my boy!

On to the reception! The deejay annonced the wedding party!

Miss Payton was out like a light!

Matron of honor's toast.

First dance

Erin danced with her dad.

...then she danced with Brian.

And THEN she danced with her momma!

And Madelyn got in on the action too!

Then the party was on like donkey kong! Brian took Madelyn out on the dance floor!

Erin, Stefany & baby James

Man those line dancing lessons really come in handy!

Madelyn & I danced for a bit too!

Me & my favorite niece!

When I was getting ready to leave, I noticed a circle of people on the dance floor. So I walked up to inspect what was so interesting that people were in a circle huddled around it?

Uhm, oh yea-it was Cole! He's got his arms crossed & so does everyone in the circle. I tell ya, he's a P-I-M-P!

And you may have noticed there are no pictures of B-rad. Uhm, that's because I didn't see him hardly the whole night! While we ate, I sat next to Alicia & he sat next to Daniel & we were across the table from each other! Once I had eaten (& downed my 2nd glass of wine...), I was off to soar like the social butterfly I am (& get my 3rd glass of wine! They were VERY small glasses. Don't judge me... Lora didn't have to pay for that part so I wanted to really drink up!). I figured B-rad would be fine! Nearly his entire family was there - but he was bit cranky because Friday night he got home from his day job at midnight, then had to be up at 4:30 Saturday morning to go back. I had no clue where he was & Erin wanted to take a picture with us. Leslie found him sitting by himself & he was more than ready to go home. And that's when the night ended for us!

(Dear Leslie-the picture of me, B-rad & Erin - can you puh-leez photo-shop out my red face from uhm, dancing so much...because, uhm, I was drinking? Thanks....)

The ceremony was really nice & so was the reception! Lora & Erin did a wonderful job with all the planning! I know it was a ton of hard work, stress & moo-lah -but in the end I think it was all worth it!