Aunt Bridget and Uncle Ryan: Wedding Day

Aunt Bridget and Uncle Ryan got married a week a half ago! And the pictures will tell the story much better than our words...except they can't say how right these two are for each other, how much we love them, and how we can't wait to see what their future holds!

Maria and Bridget prepping at the hair salon.

Bridget is buttoned into her gown!

Miriam has the best Flower-Girl-Reaction to all the prettiness.

Tim is excited, too.

Bridget and her flower girls

Seven siblings

All dressed up - we better get a picture!

Felicity and her godparents

More primping...Viv's impressed.

A butterfly lands on the wedding dress. That has to be a good sign!

Ryan didn't see Bridget before the wedding, but did come out to say a prayer together. Cue crying.

Uncle Michael and Uncle John kept themselves busy before the ceremony.

Time to get the bride into the church!

And the rest of the wedding party, too!

Felicity changed her mind about walking up the aisle without Mommy, so all eyes on Miriam and Vivian!

A little guidance from Aunt Nichole about where to go next.

The doors open!

Grandpa gives Bridget away...cue more crying.

Uncle Tom was able to concelebrate and did a great job on the homily.

The vows.

Fr. Ben, our dear friend, was the presider.

Felicity and Mommy, together forever.

Vivian says, "YEAH, you did it!"

"Now let's go party."

Don't know what Felicity is looking for.

The whole Wellman Family (minus one cousin)

Into the limo...cutest, happiest couple.

It was a fun drive.

Sister love.

Ryan.

The Boilermaker Special was at the reception!

Giving rides!

To get the couple to kiss, you had to sing a song with the word "LOVE"...like "Love is an Open Door" from Frozen.

Finally time to dance!

Now we break for a short game of "Price is Right".

Complete with Rod Roddy!

Bridget won Ryan.

And after another game...

She won a song about how much Ryan loves his beard...and her.

Then back to our regularly scheduled programming...square dancing.

There you have it. Another perfect wedding. Prayers for a marriage that is even more full of love and just as wonderful!

Little Party Never Killed Nobody...

As busy as our girls have been with VBS and Zoo Camp and being active little people, their parents have done a good job of staying entertained, too. We got to check out the Beer Exchange in Kalamazoo with Aunt Nichole, Aunt Bridget, Almost-Uncle Ryan, and Joe. It was the best concept for a bar/restaurant - every fifteen minutes the price of beer changes based on demand and occassionally the market crashes and everything drops to it's lowest price for five minutes. The food was good and afterwards we walked around downtown Kalamazoo which is cooler than we expected. We're hoping to make a return trip in the future.

MARKET CRASH!

Aunt Sue and Uncle Ron came to town for a few days so we were happy to be able to catch up with them...after they read their quota of stories to the girls!

Aunt Nichole also planned a bachelorette party for Aunt Bridget who is getting married in 9 days!

It was a fun time and Aunt Nichole did such a good job making it classy and cute with the beach theme. Bridget played a question game during the party-Ryan was asked questions before hand, she was asked the same questions at the shower. Each question she got right she took a rubber band off an envelope that had a gift card in it. Each question she got wrong, she had to put another piece of bubble gum in her mouth. She ended up with 10 pieces of gum and was barely able to open her mouth.

The next day, Mommy and her four sisters went pottery painting together. Aunt Bridget is very artistic so it was the perfect way to wrap up her bachelorette party. Mommy, however, is barely good for rolling paint on a wall...she made a butter dish and is praying that with all the advice from her sisters it somehow comes out presentable.

After pottery painting, we went to dinner with Sarah's parents, Tim, and Uncle John and then all played laser tag. Even Grandma had fun!

And then THE NEXT DAY, we all got together again for a cousin's wedding and posed for pictures together. Because we were all dressed up and it seemed like the right thing to do.

AND THEN THE NEXT DAY...guess what happened. We got together again. This time for Aunt Annette's baby shower. She doesn't know what she's having and every time Mommy tries to feel the baby move in Aunt Annette's belly, it curls into a still, little ball. And then it laughs.

The shower was children's book themed and everyone brought books for Baby Hrywna to read with Mommy and Daddy Hrywna very soon.

Aunt Nichole and Grandma Wellman

Girls with their cousin Eva

And to add to Baby Hrywna's home library even more, the shower guests broke into groups to write stories on blank board books.

Grandma Kramer's sisters helped her write a book about how much Grandma loves you - complete with a lipstick kiss!

Between Aunt Bridget's wedding and Baby Hrywna's arrival, Sarah's side of the family is rapidly expanding. But there's always enough love (and goofiness) to go around.