Joy and Nick's Wedding Weekend

We had a busy but great time at home this past week. It was fun to see our families again so soon! We got in late Tuesday night and spent the next days getting ready for Joy and Nick's wedding. On Wednesday, we got ready for the bridal shower that my mom and I hosted on Thursday and then went out to Chapalas to celebrate both Isaac and Lagaytha's birthdays.

On Wednesday, we had a bridal shower for Joy which was fun. It was an "Around the Clock" shower and my mom did a great job with ordering food - decorated sugar cookies as clocks, chocolate covered strawberries and quiche...it was delicious! That night, the bridesmaids and my sister took Joy out to dinner for her bachelorette party. We went to a restaurant, Lucky Noodle, which I had never been to before. It was a fun atmosphere and it was nice getting to know some of Joy's friends. Joy's friends made her wear a old wedding dress that they have been passing around - it is a dress they got a long time ago at Goodwill and decorate it for each special ocasion with puffy paint!

Friday then consisted of getting our nails done (I know, tough work huh?!?), setting up the church, the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner and then bowling. Then came the big day on Saturday which started early with getting our hair and makeup done. Joy looked absolutely gorgeouos! We then took some beautiful pictures around the U of O campus before taking some more at the church before the ceremony. The ceremony was perfect and the decorations for the reception were amazing. They did such a great job! We all had fun at the reception and I had a great time dancing with my family, even with both of my grandmas! Also, Joy and Nick surprised the audience with their first dance being a choreographed country dance with the bridal party. We had all been practicing through videos they had placed on a blog and then practiced before the rehearsal and it actually turned out really good. One of Brandon's choreographed the whole dance - thanks Tony, you did a fantastic job and everyone loved it!

We then left in the morning on Sunday to come back home. We took a different airline this time and it was a not a direct flight which we both decided we will never do again...we had a layover in Denver that ended up lasting 3 more hours than it should have because of bad weather in Denver earlier in the day. Thus, instead of leaving at 8pm, we left at 10:40pm and got into Minneapolis at 2am and then got home around 3:30am! I am slowly catching up on sleep since I had to work the day we got back, but Brandon has been a great help and has been doing all of the cleaning and laundry. I am so thankful for him! Here are some pictures from our weekend. I don't have very many from the wedding since we were both in the wedding...

All of us at ChapalasThey make you wear a Mexican hat for your birthday!The ladies at the bridal shower - Trish, Renee, Jan, Ruth, Lagaytha, Emily, Barb, Kelsey, Mary K., Joy, Lillian, Portia and Me4 of the bridesmaids - Kelsey, Emily, Me, Portia (Nick's sister) and JoyMy grandma, mom, sister, grandma and meOpening giftsUs girls modeling!Emily and Kelsey with the special dress showing off the puffy paint for Nick and JoyJoy wearing the wedding dressAt Lucky NoodlePortia, Me, Joy, Emily, Kelsey, Liesell and ReneeGetting pedicures and manicuresNick's family stopped by with waters - Nick, his mom Ruth and brother ShaneThe groomsmen with their new hats from Nick and Joy at the rehearsal dinner - Shane, Nick, Brandon, Greg, Chad and NickThe bridesmaids with their pretty necklaces and earrings from Nick and Joy - Kelsey, Liesell, Portia, Joy, Emily and MeBrandon's dad's family - Jerry (Isaac's brother), Nick, Joy, Isaac, Brandon, Me, Lagaytha and Grace (Brandon's grandma from Japan)Brandon and Joy bowlingThe happy couple the night before the big daySurrounded by the pretty bouqetsI love this picture I happened to take while the photographer was taking pictures - they both look so happy!Taylor, one of the flower girls, looking at Nick and Joy - Joy looked gorgeous!Brandon, Shane, Greg, Nick and ChadThe bridesmaids with the flower girls - Taylor and MariahJoy looked beautiful!Before the ceremonyThe two mothers - Lagaytha and Ruth - Lagaytha made her own dress and it was beautifulThe decorations looked amazing at the receptionThe Mr. and Mrs.Mary K., Kyle and LillianThe first dance to "Somebody Like You" by Keith UrbanThey did such a good job!We surprised Joy by having cowboy boots!