Tyler and Monique's Wedding

We are so happy to be able to welcome a new sister and aunt into our family!  Uncle Tyler married Aunt Monique and the family gathered in Las Vegas to celebrate.  

We actually flew into Phoenix, along with Nana and Papa, due to much better airfare for both parties and mileage-runnability for us.  Then we rented a mini-van and made the 5 hr drive up to LV - an experience made infinitely easier (and that's NOT an exaggeration) by having Nana and Papa to entertain the wee ones. We only made one stop at In-n-Out in Kingman!

Happily "Aunt" Maggie lives in Las Vegas, and she generously opened her home to us.  Unfortunately she had to take a training course back east during this time, so we didn't actually get to see her in person.  Nana and Papa stayed with us as well, and we had a lot of fun enjoying Aunt Maggie's pool.  Andrew has officially graduated from the float ring to water wings.  He's becoming more and more comfortable in the water on his own!  He enjoyed jumping off the pool's edge with Papa and by himself.  Clara preferred to play on the pool deck and watch the action, although she got some swimming in herself.

The wedding was lovely, held at the church of some of Monique's family members.  The bride was radiant, the groom dashing, and Uncle Devin the groomsman very dapper, indeed.  In a last minute development, our own sweet Andrew carried the rings down the aisle as ring bearer, accompanied by the bride's baby brother.    During the rest of the ceremony, we were able to hang out in a relatively sound-proof cry-room at the back of the sanctuary along with my cousins, Michael and Heather, and their small kids.

We headed off to the reception hall to enjoy the company of family.  Shortly after we arrived, a mariachi band came into play!  Andrew was mesmerized, as I believe it was the first time he's seen a trumpet played in person, and he loves them!  Unfortunately, Clara seemed pretty sensitive to the loud sound in the small space.  We didn't realize it then, but she was starting to come down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus and wasn't feeling well.  After some realization that the bridal party wasn't going to arrive for awhile and the party was only going to get more awesome (aka louder), we thought it best for the kids if we took off and had some more low-key pool time back at the house.

Mariachi-ing with Aunt Kathleen

Making faces with Uncle Brad

We made the (again, pretty easy) trek back to Phoenix.  Clara developed a fever along the way.  This made her sleepy, and the travel went quickly and painlessly, in spite of her getting sick.  At LAX we enjoyed views of one of United's newly-cleared 787s.

Welcome to the family, Aunt Monique!  We love you!

Michigan

Before we knew that Clara was on her way, we knew that Air Force was going to play Michigan at the Big House on this weekend.  As good Falcon fans, and (one quarter of us) Michiganders, we simply had to go home for the game.  When it turned out to be the perfect amount of time after Clara's birthday to travel, we wanted to take the opportunity to have her baptized where she could be surrounded by generations of her family.

We flew a relatively simple DEN-IAH-DTW route, although, again, Andrew seemed too excited to sleep and had a really poor night of sleep prior to leaving that made the day fairly stressful because we were already tired. We hung out for a little while in the family room at the United Club in Houston.

It turned out to be the weekend of a cousin's wedding as well, so there were many family members in from out of town. 

Great Aunt Kathy got some baby time

Great Grandma Monna

Great Grandpa Arnold... while picking our nose

This photograph included to prove that Great Uncle Brad exists ;)

Grandma Joyce had borrowed a whole bunch of toddler appropriate toys -- it was awesome!  Andrew had a blast!

Great Aunt Kathy and Great Grandma Monna brought a very special gift for Miss Clara.  This china doll has been passed down since the 1850s through Grandma's family.  Clara is the 7th generation to receive it.  She is the first girl of her generation born on that side of the family.  We are proud and most honored to be able to pass on the doll and her legacy.

On Saturday, we headed to Ann Arbor.  We met up with our friends, the W's, who have season tickets at Michigan.  Because the Big House requires every person, no matter how small, to have a ticket to the game, I opted to stay home with Andrew and Clara.  I couldn't imagine that with two kids in tow, I would have enough fun to justify buying THREE tickets.  So Travis headed off with my parents and the W's, and we stayed at their house along with Miss Kate and her Grandma.  We ordered Olga's for dinner, which was a total blast from the past and super delicious.

The game was awesome.  Our Falcons played their hearts out.  It was one of those "in every way but the score" kind of victories.

Toast to the Host

Uncle Devin and Aunt Kathleen were able to drive up from Indiana.  Uncle Devin is one of Clara's godparents.

Mr. Andrew dressed to the nines for the occasion

Mommy and Clara got all spiffed up too.

The baptism ceremony was beautiful and deeply meaningful.  Pastor Paul (my childhood pastor) assisted Great Grandpa (Pastor) Larry in performing it.  And now both Andrew and Clara have been beautifully welcomed into God's family by their loving great-grandpa.  The W's came to be Clara's godfamily, along with Uncle Devin.  Other family members able to join us were Great Grandma Dolores, Great Grandparents Arnold and Monna, and Great Aunt Lori and Uncle Ian.

I got to sing "As for Me and My House" with my Daddy

The Spirit of God can be exhausting sometimes...

Grandparents

Sponsors

After church, was all went home for a lunch and fun party.  Great Uncle Loren and Aunt Kim and all the cousins were able to come by, along with Cousin Christie and Colin.

Noah, Levi, and Sam were practicing for their Ralph Lauren photo shoot. ;)

Andrew had fun playing with cousin Hannah in the pool.

Uncle Devin tries his hand at fussy time

Aunt Kathleen has the touch

Many people brought generous gifts for our Clara.

We wanted very much to get a picture with GGma Dolores and GGPa Larry.  Unfortunately, Andrew wanted to play croquet.

Quick handed mommy

And... now we're upset

See? This is all I wanted.

After the party wound down, Andrew was exploring the pool and fell in (oops), so Daddy joined him and they had a fun time.

At the airport on the way home, we could barely pull Andrew away from the window where he was watching airplanes and trucks on the ramp.

The flights home started out well.  Andrew was able to nap on DTW-IAD.  Even though it was short, I was sure that this would guarantee a good evening.  Unfortunately, our IAD-DEN flight was delayed by three hours (then ultimately cancelled), so we scrambled to get on the next flight with some harried time in the United Club, lost our upgrades, and had to wait an extra hour and a half.  All things considered, though, we came out pretty well, landing in Denver just after Andrew's bedtime so that he was inclined to sleep in the car on the way home.

He slept well that night, considering he was all worn out from a fantastic weekend of family and friends!