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!