Curt and Laura's Wedding

It was a big weekend for Carter - his first time being a ring bearer!  My cousin Curt and I grew up together, and we were more than flattered when he and Laura asked Carter to share in their big day.  My niece Katelyn was one of the flower girls too...which made this extra fun for all of us!  Katelyn was all excited to be a princess in her dress and curled hair.  Carter, on the other hand, wasn't quite sure about the tuxedo and the whole wedding in general.  We'd been prepping him for several weeks about how he was going to "get dressed up" and walk down he aisle with Katie.  About a week before the wedding, he saw a picture of a dinosaur Halloween costume and asked if he could wear that to Curt and Laura's wedding.  Clearly, I didn't explain the "dressing up" part very well.  After showing him pictures of the ring bearers from our wedding and pointing out their tuxedos, he was ready to wear his "mosquito." From then on, I knew this was going to be interesting! :)

Typically, I don't like bribes.  But desperate times call for desperate measures, and so we ordered two new Chuggington trains for the big day.  Carter was up late on Friday night for the rehearsal dinner and was going to have to miss his nap due to pictures on Saturday.  So the new trains were key.  I told him that he could have "Speedy" if he smiled for pictures.  Smiling for pictures might not sound like a task, but this kid does not love pictures and has a very fake smile in most posed photos.  But Speedy did the trick....Carter smiled and said "Speee-ddyyyyyyy" for almost every picture.  Perfect!

One thing that made the whole day easier was that Uncle Kyle was a groomsman.  (Cary and I introduced Curt and Kyle to each other right before their freshman year at Simpson, and they've been best friends ever since.)  So Carter walked right down the aisle, arm-in-arm with Katelyn, and made his way to Kyle in the front of the church.  As soon as he could go sit down, I pulled out the second bribe, "Hoot and Toot", twin trains from Chuggington.  Before we knew it, their vows had been said and they were announced husband and wife.  Carter then ran up to Kyle, made a bit of a scene jumping around in the front of the church before making his way back down the aisle.   He did great and we were so proud (and relieved!).  I should also say that Katelyn did awesome, although that was no surprise at all!

Carter and Brynn both fell asleep on the way to the reception.  Once we got there, we had such a fun time!  We sat with both Cary's parents and my parents at dinner, which was really nice.  And then after dinner and the toasts, Bobbi and Joe took the kids to their house so we could stay and hang out.  (Thank you, thank you!!!)  We had a great time with my extended family, Alicia, Kyle and Emily. Such a fun night!  Congratulations, Curt and Laura!  I'm wish I was in Belize with you! :)