" 'I DO' not remember this wedding."

That's what I'm going to say 30, 40, and 50 years from now as I peruse through the pictures from my brother's nuptials.

"But Grandmother, wasn't it your BROTHER getting married? What do you mean you don't remember?"

"Well, my dear child, as you can NOT see, there are NO pictures of Grandmother at dear sweet Great-Uncle's wedding. She spent the ENTIRE evening BEHIND the camera. Taking pictures for your great-grandmother, who could then enjoy her moment of joy as the mother of the groom. Nobody cared much for the sister of the groom. She was just another pretty face."

Ugh. So disgusted. And ACTUALLY, I do have a couple of pictures with my pretty face. Literally. There are two. TWO PICTURES. And again I say, ugh.

The wedding that I will not remember began mid-week with preparations being made for the rehearsal dinner. My parents choose to host a backyard BBQ complete with pasta salad, calico beans, chips and dip, brats, and tri-tip. Some wonderful family friends offered up their beautiful backyard accompanied with their amazing hosting talents, so all my parents had to do was show up and mingle.

And now, let's get to the good stuff, shall we?

Friday Evening: Rehearsal

My dad and the littlest best man. And the cutest. Sorry Adam. But it's Kaydrian. And he's the center of my universe. And you never call me.

What handsome groomsmen. Apparently, Groomsman #3 thought he was in a weightroom. And looking in a mirror.

It was later discussed that the bride should've blown a whistle or rung a loud bell prior to her walk down the aisle. This was certain to have insured Kaydrian's attention to his momma's big moment. But this was rehearsal. And he's 10 1/2 months old. And he's walking now. And he could see his little backpack heavy laden with goldfish crackers in the front pew.

Later Friday Evening: Rehearsal Dinner immediately to be followed by a four mile jog. Or a nap.

King of the Grill. The groom owes this guy BIG-TIME. And he knows it. Nobody can prepare tri-tip like this guy. Later, he passed out in his chair in the living room. A rest very deserved.

The mothers of the happy couple.

The groom and his men of honor.

And then the big day showed up. Finally. And I enjoyed every minute of it. Even from behind a camera.

Saturday: The Wedding (that I will not remember)

The wedding was scheduled to begin at 3:00 with pictures to be taken after the ceremony. This means that people could just kind of show up at their own leisure. Rather than having a wedding party show up at church at 11:00 a.m. for pictures only to sit around for the last hour eating ham buns and drinking Mountain Dew, we had groomsmen walking around in their khaki shorts and polos at 2:37; 23 minutes before the wedding was set to begin. Oh my. I was a nervous pervous. But all went smoothly. And this best man was prepared with a lil' somethin' somethin' in his pocket. A lil' somethin' somethin' that would keep the littlest best man occupied and content.

Goldfish. The crackers. Not actual fish that are gold. That would have been weird.

Adult Groomsman not only had to hand off the child before the bride's entrance, he was also handing off goldfish crackers. But apparently Littlest Groomsman still found something to distract him from his mommy. It was darling. And she looked beautiful. And I don't have a picture, because I was too busy watching my brother attempt to watch his bride. And I was crying so I couldn't see.

Saturday Late Afternoon/Evening: The Reception

The reception was held at Calico Skies Winery; 25 miles from the church. Yes, a winery in northwest Iowa. THANK YOU, young married couple who built and now operate such a FABULOUS place to have a wedding reception. It's about time. Truthfully, the reason I never married back in Iowa is because there was no decent, classy place to hold a wedding reception in my hometown. There is, however, decent TRASHY places to hold a wedding reception. I don't need to go into details, but just know, IT. WAS. NICE. And it was classy. And I told them that.



One of the only pictures I have with my brothers. The professional will hopefully have a better shot than this one. It was blowing a hurricane outside, so my hair leaves a little to be desired. Typical. It's just my BROTHER'S WEDDING. No biggy.

My two favorite boys in the whole world. I love them, because they're funny. I love them, because they love each other. I love them, because they're protective of me. But mostly I love them, because they make me look really tiny in pictures. And that's a good thing.

Grandma and Kaydrian. He was such a trooper all day.

The appetizer/bar side of the winery.

My gal cousins and me. Minus Leslie Grace.

Poor Bride. She had to violate other men in order to find her groom. My other brother, Adult Best Man, announced he was pressing charges.

After a brief first family dance, the littlest best man was handed off to the highest bidder. Or just the closest bridesmaid/auntie/any person with two free hands.

It was a beautiful wedding. It was fun, laid back, and had personal touches everywhere. That Bride is one creative gal. I'm so lucky to have her in my corner. And my brother is so lucky to have her period. She's good for him. They're good for each other.

After the couple was swept away for a quick weekend, the rest of us gathered up the wedding paraphernalia and hit the hay. I slept 12.5 hours.

Kidding. There was no way I was sleeping in, because there was a very special little person staying in the room right next to mine. A very special little person that I want to spend all my time with when I'm around.

Love that giggle.

Sunday/Monday: Family time/Post-Wedding "It's over already?!" Denial

The Kooistra clan was over on Sunday for leftover rehearsal dinner lunch. Wait. Yep, that made sense. At least it did to me.



We took countless trip across the backyard to visit Kaydrian's new best friend, Molly.



And then, Monday night came and it was time for Auntie to get her bum back on an airplane and head back west. And then teach the next day on 3 hours of sleep. It was the strangest feeling to spend all day Monday with my family knowing that I was going to be teaching the next day half way across the country. It was worth taking the later flight, though. And Frontier Airlines, a tip of the hat to you for serving warm chocolate chip cookies on your flights as opposed to NOTHING. Or a $6 minibag of pretzels. I will be flying the friendly skies with you again.

Bye now.