Wedding-July 2, 2010

The wedding has come and past. James and I (hopefully everyone else too) had a great time! The wedding went by very quickly. The week before went by very quickly too. Thanks to every one involved the wedding was very beautiful! James and I are so happy to be married!

The rehearsal went pretty smoothly. As expected my side of the family arrived a half hour early, and Jim's family arrived late (including the groom!). I was appeased because I was given the opportunity to hold my niece longer!! All five of the nieces and nephews made it down the aisle without a meltdown. I hoped that they would do the same the day of the wedding. After the rehearsal we all went to a pavilion near the Ball State University Football Stadium. It was a lot of fun. The food was very delicious. I enjoyed having both of our families and friends together. We were able to get a rare picture of me with all of my siblings! The last time that occurred was when the second youngest brother, Jake, was born. I definitely love the picture!

After the rehearsal dinner, my bridesmaids surprised me by buying movie tickets to go see "Eclipse", which I really wanted to see. The movie was awesome, and James even surprised me by coming in to say hi to me before he went to see his movie. I returned the favor by dropping in to give him my extra popcorn. I spent the evening before the wedding in my dad's hotel room. I slept great the night before the wedding in my dad's hotel room. James said he slept great too!

The wedding day itself went pretty smoothly. I was able to eat a relaxing breakfast and then went to get my hair done. My mom did my makeup. I thought I had misplaced the little girl's shoes, but I had merely placed them in my maid-of-honor's car. My mom's zipper ripped right before I left to get my pictures taken, which Susan was able to fix (SAVED THE DAY!). The wedding itself went very smoothly. All of the kids went down without any problems! I had never been happier than when I saw James standing at the end of the aisle! The service was beautiful. God blessed James and I to find each other and bring us together as husband and wife. We have are both dedicated to putting God first in our marriage. We realize that no marriage is perfect, but we are striving to learn how to put the other first when making decisions. Here are some pictures taken at the church:

The reception was a lot of fun! We did family portraits there. I was worried that no one would dance, but it seemed that people were enjoying the dancing. The nieces and nephews loved the dancing! There was rarely a moment when one of them was not dancing. The cake was delicious, and the toasts were truly heart-felt. It was truly a wonderful celebration. Here are a

few pictures from the reception:

Our honeymoon was quite an experience. I believe we spent a total of 30 hours

in the car! We first went to Myrtle Beach. We almost had an issue with the hotel because we aren't 21, but everything was able to work itself out. We spent a lot of time at the beach. We also were able to go to Ripley's Aquarium. After a nightmare of a dinner at a seafood buffet, we watched our July 4th fireworks on the beach. It was very romantic, and we both felt the driving was definitely worth it. We also picked out a new pet hermit crab!! We named him Herman le Crab, and he is now part of our new family. After a relaxing time at Myrtle Beach, we went to Branson, Missouri to be with the Cole side of his family. A lot of the family members chipped in to give James and I our own penthouse! We were very grateful, and we enjoyed being able to get away from the noise sometimes. Other times we felt out of the loop with the activities. I enjoyed my first time at Branson, and I enjoyed being able to get to know everyone in the family. The main highlight of the trip was Silver Dollar City where we went to Marvel Cave (it was James' favorite part of the entire honeymoon). I was even able to see a really good show while I was there. James had a lot of fun; I find that James thrives better in small groups. In big family settings, he (well everyone really) acts different. Everyone should attempt to get James in a one-on-one conversation to talk to him because he is a completely different man. The ride home was fun and full of good conversation. Susan, Dennis, Kristen, James, and I all ate at a "throwing rolls" restaurant. That was a lot of fun! All in all I think everyone had a great time!