Reception. Celebrating the union of Andrew and Alison.

Andrew and Alison did their reception a little differently buyy having it the night before their wedding.  It ended up being such a great idea because they got to enjoy their wedding day more and leave with eachother after being married!!!  It was such a beautiful reception, put on by Alison's mom, all of her sisters, and my mom (I helped a little too!!!)  There will be many more pictures to come, and I apologize for the quality of these pictures, but this is the best I could do with my camera and the low lighting.

 

Alison was stunning in her dress and my brother was more handsome than ever! 

These are her parents, Jim and Miriam Conners.

The reception had an array of desserts, veggies, fruit, cheese and crackers. 

The kids loved feeling "grown-up" in their suit and dress, eating at the big tables!

The head table with Andrew and Alison, flanked by parents on the sides.  The backdrop was all live evergreens with white lights and hanging snowflakes and snowballs.  It really transformed the entire room.

The future bride and groom each stood and said thank yous and then Alison's brother, Spencer and a friend, Cody sang while Bryce played guitar for the couple.  This kicked off the dancing for the evening.

First Dance

Mother and Son

They danced after Alison danced with her dad.

Then they opened up the dancing for everyone and I actually got out on the dance floor with my little bro.  It had been more than eight years since I last danced, but I couldn't let the opportunity go by!

Daddy Daughter Dancing

...and Grandpa/Granddaughter Dancing!

Bryce and Shelby sat on the sidelines...until he got her out on the dance floor long enough for a slow song! 

 

And while some of us may be shy when it comes to strutting our stuff on the dance floor...

....others of us feel comfortable and love the attention! 

Yes that fellow is my husband, having a great old time, and I danced with him too! 

It was really fun!

 

 Everyone loved the dancing and had a great time. 

It was a fun night for everyone, even those of us who did more watching than dancing!

This is Elle and Jim, our neighbors from when we lived in Saco. 

It was so nice to see them again and fun to watch them having such a good time.

Uncle Dana and Aunt Paula were able to be there, as well as Aunt Teresa, Grammie and Grandpa Morgan, Aunt Kathy, cousins Crystal and Luke and second cousins Logan and Ethan.   

Uncle Dana is the oldest of my dad's siblings and Teresa is the youngest.

Dad and Aunt Teresa swing dancing and having a blast, just like they used to do when they were teenagers!

I had to get a dance in with my brother Bryce! 

I think the last time we danced together was at his first youth dance when he was 14!!!

Olivia and Brady were so adorable!  They kicked off their shoes (and Brady took of his suit coat, tie and button-down shirt) and they got right out on the dance floor too!  Brady danced the whole night away, right up until the end of the reception at 11:00 p.m.!!!!

Reading with Grandpa

The pictures say it all...who doesn't love snuggling up and reading a book with someone you love!?!?

Christmas 2010

We held true to long-time tradition and all bunked in the same room on Christmas Eve as we anxiously anticipated the coming of morning!  The day started off at 7:30 as the kids woke everybody up and we went up stairs to find that Santa had indeed come, eaten his cookies, drank his milk and left stockings stuffed and gifts galore!

We got busy with opening gifts and having a good time watching people open the gifts that we had given.  In our family we always unwrap one gift at a time so that we can enjoy watching others as well.  We always stop at around 9:00 a.m. to make a frencth toast and bacon breakfast (a la Chef Dad, the french toast cooker) and then we resume opening gifts!  This tradition took a little while for Chris to get used to but I think he really enjoys it now and I love it because it makes the magic of Christmas last longer!

I made a lot of the gifts this year, including these two aprons.  Olivia already has another apron that I'd made her a few years ago and whenever we cook together Brady is always saying that he needs an apron too so I stitched up the best boy apron I could think of (cowboy sheriff) and a coordinating apron for Olivia as well made of vintage apple fabric.  I say that they coordinate because I used the same vintage red gingham in both of them.  We can't wait to cook up a storm together!

Brady got his favorite colored sleeping bag from Grammie and Grandpa and loved hanging out in it for the rest of the morning!  It was also perfect because in Idaho Olivia had gotten a pretty pink princess sleeping bag from Grammie and Grandpa Graf!  Now all we need is a bigger tent and we'll be ready for camping this summer!

Uncle Andrew and two crazy kids

My brother, Bryce also made most of his gifts this year and blew us away with his talent!  He made these birch coat/hat hangers for Chris and Brady and also (not pictured) two candle holders for me and my mom!  They are awesome and we love them so much!

Uncle Andrew gave Brady this Patriots blanker (and I had made him this Boston Red Sox blanket and pillow, specifically because he always complains that he needs a pillow when we are on long car rides) so he was so excited to have blankets from his two favorite teams!

Grandpa and Livy, who loved her new books

"Sissy and Drew"

Later that evening Alison came over to share Christmas dinner and to open her gifts with the family.  Mom and dad had found this bench and dad had refurbished it for their new apartment.  Inside it was filled with gifts from mom and dad, also for their apartment and honeymoon!

We ended the night with playing games, eating snacks and all enjoying eachother's company.  I think that this will be the last Christmas when all of us siblings are together on Christmas morning and I'm grateful for the opportunity that we had to share this time together and make special memories!

Christmas Eve, Mexican style

We stayed in for Christmas Eve at my parents and began the night with a gift exchange from Grammie while she read "Twas the Night Before Christmas."  Every time the kids heard Santa say "Ho, ho, ho" or the word Santa they had to swap the gifts they were holding.  It was a cute game for them to play and they ended up getting a movie and some treats to eat while dinner was being prepared.

 SWITCH!!!

In years past our family has either gone out for Chinese, or ordered in and played games and watched movies.  Some of our stomachs can no longer handle Chinese very well so we opted on switching it up a bit and maybe starting a new tradition of a Fiesta-style dinner!  My brother, Bryce and I cooked a feast together and had a great time planning, shopping and cooking together!

The children being silly with daddy while they wait for dinner!

The Feast:

Fresh pico de gallo, guacamole, sweet shredded pork, fish tacos, beans and rice, fresh pineapple and all of the fresh fixings to go along with it.  It was MUY BUENO!!!!

Good Night Santa!!!

No Christmas Eve would be complete without writing Santa a letter and leaving him and his reindeer some milk, cookies and carrots!

And of course, going to bed excited to see what Santa wrote back!