The Wedding!!!

Luis and Alyssa had a beautiful wedding. There were some non-traditional elements that made it fun and unique. We had so much fun and are thankful they invited us to be a part of it.

We wish them the best in their marriage and new life together in Canada.

Nelly and Najun - Luis' parents

One of the unique things in the wedding was that the music was non-traditional and everyone danced down the aisle instead of walking. It was so much fun. Everyone could dance their own style and it made for some great entertainment. =)

Unfortunately my camera decided to fail me and I only got one picture of the kids walking down the aisle and no video. But I took a cute video of them during rehearsal (its at the end of the blog).

Dominic and Caitlin dancing down the aisle.

Alyssa and her brother Noah.

Once the kids reached the platform I had them come sit with me on the pew 

and fed them candy and goldfish.

Had to have bear in case of a melt down since the wedding was during Caitlin's nap time.

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Rojas

On the way to the park to take pictures she passed out. Weddings are tiring.

 

 He found a flower.

 

Pictures in the park. The mosquitoes were horrific.

At the reception. The kids had had enough of their fancy clothes.

Dominic wanted to dance with Alyssa. 

It would have been so cute with his tux, but was still adorable.

The very delicious mango and strawberry wedding cake.

Here is the promised video!

THE WEDDING - getting ready!

Getting ready for the wedding.

Sharah is such a beautiful girl!

What a long wait! 

See the make up on her cheek. It hadn't been rubbed in yet. 

We put it on her bug bite. 

Worked really great. =)

Poor Dominic was the only boy in the dressing room.

Caitlin found some shoes that she liked better.

We forgot socks so Dominic had some blisters. Thankfully we found some to borrow.

More pictures.

Danger Girl and a Wii

Dominic enjoyed being a big kid while he was in Canada. In addition to the booster seat, he also got to play Wii for the first time. Very cute to watch the boys being boys.

Jon is now calling Caitlin his Danger Girl! Here is the progression shots showing why.

l

Sabbath in Canada

We went to church that morning and then went to a park for a picnic lunch. The weather was absolutely beautiful. But the mosquitoes were awful. We sprayed with bug spray and were still being eaten alive. Caitlin got a huge bug bite on her cheek. Not a good place for a little girl who is going to be in a wedding the next day. =)

Luis and Alyssa - the wedding couple!

Luis (the groom) with the kids. Caitlin is getting so much better at letting other people hold her or talk to her. It might be all of the different situations we've put her in the past few weeks.

Sarah playing in the sand at the park.

We left the park and went to a place that has several HUGE fountains and water features. This is the picture of us before we got to the fountains.

I knew the kids wouldn't be able to resist getting wet. So I went ahead and stripped them down and let them play.

They had so much fun!

Largest Mall in North America

On Friday Jairo and Martha needed to run some errands. So Jon and I had them drop us and the four kids off at the Edmonton Mall. It is the largest mall in North America. It comes complete with an indoor ocean/waterpark, amusement park, animals, ice skating rink and much more. Until 2004 it was the largest in the world. So it's a pretty impressive place.

This pirate ship was a favorite.

The kids were so good.

Caitlin couldn't see the lemurs.

 Had to get our picture with this Canadian moose.

l

These fountains were all over the mall and the kids enjoyed standing underneath of them.

The kids in front of the water park.

Canada

Jon and I had some very dear friends getting married in Canada. We told them to let us know as soon as they had a date. So beginning of this year they let us know and we purchased tickets.

Then Jon got a job in Tennessee. So last Wednesday we drove almost 8 hours back to Raleigh, NC to catch a flight to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Crazy, but so worth the tiredness.

The kids were amazing travelers and took everything, including the 2nd time change in 2 weeks, in stride. Caitlin loved playing with Dominic's suit case. When we got ready to come home we went to Walmart (yes, Canada has Walmarts) and bought a larger size for Dominic so Caitlin could have one as well. This also gave us some extra luggage space for the things we got while we were there.

 

Our friends, Jairo and Martha have a mini van so they picked us up from the airport and took us everywhere with them or let us borrow their car. Dominic really enjoyed being in the back with the "big kids" in a booster seat. Although he informed me that he missed his car seat at home and didn't want to move to a booster seat in our car. =)

My beautiful friend Martha! We had so much fun spending a few days with the Valencia family!

Random shots!

Just a couple of pictures that I haven't had time to post.

There is a children's museum here in Cookeville. It is very small, but the kids had so much fun and didn't seem to notice the size.

 

Dominic was helping Caitlin with her tiara. So precious.

We were in the car and Dominic asked me to turn around to look at his muscles.

We saw this sign while out driving and just had to take a picture. I was so tempted to park in that 

driveway. =)