From Miss to Mrs!

After many, many years of waiting and praying for the right guy, my friend, Amy, was married to her Mr. Right earlier this month! Our hearts are filled with so much joy for Amy, as we rejoice with her in this life changing event! 

Not long after Amy got engaged this past April, Kendall, Angie, Amy's sister Brandy, and I set to work planning a bachelorette party/shower for her. It was a pretty epic event! The big evening was the first Saturday in August and began at Amy's house eating a few snacks as friends arrived for the party. Then, we had a limo pick us all up and take us on a scavenger hunt around town. The clues for the hunt were all questions Amy had to answer regarding her relationship with Matt . . . special places they enjoyed, important milestones they experienced, etc. It was SO much fun! The scavenger hunt ended at In the Raw (a sushi restaurant) when even more friends met up with us for dinner. Then, we all went back to Amy's house for cake, gifts, laughter, and visiting well into the night. It was the perfect event to celebrate Amy going from Miss to Mrs!

Kendall, Amy, Chelley, and Angie

Amy and Matt decided to forgo a traditional wedding for a destination wedding in Branson, Missouri with only their closest friends and family as guests. Even though we knew this wasn't about us, this was a perfect plan for Chris and me. The wedding date was set for October 22, just two days before our own wedding anniversary. Branson is only about an hour from where my parents live, so we asked them if they would keep our kids for the weekend while we celebrated our anniversary and joined Amy and Matt for the wedding festivities. Mom and Dad said yes, and the plan was in place!

We left our house just after lunchtime on Thursday, October 20th (this was fall break so Brianna was out of school), and made the three hour drive to my parents' house. Even though we had been planning on this for a while, the thought of leaving my kids overnight was a bit nerve wracking for me. This was our first time to leave them all, so my Momma heart was anxious. I think everyone else was just excited, haha. 

After dropping the kids off, we left pretty quickly to head to Branson. We got in town in time for dinner and ate at Shogun. We wanted a place that we wouldn't take the kids, so a hibachi grill fit the bill. After dinner, we walked around Branson landing, visiting and window shopping. It was a chilly night, and we really enjoyed being out late in the night air together.  

Instead of getting a hotel room, we used a vacation-rental-by-owner to rent a two bedroom condo. It was homey, clean, comfortable, quiet, roomy, AND came at a great price. We will definitely consider going that route again!

On Friday morning, we grabbed breakfast and decided to do some shopping. I sent this pic to my mom to show the kids. Chris said to add that we weren't missing them, haha. 

Hitting up some of the many craft stores in Branson!

Because we didn't have any little people needing to be fed on their schedule, we skipped lunch (gasp!) and ate an early dinner instead. Then, we hit up a grocery store and purchased some snack foods and popcorn. We were back at our condo by early evening, changed into pjs, and lounged out on the couch watching HGTV before 7:00pm! We won't be winning any awards for most exciting couple, but it was wonderful and just what we needed!

Meanwhile, my parents were dealing with this, haha:

On Saturday morning, the bride had scheduled pedicures for herself and her besties at 9:00am. Chris dropped me off with the girls and headed to do some exploring at the dam. Pedicures were followed by a brunch, then several of us went back to Amy's hotel room with her to help/watch her while she got ready for the wedding.

Chelley and Laci

The gorgeous bride!

Getting into that dress . . . 

Isn't she stunning?

Amy didn't have any attendants in her wedding, but it was so great to still share in the special moments while she was getting ready to walk down the aisle. You may notice that Kendall is missing from this pic . . . Well, she gave birth to baby Annie (her fourth precious blessing) on October 20th, so she was still in the hospital back home. We sure missed her, but made the best of our time anyway. 

Chelley, Amy, and Angie

The wedding was held at a beautiful venue just a few miles north of Branson. It wasn't far outside of town, but it was in a wooded setting and felt very country. 

Chelley and Angie . . . ready for the weddin'!

My handsome wedding date 😍

The little chapel had windows all around, making additional flowers or decorations completely unnecessary. Truly, it's impossible to tell in these photos just how beautiful the scenery was. 

We FaceTimed Kendall per her request just as the wedding began, and she watched the entire ceremony remotely while they were in the car coming home from the hospital. Modern technology for the win!

While we were busy with wedding activities, Mom and Dad took our crew to Bass Pro Shops for the morning to see the animals. They sent us this picture of Brianna:

Once the wedding concluded, we stayed around for just a little bit to be in some photos. In lieu of a reception, all the wedding guests were invited to attend a dinner in Branson later that evening. Chris and I opted out of the dinner because we were ready to get back to Mom and Dad's house to see our kids. We had an amazing time without them, but our hearts were sore from missing them. Parenthood is weird :-).

We got back in time to see the kids for just a few minutes before bed time. They were crazy excited to see us (emphasis on the crazy), but we were still happy to be back with our little circus. 

On Sunday morning, we got all ready and went to church with my parents. Of course, I had to take a few pictures before we left!

Brooke, Grampy, Brianna, Brenson, G-Jo, and Brecklyn

My favorite kiddos . . . Brianna, Brooke, Brenson, and Brecklyn

Later that afternoon, after we all changed out of our church clothes, we realized that G-Jo and Brianna were matching. Brianna requested a picture :-).

We went on home that evening after a great weekend. I can't express how thankful we are to my parents for keeping our kids for us so that we could have some alone time and celebrate with Matt and Amy. As anxious as I was about it, it worked out well for everyone. We were able to spend some much needed time together, the kids had a blast, and I think Grampy and G-Jo may have had some fun, too :-). Congratulations to Matt and Amy!