Last weekend, we trekked back to South Dakota for my sister's wedding! We have been expecting this day to come for about 10 years and they finally took the plunge -- and in public. Rocky and I took the 13th off to drive to Watertown -- we saved some money by spending 2 nights with his folks. Of course, Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Mike were more than happy to put up with us for a couple of nights! Maggie was thrilled to see Grandpa, who is her "friend." "Gwampa, are you my fwiend? Grab my hands! Grab my feet!" which is code for "throw me around a little thanks."
We drove down to Sioux Falls on Saturday and arrived with some time to check into the hotel and grab some lunch. Holly had warned us that Jeff's family is always late, but after talking with Dad, decided to head to the church around 12:30. Rocky had agreed to take pictures and had hoped to take a few before. He did have plenty of time to get the lay of the church :) Maggie enjoyed playing on the unplugged organ. She was excited to see her cousins because we were all going swimming in the pool after the reception. Cousin Jeffery was sound asleep when they did arrive and Maggie didn't mind me holding him at all. Jeffery is only about a head shorter than Maggie and 2 years younger! Maggie was not as excited to see Uncle Ardie and Aunt Jeanne -- Maggie is not a big fan of strange men.
The wedding was simple and beautiful! My sister attends a Bapist Church full of what my dad would call "Holy Rollers." It was the noisiest wedding I think I've ever been to. Growing up Presbyterian, there were not a lot of "Hallalujahs" or "Praise Jesus"es coming from the congregation or pulpit! Yet, Maggie fell asleep and napped through the entire wedding and most of the reception. Uncle Ardie jumped at the chance to hold Maggie while we took pictures after the ceremony. It was really nice to see all of the friends and family that turned out to support Holly and Jeffery. The church seemed to take care of everything and made sure very few had to get up to get some food. In my mind, this is exactly what the church is to do: give loving support to their congregants and be sure no one is left out (as a church home seeker, I don't see this enough).
Rocky took over 700 photos and is slowly making his way through them. The professional that he is, he is not going to just send out 700 photos without making certian they are top notch.
After the reception, Holly brought Jada and Jeffery to the hotel and Jada and Maggie had a blast playing in the pool. There must have been a lot of weddings that day as there were a lot of kids in the pool! Maggie started singing while we were swimming "Swim swim swim, bano bano, swim swim swim." It took me a while to figure out she was singing what she had learned from "Diego." (Bano is the Spanish word for Swim.)
After swimming, the kids played in the hotel rooms (Mom had an adjoining hotel room with ours) and watched movies. Grandma Alana had brought treats, so I'm sure the cleaning staff loved the Cheeto stained sheets when we left!
We went back to Watertown Sunday afternoon. Rocky's brother Joe was there, and soon Natalie and Dick and family arrived. Tammy, Alyssa, Haylee, Amy and Taylor arrived in time for supper as well. Maggie loved playing with all of her cousins. I enjoyed playing cards with the some of the family. And Rocky got his mom all set up on Facebook.
It was a good trip, short, but always fun. It is nice to be able to live close enough to make these trips. Once Rocky finishes with his photos I'll add some here.
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