Party of Five: Laurie and Brian's Wedding

We're back from our trip to Arizona for my sister Laurie's wedding to her beloved Brian. It was a fantastic vacation and it went way too fast. I think the fastest, easiest way to fill all of you readers in on the goings on is to make a little list of events, so here goes:

Thursday, October 21st: Matt, Bennett, Emma and I flew to Phoenix. This was Bennett and Emma's first flight, and they both did GREAT! We arrived around 10 am, picked up our rental car, and drove toward the Cibola Vista Resort in Peoria, Arizona. After eating a delicious lunch at In-N-Out, Matt, Bennett and many of the guys in the wedding party went to pick up tuxes while the ladies shopped at Target. Matt then went golfing with the groom and one of his groomsmen, and later that evening we all met up at one of Laurie and Brian's favorite Mexican restaurants for dinner. Bennett was TOAST after our day of traveling, so we ate quickly and headed back to the resort since we were all on Minnesota time.

Friday, October 22nd: Whirlwind Day #1! The bride, bridesmaids, mother of the bride, my brother's girlfriend, and some of Laurie's good friends had a tasty lunch at the Paradise Cafe. After lunch, we all went to an awesome nail salon for manicures and pedicures, and then went to the rehearsal. Matt's little sister Megan was the photographer for Laurie and Brian, so she flew in from Minnesota to join all of us! We ended the night at Laurie and Brian's rehearsal dinner at Top Shelf Mexican where we enjoyed yummy margaritas, tacos and nachos.

Saturday, October 23rd: Whirlwind Day #2! The wedding day-yay! The girls woke up early to head over to Blackstone Golf and Country Club to have our hair done and spend the day together. Matt had the kiddos at the resort and came for pictures later in the afternoon. He's such a wonderful father and took care of the kids on Friday and Saturday while I got to spend time with my sister, the bride. Thank you, honey! On to the wedding details: the ceremony was very sweet, and only one bump in the road that I know of...Bennett melted down and refused to walk down the aisle. Ahh, the risks of having a three year old as ring bearer. As I was walking down I could hear him crying and a staff member had to close the doors behind Laurie and my dad to drown out his wails. Sorry, Laurie and Brian. I hope years from now we can all look back at that moment and laugh. Luckily, the flower girl (Emma) made it since my brother was carrying her! After the ceremony, we ate an amazing dinner and delectable cake before dancing the night away. It was a fabulous wedding! Best wishes, Dr. and Dr. Arnold! :)

Sunday, October 24th: A relaxing, recharging day. We went to the pool with the whole Becker crew. These our our dear, dear friends that we grew up with in Rochester, and they all came to Arizona for the wedding. It was SO MUCH FUN to be with all of them! After some pool time, we had a great lunch, went to our room for awhile, then ate a hodge podge dinner of leftovers with the Becker's, watched the Vikings lose, and called it a night early.

Monday, October 25th: Lunch at In-N-Out again-yay! We said goodbye to several people who left today and then went to the pool for awhile, then went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We were able to celebrate my dad's birthday and Bennett's birthday with little sundaes for them. After dinner, the rest of the remaining vacationers (my parents, my sister, Jenny, and her husband, Brice) came to our room to hang out since Bennett and Emma both fell asleep in the car on the way back from our meal.

Tuesday, October 26th: I finished packing up in the morning while Matt took Bennett to a little corral to ride a pony, courtesy of Cibola Vista Resort. We checked out, headed to In-N-Out for the third time (yes, we're OBSESSED with In-N-Out--this is one of the things I miss most about California, along with our best friends, Sam and Greg) and drove to the airport. We arrived there with plenty of time to spare only to find out that our flight was delayed because of horribly strong wind in Minnesota. Oh well, we passed the time at the airport quite well since my parents and Jenny and Brice were on our flight, too! We got back safely after a super turbulent, roller coaster-esque descent and made it home to our beds.

I skipped several details above in the interest of keeping it as short as I could since I'm a bit long-winded, but it gives a good account of our trip. Thanks again for letting us be a part of your very special day, Laurie and Brian. CONGRATULATIONS!

Taking off...

Bennett enjoying the flight with his very own music

Emma relaxing during the plane ride

Jenny is SO excited that we joined them in Peoria!

Uncle Brett with Emma

Catch me, Daddy!

Don't drop me!

Auntie Laurie with her flower girl

Laurie posing with Blair-who did a wonderful job doing the hair of six people!-in the fancy "locker room" at Blackstone, their wedding venue.

Blair doing Robin's hair

Blair doing my hair

The four of us :)

The Shevik's

Oldest to youngest with the Becker's-me, Beth, Laurie, Robin, Marc, Brett, Brian and Jenny

Bennett with Robin's oldest boy, Miles

Let's get this party started!

Sooooooo tired.

My dad rocking out!

Pool time with Nana

Uncle Brice giving Bennett a lift

Auntie Laurie dipping Emma-this was her first time in a pool!

Emma just loved the water--phew! I'm glad we have another water baby.

Papa with Bennett

A nice pool shot of all of us

I just love this picture of Robin with her youngest boy, Henry. So sweet!

A group shot of most of the people still in Arizona on Sunday. Brice and Jenny were apparently swimming laps (what???) and didn't swim fast enough to join us for the photo.