The Rehearsal

Chris & Kristen - the engaged couple (for only a few more hours!!!)
They were both VERY intent on listening to the instructions! There was one point when the pastor was going over how the ceremony would proceed, what each person would say, etc - and Chris said to him "Man! How do you know all this stuff!" Hilarious! :) There is a lot that goes on, and no one wants to mess it up!

Chris' groomsmen

Graham (best man), Jeff, and Aram

Callie - already digging into some of her "bribe" - fruit snacks!

The 3 bridesmaids (plus a flower girl)!

L-R Katy (and Callie), Kim, Kelli (matron of honor)

Kristen & Chris with their pastor, Jerry

Graham escorted Chris' mother Debbie down the aisle

Scott (Kelli's husband) escorted my Mom down the aisle

Jacob & Luke working on funny faces apparently. These boys were hilarious! It's amazing any of us could pay attention!

(Do you see Josiah's face? He is dying laughing!!)

The men....watching while Kristen comes down the aisle.

(On a side note, one of my favorite parts of every wedding ceremony is watching the groom's face when he sees the doors open and his bride start walking down the aisle. It's my absolute favorite - the expression on his face is just priceless - every time.)

Practicing "the walk" with my pretend bouquet

Kim, who had to put her "mom hat" back on and scold one of her boys when she was walking down the aisle! You never get a break from being a Mom!!!

Here's Kelli with her pretend bouquet! :)

Callie...practicing very intently....

Scott was filling in for my dad who wasn't going to be arriving until later that night.

Not sure what David is doing here...looks like he's pretending to fly! :) It was a special thing for him to get to play a role in their ceremony. He is my oldest sister's (Kimberly) husband. He also was a pastor at the church where Kristen and Chris met...and was the one that led Chris to the Lord! So he got to do the first part of the ceremony and share some of the personal touches - it was really nice.

The boys...trying to keep themselves from getting into any more trouble...

When she practiced walking down, I think she was bothered by the whole idea of "dropping" the petals. She sort of "placed" them one by one instead...and that would have taken FOREVER. So she ended up just carrying the basket down - it was perfect.

I now pronounce you......but NOT YET!!!

Aren't they the cutest?

Walking out...Kelli and Graham

Kim and Jeff

(Callie) and Katy and Aram (who is Billy Graham's grandson by the way!)

The mother's practicing the lighting of the candles

A little more practice...

We went back and forth with what Callie should do after she walked down the aisle. With David and I both in the ceremony, we were at a loss. I thought she probably would be fine to stand up there with me, but I knew the ceremony was going to be a little long, and IF she got fidgety, we would be stuck. So we ended up having one of the babysitters (Kelli and I hired two babysitters to keep our babies during the ceremony) stand off to the side down front. After Callie walked down the aisle, she just walked straight over to the sitter (who was holding a new Princess Barbie from Tutu) and went and played in the nursery. It worked out great.

Does she look excited or what?

Gramma Joan holding Caleb