Four Years!

That is RIGHT! Tomorrow (Friday, November 9th) is the day Brad and I were married in the Bahamas four years ago! Time certainly flies by WAY too fast!

It probably seems weird that I lead with a photo of where we had our wedding dinner..but that's how I roll! I love food. Many memories have been made while eating, drinking something great and having CAKE! I LOVE CAKE!  Our reception was here, we had cake, we danced, we laughed. We ate too much. In short, it was perfect and very, very moody and pretty. We had only six guests. Not a lot of people are able to come to a destination wedding. Brad's parents acted as if it was dangerous to go to the Bahamas. There were a lot of weird excuses "isn't that south of the mason dixon line?" Just kidding. That was never said. But you get the idea. It worked out perfectly! It was small and intimate and I wouldn't change a thing.

As I said, the cake did NOT disappoint. We had a lot of leftover food and gave it to our lovely waitresses, the guys who made our food and the musician, Willie.

Brad and our nephew Emerson. He was five "and a half!" as he used to say- back then and he was our handsome little ringbearer. He rocked a rad shirt, was very professional the whole time and even served champagne right after the ceremony for us. He had a little glass of oj. He just took it upon himself to "bartend" for a good 20 minutes if you will. It was ADORABLE. He had the glasses lined up and looked very, very serious.  He also was a bit afraid of the water at this point in his life and wore this lifejacket everywhere. If Brad teased him or tried to take it off he'd yell "This is NOT a toy, Uncle Brad! It's for safety!" Yes, he also wore it in the hot tub where he mastered a magnificent back float!

Backfloat. Mastered. Why this is darling (to me and perhaps the masses..who  knows?) is because the water was maybe...3 feet deep.

My sister Dawn and Emerson's mommy- turned 34 a few days after our wedding, so we went into downtown Grand Island and had a nice birthday dinner. Emerson's expression in this photo is soo cute.

It was November in the Bahamas too but everything was alive, flowers..trees bearing fruit.

Right before he went kayaking with Uncle Brad for the very first time. Apparently, during part of their journey he kept saying "No! Uncle Brad go over THERE!" which was always closer to shore. He was very brave for a kid afraid of the water. He's now swimming like a little fish and took scuba diving lessons a year ago!

This pic is too tiny, but it's one of our first dances and Emerson decided he needed to get out there and rock it alone!

I love this picture. I love Brad. I loved this day. I'd also like to point out that about an hour before this, I CURLED my hair!! Yep, I did. That's how well my hair holds anything and why I was forced into Ogilvie home perms as a child. Straight hair was not cool back then.

Our whole wedding party: Katie, Jason (Brad's best friend and best man) US, Emerson, Eric and my sister Dawn. I didn't care to have any rules about what anyone wore. I just said "wear something you like and be comfortable." I did choose Emerson's shirt because A) it's stylin and B) the ringbearer needed to bring it up a level, obviously!

This pic KILLS me because of Emerson: He's holding the rings in that little pouch behind his back. And he never stood like this. He was copying Jason's stance. He also chose the flower for his hair.

I remember walking down from up above and down some stairs and when I saw everyone, I started to cry. I also really missed my mom, but I didn't want to dwell on it and be sad on a happy day.

Another view. What's interesting: There were no people around at first. We got married around 4:30PM. Suddenly, people were staring from semi close, afar, people we didn't know came out on their hotel room decks. Some took photos. THAT part was odd, but it's a public area so there's not much you can do!

Me and Emerson. He's so little here! He still does this..the hand in pocket in every photo!!

I know that everyone says that their wedding day is special and perfect, but it really was. The whole day had a mellow and loving quality and it was truly one of the best days of my life!! Most importantly..Brad is my friend and a huge fan and he's been a loving and wonderful husband!

I cannot find the pic of Em "bartending" but when I do..you will see it.

Cliffhangers are good, I think.

We're not huge anniversary planners and his hip is still healing, so we're not sure what tomorrow will bring. Probably dinner someplace nice. Like Arby's. GOTCHA!!

Have a wonderful evening and weekend & thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with me!!

xo

T