A New Auntie To Love

On New Years Eve my step-brother Matt and my new sister-in-law Shari got married. They had a quick little ceremony and then had a their reception yesterday on July 4th. It was on one of the Paddle Boats on the St. Croix down in Stillwater. It was such a fun time and a perfect day to be out on the water!

The original plan was for all of us to go which quickly turned into just me going and Matt staying home with the kids for several reasons including but not limited to:

1. We would be stuck on a boat for 6 hours, with no way off.
2. We would not be home until after midnight, which didn't sound very fun with the kids.
3. We would be on the boat during the fireworks...like directly below them, big and loud. We had no idea how either kid would react to this.

However at the last minute we found out the boat would be docking by 9:30pm and we would be able to get off early and decided we should all go. Besides, Alexa was begging me to take her with because she wanted to go to a party on a boat and dance.

Everything turned out great. The kids were awesome for being up way past their bedtimes. We had dinner and then danced and got to hang out with most of my family for the night. Good times!

Here's the happy couple dancing. Aren't they just too cute? Shari is an awesome addition to our family, she fits in perfectly and we all love her tons!

Our attempt at a family picture. The best we could get with two hungry kids. :)

Braden and Mommy.

Braden getting lots of love from Gramma and Uncle Lukey.

Grampa and Alexa on the dance floor. Alexa was having the best time dancing with anyone who would dance with her. She was adorable showing off all her moves!

Here's Braden waiting with all the other single guys for the garter toss. Thank goodness he didn't catch it, Mommy needs another 30 or so years with him before he can even think about getting married! :)

Alexa and the Bride. She kept telling everyone that Auntie Shari was a princess just like her because she had a pretty dress on.

We stayed later than we thought we would and ended up seeing most of the fireworks on the walk back to the car. Surprisingly the kids didn't mind them too much at all. I think Braden was so tired he barely even noticed them which was amazing considering how loud they were. And Alexa was a little unsure about them but as long as one of us was holding her she thought they were okay. We stopped and watched a few and saw a couple big pink ones which Alexa declared that they must have done those ones just for her because she loves pink! :) All in all it was an awesome Fourth of July. I'm glad our plans changed so we could celebrate together!