Prepping for the reception

They say "Many hands make light work." If that's the case, this reception was a piece of cake 'cause so many hands were involved. It was fun to see it all come together. The boys looked stunning during their tux fittings...

Fitting 18 tuxes is a big job only Tuxedos Now could handle!

(That's my father in law's store!) All the little boys were so cute!

Although some didn't cooperate

Dillon knows how to pose -- I wish this was taken with a nice backdrop.

Even little Caleb got a tux -- so adorable!

We all took shifts ironing, tying sashes, unloading decorations, running errands...

It turned out beautifully!

Up next, the reception...

The Big Day

Aaron's little brother, Luke, and my little sister, Brittany, got married on December 28th. It was a great day. I met Britt and Richelle at the salon early that morning to give moral support while she had her hair and make-up done.

Then off to the temple. This little boy was such a hit with everyone. He was passed around the whole day. After a whole year, we finally saw Amy and Shane again and they met Caleb for the first time.

A year is way too long! It had also been a whole year since I'd seen Brittany. Lame!

Handsome boy waiting outside the temple

A couple shot while we waited

(You'll probably see me in glasses a lot now :( My eyes are not real happy with contacts these days. At least I scored these new glasses for $10!)

Here comes the happy couple!

It started to rain as we hurried through pictures. I actually really love this shot.

Then off to the luncheon!

There was lots of singing : The Hobbs fam, The Chandler fam, a combined sibling number and the bride and groom sang too. I thought it was all great! We sang our own personalized version of "Sisters" -- Sisters, sisters, never been a better little sister... ( I'm going to try to put all the videos on facebook since blogger doesn't like long videos)

Dillon can never get enough of Britt and Lukey

In fact, most toy animals in our house are named after them.

The bride and groom got a little time with this sweet boy too. I can't believe how great he was throughout that long day.

I couldn't resist snapping some double brother/sister photos.

Two sets of siblings married 8 1/2 years apart. So fun!

The wedding photographer came over for some Chandler family photos.

Notice the forest Don created for the luncheon -- man, that guy goes above and beyond! The boys couldn't resist a little hide and seek in the trees!

Great day! Congratulations Brittany and Luke! We love you!

Christmas with Chandlers

After Christmas dinner with my family, we ran over to the Chandlers for a little celebrating there. When we realized the two sisters and brothers were sitting next to each other, we had to take a picture...

The Chandler kids put together a book about Addy (the family dog who recently departed this world) for their dad. It was so fun to watch him open it. He was sincerely touched. Don and Addy were quite the pair. After gifts, it was on to the stocking contest (well, an abbreviated version of it). For the first time, my boys got to stand up and say what they like about their stockings. It was so fun to see them getting into this crazy tradition.

The best part of the evening was when Wesley talked about his. (I was sitting by him, so I didn't have the camera.) But he kept saying how much he likes the sparkles on it. And he likes drums too. It was SO cute!

Aaron has had years of practice arguing why his is the best!

At the end, we surprised Brittany with her own stocking! I bought the kit in October and started working on it. Then I sent it to Aaron's sis in Boise. From there it made a quick stop in Twin Falls before heading to Salt Lake for the final steps. So all the Chandler ladies helped complete it for the new sis-in-law. Kind of fun!

Here's the video of Don -- love it!

Lots more catching up to do, so check back soon!

Christmas at the Hobbs

We made it to Idaho for Christmas. The 23-hour, straight through the night, drive was rough, but we survived. This is what the poor boys (and our van) looked like at hour 22! The mom and dad looked even worse!

But we got there and it was so great to see family. On Christmas Eve morning we went to a breakfast at the church and the boys got to say hello to Santa.

That evening Aunt Shelly helped the boys make cookies to leave out for Santa. Brittany got in on the fun too!

We finally got to introduce the cousins that are 15 hours apart in age. Blake is such a handsome little boy!

We had a nice evening together. Dillon was excited to set up the little nativity while Grandpa read from Luke 2 (pic at the top of the post).

Then Dillon graced us with a few songs. He did a pretty good job.

Somehow tickling Brittany became part of the night!

Santa made it!

On Christmas morning, before going up to see what Santa brought, I tried to get the boys to pose in their PJs, but one little boy didn't want to be involved :(

Children make Christmas magical!

The babies in their matching PJs

Wesley got Bullseye's wife, just like he'd asked. They were happy to unite, and maybe kiss a couple times!

My sis, Richelle, brought a bunch of fun little wooden toys from her recent trip to Dresden and Prague. They provided plenty of giggles! I love this picture of my parents.

Merry Christmas!

Lots more to come...

The Real One!

Before Christmas, we went to the mall to see Santa. He was awesome! His hair and beard were totally real and I think he even had rosie cheeks. Dillon has noticed that every Santa is different, so we've talked about how he can't be everywhere so sometimes he has helpers. But as we approached this Santa, he called the boys by name and I will never forget Dillon's face. He turned to me and whispered, "Mom, I think this is the real one!" It was a magical moment! Thank you Yorktown Mall Santa!