My "little" brother got married this past weekend! I can hardly believe it! He married his longtime love, Kristen and our family just grew one more! It was a beautiful wedding and a great weekend up in the mountains. They were married in Glenwood Springs, about 3 hours west of Denver near Aspen. Connor was the ring bearer or "pillow boy" as he referred to it. He was so very good and so sweet to the flower girl, Shelby.
We left home Friday morning after some minor trauma of having to leave Abby and Chase at the kennel. In my whole family we have 8 dogs, 6 of whom stayed at a kennel. And NONE of the 6 had ever had to stay at a kennel before! We have been so fortunate to be able to take care of each others dogs while on vacation- so this was sort of a big deal for us. But they all survived, all though I am not sure any of them ate or drank all weekend.
We left earlier on Friday so we could take our time and enjoy the mountains. We try to go up often, but since I am pregnant I am not technically "allowed" to go up much more in elevation than the 6000 ft we already live at. But we had a good time anyway. We stopped in Idaho Springs and drove part way up Mt Evans road. Most of it is still closed and it is quite a drive up to the infamous fourteener. They we had lunch at the Tommy Knocker Brewery. They were in prime brewing at the time, when you walked in you could smell the VERY strong scent of hops cooking. Took me right back to my Dad's home-brew days, he liked to torture me and decided to brew beer while I was recovering from a hangover one New Year's day- mean, mean Daddy.
We got to Glenwood around 2:30 and the weather was spectacular! The wedding was taking place at the very historic Hotel Colorado. It is a beautiful hotel full of history, many presidents have stayed there and even Al Capone would summer there! During prohibition it was said that he tipped a bellman to bring in cases of gin for his party- the bellman was able to afford college at The University of Denver shortly thereafter.
Connor and Mommy at the Storm King Mountain Fire Park
Some beautiful shots of Glenwood Springs
Shortly after we arrived the rehearsal was held in the courtyard where the wedding would be the next day. My sister Emily was a bridesmaid and brother Chris was a groomsman. And Connor got to practice with his pillow while walking down the aisle with Shelby. Both of them were so good and well behaved. The rehearsal dinner was right after on the patio.
Outside in the courtyard
Connor & his pillow
The balcony is where William Howard Taft gave a famous speech.
The wedding was held at 4:15 on Saturday and everyone looked so good. My sister is 14 weeks pregnant and didn't know that when the dress was altered. She had to suck it in for a few hours, but she looked beautiful. And how about my boy in the tux????
Connor and my Grandma or "GG"
Howard, Connor Howard
Em & Chris
The happy couple!
The wedding party
The groom and his pillow boy!
Connor was ready to hit the floor after dinner was over!
Dave & Kristen's first danceThe reception was held in the Colorado Room right after all the pictures. It was traditional mountain fair that Dave & Kristen had picked out, including bison and trout. The cake was white with raspberry filling along side a small chocolate groom's cake that was decked out in a construction motif (Dave runs a caisson drilling rig). Connor waited very patiently for the dancing to start and he did not stop until we dragged him out of there at 9pm! He fell asleep about 30 mins later. It was a FABULOUS wedding and I am so very proud of Dave and Kristen! They will leave for their honeymoon in Belize in about a week. But this week he will spend up in the mountains on a drilling project- so romantic!
Connor was sad to say goodbye to the fun weekend, but VERY happy to see his Abby again! We ended up leaving at about 6:30 am on Sunday morning. Mostly because I needed to sleep in my own bed with my big pregnant woman pillow, but it also helped that we beat all the traffic too!
Our busy May is almost over. Connor started baseball practice yesterday. This year he is doing modified t-ball or coach pitch. So far he doesn't need the 't' at all. His team is the KC Royals, (sigh) he had to move to the AL this year. And tomorrow he graduates from Kindergarten! Onto 1st grade! This weekend will be hard for us, my sister and her family are moving from Denver to Spokane and we have to say goodbye! Hopefully Em & Declan will be back for our baby's birth in July/August.
I hope you are all as happy as I am that Spring is finally here! I don't think I could really take much more winter/spring in Colorado!
See ya, Melinda
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