Brian and Erin Got Hitched!

October 22nd was the day the Holdaway and Fisher families have waited two years for. Brian and Erin got married! It was a beautiful wedding. We were so blessed to have been a part of their day.
Before heading downstairs for pictures, 4 of the 5 Kendrick ladies posed for a picture. Aunt Sandy, Aunt Barbara, Aunt Linda (She did a lot of my photography.), Grandma Mickey, and Mom posed with Gabriel and Grace.
I got a freakin' awesome pedicure at the JC Penney's salon on Shelbyville Road. Dan's cousin, Robin, works there and was able to get me an appointment for a pedi at the (literal) last minute. You love the bronze shoes too, don't you?
Here are all of the ladies: Me, Erica, Blushing Bride Erin, Shannon, Amy, Jessica. The little girls are Grace, Hayley, and Charlotte.
We don't get cleaned up often, so we tried to take advantage of lots of photo ops. Grace got tired of pictures pretty quickly.
This is my FAVORITE picture of the day. I was trying to get a good picture with her and playing peek-a-boo around this light pole seemed to be the best idea I could come up with.
Here is the happy couple. Erin looked beautiful, and Brian looked quite handsome too.
The whole wedding party was photographed together outside. I was so glad it was a nice day. It was chilly, but not as cold as I was expecting.
While waiting for family pictures, the guys were acting silly. I guess you could say that Gabriel gets his height from my side of the family.
Here is my amazing family! Grandma Mickey, Mom, Brian, Erin, Dad, Eddie, Stacey (with child), Dan, Me, Gabriel, and Grace. Yes, that's right . . . Eddie and Stacey are expecting! We are so excited about adding another little one to the Holdaway family. I love how our family keeps growing! Baby Holdaway is due in May.
Gabriel and Grace were so cute for the wedding. They looked so big and grown up.
Grace was so sweet with her daddy. She was willing to pose for pictures and act like such a little lady.
At the start of the ceremony, Gabriel walked Grandma down the aisle. We were so proud of him for how well he did with this very important job.
Then he came back and walked his sister down the aisle. It was so hard for me not to start crying as I saw them walk down the aisle. I was so proud of my big kids. Dan and I are so blessed to have them.
Dan and I walked down the aisle together . . . it wasn't nearly as stressful this time as it was the first.
Eddie walked with Erin's sister, Amy.
The ceremony was so sweet.
Brian and Erin looked so sweet together during the ceremony.
Mr. and Mrs. Brian Holdaway at last!
The happy couple shared their first dance. Brian had vowed to only dance twice during the reception, and this was number one.
This was Dance #2. Brian and Mom shared the mother-son dance.
The cake was so pretty with its Fall decoration.
Mom made a lollipop bouquet for Erin to toss to the kids at the reception. Erin made a rule that the one who caught the bouquet had to share the suckers with all of the kids. The kids really enjoyed having a part of the reception just for them. Unfortunately at this point, both of my kids had already had a long day. They had retreated back to the groom's suite to watch a DVD and relax.
Brian was very respectful to Erin when retrieving the garter that he tossed to the guys.
Grace came downstairs to enjoy a piece of cake with Abby.
The Hoyland's were at the reception. Missy, Abby's mom, and I have been BFF's since 6th grade.
Here's one for the Christmas card! Holdaway clan enjoyed the reception . . . Gus, Chris, Joe, Eddie, Me, Stacey, and Terri.
So, we (the Holdaway family) had been warned that the Fisher clan was quite a party crew. I think the Fisher's greatly underestimated the Holdaway's party potential though. When the reception was wrapping up, it was Holdaway's who dominated the dance floor . . . for better or for worse. Dan, Stacey, and Gus showed off their moves.
Erin and Eddie got a little freaky before the night was over! Haha! I love that we are all able to have fun together!

Congratulations to Brian and Erin! We are so thankful to have been a part of your special day!

Coming Soon . . .

Alright, Folks! Things have been busy around the Ellnor home. There have been many new developments that I can't wait to blog about, but it probably won't happen until Tuesday or Thursday evening.

Here's a sneak preview of what's been going on:

• Brian and Erin have been married for a week now. The kids were adorable in the wedding!
• There is a Baby Holdaway on the way!
• We took a trip to West Virginia to visit with the Kendrick side of the family.
• Gabriel lost his first tooth!
• Grace had her first "big girl" sleepover!

I know that you are on the edge of your seat, and I can't wait to tell you all about it! Stay tuned!

The Night Before

It's the night before Erin and Brian's big day. Tonight the rehearsal was held at the Gillespie and the rehearsal dinner was held at our house.
When we arrived at the Gillespie it was 6 o'clock, and I knew the kids would be starving. Daddy and I brought some Chick-fil-A for them. Aunt Stacey and Grace looked through a new Pinkaliscious book before rehearsal began.
I had to have a picture with my favorite girl.
Here come my two favorite boys too. They are so handsome.
Just as rehearsal began, I made the kids pose for a picture.
Gabriel practiced walking his little sis down the aisle.
The blushing bride was walked down the aisle with her dad.
Rehearsal was so interesting to Gabriel. Ha! He read his new Pokemon book while Father Andy went through the ceremony.
Dinner was served by Little Cheezers Gourmet Grilled Cheese truck. I'm a little irritated with myself that I didn't get a picture of the truck parked in our driveway. That was pretty cool! Maybe someone else got a picture and they'd be willing to send it to me (Hint! Hint!) Papaw tried a S'more Sandwich, and it was YUM-O.
See . . . It was one YUM-O sandwich!
After we ate Erin told all of the kiddos to sit on the brown couch and get ready to open a gift. From left to right are Haley, Charlotte, Grace, Hunter, Gabriel, and Keegan. They all seem to get along amazingly well.
The boys got Legos sets. Despite the look on Gabriel's face in this picture, he was really excited.
He and Daddy went to work right away putting it together.
Grace got a make up set. She was a riot with her make-up. Hunter held Uncle Brian in place while Grace put lip gloss on him. Good times!
I knew that the nail polish would not stay put away for long. Grace wanted so badly to put nail polish on Haley, but Haley's toes and fingers had already been done for the wedding. Instead Grace compromised and allowed Haley to paint her nails.

I think this was one fantastic rehearsal dinner. Everyone had a good time and the food was delish! Thanks, Mom and Dad! Best wishes to Erin and Brian! We hope their day is PERFECT tomorrow.

Rockin' the Cute Skirt

For whatever reason I've had it in my mind that I really wanted Grace to have a silver skirt this Fall. I've shopped everywhere on-line, and I hadn't been able to find a silver skirt in her size. This week I went to Toys 'r Us to use some coupons and I found silver skirt in her size . . . and they were on SALE. SCORE!! The picture just doesn't do the skirt . . . or the entire Cutie-Tootie justice. Trust me . . . she was stylin' and rockin' that silver skirt.

The Great Candy Sort

As soon as we got home from Lake Rudolph, the kids started sorting their loot from trick-or-treating. Grace was so cute because she literally sorted her candy. She had Tootsie Rolls in one pile, gum in another pile, Pixie Sticks in another pile, etc. That is SO something I would do!
This was the first time they have ever bargained with each other to get the candy they like the best. At first Grace was just giving Gabriel candy. I had to teach that girl a little lesson and model bargaining for her. Once I showed her how it was done, she was ready to deal.

Halloweekend!!

Last weekend we camped at Lake Rudolph in Santa Claus, Indiana for one of their Halloweekend celebrations. It was a busy weekend. There was PER-FECT weather. And a great time was had by all!
The kids were awake BEFORE the crack of dawn on Friday morning. Daddy kept them occupied with some cartoons on the iPad until the sun came up.
Mmmm . . . dry cereal by the campfire is the perfect way to start a day of camping.
Grace is a hat thief. Darn it . . . my hat looks better on her than it does on me!
Dan hooked the wagon to Sam's four-wheeler so he could take Grace and Jake for a ride.
Nora hung out by the campfire with us in the morning too.
Two campsites from us was a family who decorated their campsite to the hilt. It was amazing! Gabriel and Jackson could not wait to go down and see it. I took Grace into this campsite so she could see it too. She was hesitant to go into the "ghoulish graveyard." We took about four steps in when she started to to scream and cry. Ha! Poor kid! This was not the year to visit scary campsites.
We celebrated Daniel's birthday after dinner Friday night. I think he turned 21 again!
After a taste of cookie cake, Alicia, Kaitlyn, Grandma, Sam, Gabriel, Grace, and I went to the pavilion to see It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
When the movie was over, we got in line for the hay ride. It took a while, but we got our turn to ride around the park.
It was a chilly ride though, and we had some sleepy kids.
Saturday morning the kids were up-and-at-em early.
Daddy teased his big boy.
Grandma brought edible necklaces for the kids to make Saturday.
Sam decorated his four-wheeler for the Halloweekend celebration.
It wasn't long after breakfast, and it was time to head up the hill to the carnival.
The kids colored a tote bag for collecting trick-or-treat candy. They also played several games like a toilet paper toss, a duck pond, a sucker tree, and bean bag toss.
The bean bag toss was one of the last games the kids played. At each game the kids won some sort of prize, no matter the outcome of the game.
Saturday night was trick-or-treat night. Gabriel --- I mean --- Heat Blast was pretty pumped about trick or treating at the graveyard campsite. The kids had nicknamed it "The Dungeon."
Grace --- uhmm . . . Bat Girl was SO excited to trick or treat. I love that you can see her pig tails flying as she ran from campsite to campsite.
At some campsites bowls of candy are left out for the trick or treaters to help themselves. We tried to teach our kiddos to be considerate of others and only take one piece of candy from the bowls. Some bowls just had too many yummy choices though.
Trick or treating was a blast for the kids!
Antiquated Pyramid Man drove our golf cart while the kids collected their candy.
Grace hitched a ride with the McAfee's and Gettelfinger's.

We love Fall camping! Halloweekend has got to be one of the most fun weekends of our entire year! We've already got our campsites reserved for next year!