A beautiful wedding and weekend in Montana

Congratulations Brad and Charlotte Bernhart – newly married!  We were excited to be part of the celebration and had a wonderful weekend in Billings and Red Lodge to celebrate.

A few of our not so favorite things:

1. Catching colds.  All of us.  Aaron had his beforehand but Elayna and I were noticeably froggier and crankier than normal.  We slept horribly, ate horribly, and were generally not the best company for the weekend.
2. A cold and rainy wedding day.  The wedding was scheduled to be outside at the Red Lodge Fairgrounds but luckily Brad and Charlotte had a Plan B:  inside in the 4-H barn.  Only in Montana are we excited for a wedding in the 4-H barn.
3. Elayna’s ivory flower-girl dress.  Although I’ve been planning this for weeks and had a sample of material to match, I somehow missed the boat and had the only ivory dress.  The other 5 girls wore yellow.  While no one (including the bride Charlotte) seemed to care, I was disappointed.

A few of our favorite things:

1. Catching up with Lance and Sarah Kouba.  We met up on Thursday for lunch and then Aaron decided to run a 10k with them in Red Lodge on Saturday. 
2. Seeing Grandma Missy and Uncle Nate.  THANKS for driving over for the afternoon on Thursday.  I loved seeing you and playing in the park (Elayna spent a good deal of time dancing on a picnic table) and a yummy dinner at the Windmill.
3. Aunt Margene’s gorgeous cupcakes.  She worked on these for MONTHS!
4. Playing in the river with Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Carol.  Grandpa attempted to teach her to fly fish, but we’ll need another lesson in a few years.  Throwing rocks in the river was much more successful.  Very fun.
5. Seeing Aunt Allyson!!  It’s been well over a year – maybe close to 2 – since Elayna has seen her Aunt!  We’ve all decided we need to make a trip to New York soon.
6. Making friends at the rehearsal barbeque.  Elayna really enjoyed these 2 girls, Lucy and Eugene and they played for hours.  Lucy even made her sit with her for dinner.  It’s the best I’ve ever seen Elayna play with other kids….
7. The BEST FLOWERGIRL EVER~!  I had severe doubts if we were going to make it through the day but Elayna pulled through.  She calmly walked out with the other girls, sat quietly through the ceremony, and was sweet and loving at the reception. 
8. Super Cute Brad and Charlotte!!  They were and are so happy.  Congratulations!!