Weddings....

This is the summer of weddings for us!! We attended our second of three weddings last weekend in Victoria, BC. Adam's sister, Gillian, was married to her new husband, Raffi, in a very beautiful ceremony on Saturday. Our weekend was filled with festivities beginning on Thursday when we arrived and ending with a brunch/pre-birthday party for Marin on Sunday before we flew home.



A peek at Vancouver as we were landing! I sure miss the mountains and the ocean!

Calli was shaking with excitement before we even got on the plane! She only wanted to see her Auntie Gillian! She entertained everyone all weekend and did a fine job as a flower girl during the ceremony. The bride was a little late arriving, so Calli filled in the time running up and down the aisle of the church, ending up with some extreme blisters on her little feet! This resulted in the need to sit down during the ceremony and make sad little faces to her parents as she suffered in her shoes!! We took the culprits off her feet once the ceremony was done and things went uphill for her from there!

On Thursday evening, we had the pleasure of meeting Raffi's parents for the first time! We had a lovely visit with lots of laughs and some delicious appetizers!! There were a few delays with the new airport security measures, but all in all, everyone arrived safe and sound.

On Friday, we finished a bit of last minute shopping and were treated to a fantastic BBQ with the majority of the wedding guests. We even feasted on freshly caught Dungeness Crab!!!!!!!!! It really doesn't get much better!



Trust Calli to find the sparkliest, weirdest high heels in the entire store! These particular shoes had lights in the clear heels...so when she walked, they lit up...similar to childrens shoes. Yikes!



This is Marin and her Great Grandpa Murdock! They share the same middle name! Marin was busy snacking on Cheerios and I saw Great Grandpa sharing with her!!



Here are Calli and her Uncle Raffi blowing bubbles in the garden at the barbecue. Calli is lucky to have such a nice, patient Uncle who was willing to play with her!!

Saturday morning, we had a surprise Wedding Shower for Gillian, while the men had a guided tour of the Helicopter base where Raffi works as a pilot for the US Navy. Gillian thought she was meeting her Mom and 2 best friends for breakfast, so was very suprised to see 10 other people there to join her!! We had a great time.



This is Gillian and Calli at the wedding shower.

After breakfast, the wedding party rushed off to have their hair and makeup done. Calli talked about it for days on end. "My first appointment at the hairdresser!!" The stylist pinned the back of Calli's hair up and placed 3 live, white orchids in her new "updo."



Luckily, or not, Calli threw a HUGE snit for me while we were there and ended up rolling around on the chairs during her fit, so we were able to see how easily the flowers could come out and her hair and how the pins fell out! Being at the right place at the right time, we managed to have it repaired before we left. During the ride back to the house, Calli tried with all her might not to allow the back of her head to touch the car seat. It was pretty cute to hear her mutter "CAR...quit doing that!" Then, "Mommy, the car keeps making my hair touch the car seat." She ended up falling asleep in the long run...with her head forward on her chest!!!



Calli looking extra angelic at the church!!



Calli and the Matron of Honor, Erin, coming down the aisle of the church!! (Sorry about the red eye...couldn't fix it...) They had beautiful bouquets of white hydrangea and white roses!





Calli during the ceremony...



The new Mr and Mrs!!! As soon as the Reverend announced they were Mr and Mrs, the church bells started ringing! It was an excellent finish to a beautiful ceremony!




Here are the newlyweds cutting their cake with Raffi's sword!!



The cake was not only beautiful, but delicious as well!!



The bride and her very proud Father having a dance!

Calli was very eager to get on the dance floor and show off her "moves," but after only a few dances, she began to peter out and only wanted her Mommy. She fell asleep in my arms within 5 minutes and that's where she remained for the rest of the evening! Marin fell asleep about 1/2 an hour before Calli and spent the evening being passed around from relative to relative.



This picture is of Calli in her Auntie Kim's arms. They had created a "secret dance partner handshake" in preparation for the dancing, but as you can tell from Calli's expression...she was a bit too tired to participate.

All in all, we were absolutely thrilled to be able to attend such a beautiful, intimate and classy wedding! We had a nice time visiting our family and getting to know Raffi and his parents as well! And in 3 more weeks...we'll be doing it all over again!!!