Mr. and Mrs. Rogers!!!

Big congratulations to Amanda and John! Well while they are off enjoying their honeymoon I'm going to write about our busy weekend. :)

Friday: Crazy early flight, but got sent off just fine. The last two flights I even had a seat open next to me which was so nice. Got to Amarillo around 12:15 and was picked up by the Gragert boys as we headed out to lunch. Was so excited to see Amanda's family again since I haven't seen them in a few years and some of them even longer. We go way back since I traveled with the Gragerts on many occasion. Also was excited to meet Amanda's friend/roommate from Alaska for the first time. Sarah and I got along great and she took many of the pictures you might see! :) She was an amazing help with running around doing anything she could the whole weekend.

Then we headed off to get nails done. I opted out of the pedicures most of the ladies got and did a french manicure with fake nails...OUCH. This was not the most relaxing experience I've been through, but they do look beautiful! :) The other ladies seemed to enjoy all of their nails getting spiffed so it was worth the trip. Then quickly went and changed for the rehearsal...got to the chapel and then set off the alarm so a policeman had to come help us...rehearsal was fairly uneventful...rehearsal dinner was delicious! I enjoyed getting to chat and hear fun cowgirl stories from Christina who has married into a rancher family and now gets to ride in the back of the pickup with her mother in law who seems to enjoy tossing her around a little. :)

Oh cant forget to mention the awesome coffee cup lid we got on the way to change for the rehearsal! (I was needing some caffeine by this point) Here is a wonderful video for all of you to see. :)

Then after the rehearsal we ended up going to the reception hall to finish getting it all set up. Stayed there till around 10 and then chatted with Amanda till a little after midnight and after 23 hrs (remember the time difference) I finally went to sleep!

B/L day: Lorelei was sooo good for her dad today. He was amazed at how wonderful she was being and of course I was very relieved. They went to the mall in Norfolk and played at the play place today.

Lows: freezing airports and airplanes; finding out getting your nails done is actually a minor form of torture ;)

Highs: seeing the Gragert family; getting to know John better (will mention more later)



Saturday: The big day! After a lovely few hrs of sleep (very few for Amanda who couldn't fall asleep until 4 something) we were getting all spiffed up for the big day. Amanda's cousin, Mary, is a hair stylist so she came over to get us all beautified.

Off to the chapel for pictures, no problem! The photographer was wonderful and seemed to get some great ones. Will have to post the ones I get copies of for you. Amanda looked beautiful and happy and was very excited to walk down the aisle.

The ceremony went very well. I think it was all Amanda was hoping for. One fun part was Amanda having to ask the pastor to repeat the vows twice because they were so many long words put together! I know I couldn't have done it very well! It just added a lot of cuteness to the ceremony.

The reception...more yummy food! :) They had tasty finger foods and then topped it off with a cupcake cake! The speeches went well (whew) and then they ended up opening some gifts before heading off to Vegas. I was so amused to hear Amanda tell me about their plans. "Well we are both foodies so the only plans we really have are to eat at some really nice restaurants." It sounds delicious and I cant wait to hear about it!


Then I was able to visit with my mom and sister for the rest of the afternoon. We did some light shopping and then enjoyed Cracker Barrel for supper. They even brought margaritas and chips for us to enjoy that night. Yum! It was nice to be able to visit with them again even if it was a quick visit.

B/L day: Today Lorelei tested her dad's patience! Guess its a good thing so he can appreciate me more? :) But it was still a frustrating day for them. Brad tried to go to a fun place to play that I had gone to once a few months ago, but then when he got there it was closed! They ended up taking a short trip to the park and that was about it. He also took her for a walk to get out, but it has been very hot here lately. He did enjoy having two full nights (plus nap time) to watch THREE movies. :) He also got his fill of tv, which is normally impossible to accomplish. :)

Lows: not having Brad and Lorelei with me
Highs: Amanda getting married of course! Fun time with all the girls, ranging from Amanda and Christina to Mom and Heather

Sunday: Got to sleep in a bit this morning! The big highlight of the morning was being able to eat a Texas-shaped waffle! Yum. We took our time getting ready and such, then ran to a couple more stores trying to find me a blanket for the freezing airports. We found a great one for a great price! Yay! Then they dropped me off at the airport (with way too much time, guess that 2 hrs early doens't apply to Sunday mornings in Amarillo...)

Flights went fine minus the yucky smell of tomato juice. Sbarro's pizza never tasted so good when I had it for supper in Charlotte. It was even picture worthy. ;)

Brad and Lorelei happily picked me up (today they took a trip to the mall and Lorelei enjoyed her first Subway sandwhich (roasted chicken breast) and apparently loved it...didnt make it to the play area this time because she got tired) and Lorelei was very sleepy and went right back to bed when we got home. Three days, one wedding and six airplanes later, I was finally home! I was so glad to be able to share the day with Amanda.

Some things I learned about John:
1) he's considerate - he picked up Amanda's car to "have the fluids checked" (whatever that means) to prepare for taking it on the road; he then left the windows of the vehicle cracked so it wouldn't be too hot for us; he also left her a rose with a cute note on her seat!
2) he's funny - Amanda told me a story about him that was amusing...he accidentally turned on one of the butt warmers on her car without realizing it and then was like "man it is really hot in here my butt is burning up!" You can imagine her amusement...
3) loves Amanda sooo much - you should have seen the way he looked at her :)

Was jotting down some fun quotes throughout the trip so just decided to save them for the end:

"She is so wackadoodle isn't she?" (Christina talking about me)

"She is not the lid for your pot...she does not fry his bacon..." (Sara giving Ojay a pep talk about his ex girlfriend pre rehersal)

"Apparently the name Pete sounds just like the Chinese word for 'butt' so then we kept calling Pete butt...but then they started calling me Mrs. Butt and I just didn't like that"(Mary telling us about her husband while fixing hair) ....then when I asked Sara, who speaks Chinese, if she knew that it meant butt Christina said "They don't study "butt" in the text books okay?" ;)

Well I hope you all enjoyed this loooong blog. It was a wonderful weekend!