Sievers Stories...: A Great Wedding and Some BAAAAD Luck

That pretty much sums up last weekend. The bottom line? My little brother, Trent, got married to his beautiful fiance, Kara, in a very touching and intimate wedding in a little town outside of St. Louis. I have never seen my brother happier than he was that day. Honestly. In all his life. It was a blessing to be a witness to.

Now for the BAAAAAD part...

Here's our original plan: Brad, the boys, and I would drive to St. Louis since we'd need a big car once we got there. My parents would bring Brady with them on their flight and meet us there - she's not fun to ride with. We'd celebrate, eat, and dance the night away. Then return safely on Sunday evening, ready for a great week.

Now... here's a brief synopsis of how our weekend actually went:

My parents and Brady get on the plane and the flight gets canceled (yes, they were ON the plane) - thank you, American Airlines. The next flight is Friday morning, which they can't wait for, so they get on the road a few hours behind us. We spend Friday entertaining kids while finishing up last minute errands. Did I mention that St. Louis is 45-50 degrees and rainy the ENTIRE weekend? Brady starts having NASTY diapers and proceeds to have diarrhea in the hotel tub while Brad is getting her ready for the rehearsal. We get lost on the way to the church and of course, are late. Knox won't cooperate during the rehearsal and is yelling from the pews, "It's NOT quiet time!" when my mom is telling him to be quiet. We leave the rehearsal dinner before Kara even arrives because the kids are refusing to eat, Brady is crying, and the boys are running around like crazies and rolling all over the restaurant floor.

Saturday morning, Brady's belly is still upset. She and Knox scream like banchees as we try to get them dressed. Knox refuses to be still enough to put on his bow tie and suspenders. Time to walk down the aisle - Knox won't stand with Tate so I drag him down with me. He wants me to hold him... which I do for the entire 45 minute ceremony. Brady is screaming with my parents in the front row and eventually leaves with the pastor's wife, who takes her to the nursery, where she proceeds to scream for the ENTIRE ceremony. (45 minutes, remember?) The kids drive an hour and a half with my parents to the reception, while Brad and I go with the wedding party to take pictures on our way to meeting them there. And again... it's 45 degrees out (and falling fast!). The reception has to be moved inside. The kids let loose a little - we let the boys bring Monster Trucks which keep them busy and Brady is happy to crawl around for a bit. By 8:00, we make our getaway, glad we made it through the day.

We get to the Bed and Breakfast that we're staying at, and within minutes, Brad is laid out on the couch complaining about his stomach. An hour later, he's throwing up and um... you know - which lasts ALL night. At 11:30, Knox wakes up and decides it would be fun to be like Daddy, so he pukes all night as well. No sleep for any of us! Tate gets up around 7:30 and is hovering over the toilet by 8:00, joining the rest of the crew. Why not? My parents and I pack up our things and I stuff my sick family in the car for a very enjoyable ten hour ride back home.

Needless to say, I didn't get near the pictures I had intended to. But here's just a few...