Conner and Katie were married on January 14th, and we were beyond happy and blessed to be a part of their big day!
Before leaving, Steven and I had decided to leave right after my grad class on Tuesday night and drive for a few hours before stopping at a hotel to rest; we weren't quite sure how far we would be able to make it while driving with Sawyer.
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| Sawyer slept the majority of the trip away. |
With a lot of help from Mom, we finally made it to Birmingham on Wednesday afternoon. Taylor met us there in order to pick her up, and we drove the rest of the way to Opelika. It's funny how you don't always realize how much you miss a place until you leave. As soon as we arrived in town, our spirits were raised and excitement took all of our tiredness away. We met Steven's family at Jim Bob's for dinner (yumm...I missed it!). It was so great to see them all and give them a chance to meet Sawyer.
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| hanging out with Conner |
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| Tripp and Sawyer at the Meadows' |
On Thursday, Mrs. Theo went to pick up her mom and bring her to O-town for the wedding weekend. That afternoon we introduced her to her great grandson and then went to celebrate Mrs. Theo's birthday that evening by going out to dinner in Auburn at Provino's. It was delicious (as always), and it was so great to be able to spend the evening with Steven's family before all the wedding craziness kicked in the next day.
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| Sawyer and his Great Maw-Maw Sidney |
Friday was a whirlwind...Steven and I took Sawyer up to Opelika High to visit Summer, Kirstin, and Bryan. There are not words wo describe how much I miss laughing, making jokes, and teaching with them! I am so beyond sad that I forgot to bring my camera up to the school (sorry no pictures). While we were at the high school, Mom called and said that she and Aunt Sherry were at the hotel and were ready for us to drop Sawyer off with them while we went to the rehearsal dinner. We dropped by and visited for a quick minute before rushing back to Steven's house to get ready.
That afternoon, Katie came over to the house so I could do her hair. It was great to get to hang out with her a little on our own. We laughed, talked about the wedding details, and got to have a little girl time while the boys worked on the rehearsal dinner slide show.
That evening after the rehearsal, we all made our way over to the Cottage Walk Cafe in downtown Opelika for some delicious food and fellowship. Everything was beautiful, and I had such a great time, but I must admit, although I knew he was having a blast with mom and Aunt Sherry, I missed my little man so much!
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| future bride and groom |
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| the Meadows family |
On Saturday morning, after getting my hair sone with the girls at the salon, I went to meet up with all the McCulloch's at the hotel. It's crazy how much I already missed them all, even though we had only been apart for a couple of weeks. We ate lunch then I had to go back to to church for pictures and the ceremony. It was a gorgeous wedding, and I was so happy that Katie was officially a member of the Meadows family!!!
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| Big papa with Sawyer |
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| Beautiful Bride :) |
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| view from the balcony |
After the ceremony at First Baptist Opelika, we all went downtown to the Opelika Events Center for the reception. It was beautiful and the food was amazing! More than anything, I so enjoyed visiting with all of our family and friends that I had not seen in a long time!!!
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| the McCullochs minus dad |
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| Meadows family photo |
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| Mom's Date ;) |
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| after the ceremony with some of our oldest friends...Miss you all so much!!! |
On Sunday, we went to church at First Baptist, which was such a blessing. We miss it more than I can explain. After lunch, mom had to leave to go back home with Michael and Betsy. We were both so emotional. I am pretty sure I cried for an hour, and only stopped because Marie came over to shoot our family photos. She is such a great photographer and the pictures turned out beautifully!!!
Below are a few samples of her work:
On Monday, we woke up early and made our way back to North Carolina. It was so sad to leave Opelika because we aren't exactly sure when we will be able to get back to town. Although the entire week was a little bit of a blur, it was so fun to get to see so many people that mean the world to us. I cannot wait until our next visit to sweet home Alabama!!!
