The Wedding!

So here we are on Saturday, the big wedding day!  We started with a trip to Mario Tricoci's for hair...

 The Faith vogues it up as the final prep is done (she was goofing around, don't take her too seriously!)  

 Her dress was gorgeous, she was gorgeous, just simply beautiful!

 Francesca got all dolled up as well to take the aisle by storm as the Flower Girl!

 My parents were lifesavers this weekend.  Since Mike and I were both in the wedding, my parents were left to dress 2 wild boys for a wedding.  They then met us at a local park for pictures.  Mike shows Noah the trademark Rodriguez eyebrow slick down.

 And my Sammers stole the show.  I could just eat him up in this little ensemble.  Dan (grandpa) found it around Christmas time and bought it just for kicks.  But it worked out fitting now and was perfect for the occasion.

 Do you see the entourage the kid acquired?!  At one point there were 5 people taking pictures of him and he was hamming it up for the whole bunch!

 No words, just adorableness!

 GOD BLESS BAMMA AND BAMPA!  They truly made the weekend go off for our crew without a hitch.  And they clean up remarkably well considering who they had to grapple with.

 The girls...

 Nick served as an usher and Sam just followed him around shrieking, "NICK, NICK!"

 Yep, that was the best family shot we could muster.  Screaming child and all, but you get the idea, right?  We're a decent looking bunch when we try!

 My how the years (and children) have whitened both of our heads since our wedding day back in 2005!

 I swear, I could take pictures of this group all day long, they are all so precious!

 Proud Papa with all his grandkids, the youngest can't resist a spiderman webbing for all!

 The ceremony went off without a hitch, Noah did his ring bearing duty with honors, and most importantly, Evan and Faith ended up married!  Then the real party began at the reception.

 For anyone who was at our wedding, you'll remember how Sara danced on the table at the reception.  She was known for this, and performed it on many wedding occasions.  So, in honor of her, Dan climbed on the table with Josie...

 Followed by Faith....

 And then Kim...

 And finally even Dr. Rodriguez himself...

 They made Sara so proud I am sure she was smiling down upon us all!

 Kim, in further tribute, raised a Lalo's glass of margarita to her mom!

 As the night rolled on, some partied hard, while others didn't quite make it.

 Cliff came and shared a glass or two (or 12) with us and ripped up the dance floor with us as well.  It was so much fun having many many men to dance with ;)

 The bridal couple OWNED that dance floor!

 Some classic underwater moves by the Drs.

 Finally, Faith reels in her catch and the night came to an end!

 And here on the morning after, are Mr. and Mrs. Klein.  We wish them the very best and can't wait to be a part of their lives together.  It was a beautiful day and a fantastic night and we all survived!

Rehearsal Dinner

Well this weekend was the BIG wedding weekend!
After a year of planning, Faith and Evan finally tied the knot :)  The weekend started with the big rehearsal dinner.  Since Noah was going to be a ring bearer for the wedding and receive lots of attention for wearing his tux, we decided to feature Mr. Sam at the rehearsal in his own special suit.  You may remember this suit from a cruise with Noah a few years ago.  Sam was a hit!  We all gathered together for a few appetizers before getting down to business.

 

Then it was all hands on deck as we follow Evan's direction for processional, etc.

As is tradition at Jewish weddings, Evan walks in with his parents.

As Dan shakes Evan's hand, he gives him some friendly ribbing about his decision to marry into this crazy posse.

Faith's mantra for the weekend, "I'm getting married bitches!"

Faith and Evan handed out gifts to their wedding party.  The gals got bags (that were our favorite colors) with initial on them and jewelry for the wedding day and wine.  The guys got these awesome coolers that also service as small chairs with 6 packs in them.  

It was a wonderful night!  While we missed Sara, her presence was clearly felt all weekend and Dan was not lacking in beautiful table partners :)

May 2012 = crazy time

How's your May going?  Ours is, in a word, INSANE!  Lots of fun things going on, but I can barely keep up with everything.  Noah started soccer with the park district on Friday afternoons.  He loves it and actually seems to do pretty well following directions, dribbling the ball, and running up and down the field.  They don't actually "play" so-to-speak, it's mostly just kicking a ball and running, but it wears them out, so I call that a success!

Cal and I are "birthday buddies" since he celebrates on May 4th and I'm May 7th.  We had a little party at our house with the boys and Evie.  It was the usual chaotic fun!

Then, we had Evan and Faith's bachelor and bachelorette parties last weekend.  For obvious reasons I won't post a majority of the pictures, but you can get a pretty good idea of how the night when (at least for the girls).  We had spa time in the morning, then headed out for dinner in style!

We crowned the guest of honor at Cafe Iberico downtown...

And then we were off to LaSalle Power Company where the dueling pianists played George Michael's "Gotta have Faith" and had her dance on top of the piano!

 The night ended with a ride back to Kim's house.  My parents had the boys for the weekend, so they had a blast as well.  We took a couple days to recover from that.

The highlight of my birthday was getting $$$ to buy the SLR camera I've been hoping for.  I ended up getting a Nikon d3100 and I am super happy about it.  I still need to take some time getting to know it, but you can't deny the results are impressive as evidenced by the following...

Noah is wrapping up his year in preschool school this coming week.  Last week he had a mother's day presentation where the kids sang and Ms. Diane read a list of cute quotes from the kids.

Then the boys were great troopers as I dragged them around town trying to get together some things for upcoming events.  We discovered that Meijer offers free pony rides, score!

 Then last night was my mom's big night.  After over 30 years of teaching, she is retiring this spring.  Mary Tavegia, principal and dear family friend, is also retiring.  They were honored by the Cossitt staff last night at the LaGrange Country Club.  It was an amazing night filled with wonderful memories and heartfelt words of thanks.  And she deserved every last bit of it!

 Both my uncles came as well, wouldn't Ione be proud!

We clean up purdy good, eh?

 The honorees, in their tiaras.  They are two very wonderful, important, compassionate teachers and women.  I am so proud to know both of them!

So that wraps up the last few weeks, what's up next?  Well, Faith and Evan's wedding, of course!  That's next weekend and I'm excited about seing Noah in a tux and Sam in a suit.  It's going to be a wonderful weekend, so you know there will be pics to follow!