First, the wedding

We made a trip to Iowa for my sister's wedding.  My sister looked absolutely beautiful!!  Even though she wasn't feeling that great.  Let's just say she doesn't handle stress well....and weddings can be very stressful.

But, Friday, July 13, 2012, was a great day!!  It rained in the morning but all was clear for the big event that evening.

The kids did ok in the rehearsal the night before.  Did I mention that there were 14 kids ages 11 and under IN the wedding?  With Amanda's love for kids, it didn't surprise us one bit.

Here are the 14 nieces and nephews.  Only 13 were actually in the wedding since the baby on the bride's lap was too little to actually take part.  But she was an honorary member of the miniature bridal party.

The photographers did great, too.  I can't imagine how hard it would be to get 13 kids organized and all smiling at the camera.

Of course, you have to expect a little bit of chaos when you have so many kids.  So with the nieces and nephews, there was also the groom's almost 4-year-old son who was the very proud ring bearer.  You couldn't help but smile as you watched him walk down the aisle with that pillow in his hands.

During the ceremony, the adults sitting on the first pews had to keep the kids quiet.  Throughout the ceremony, I could hear "Sit down.  Come back and sit in the line.  Be quiet.  Come and sit here.  Stay here.  Don't get in the aisle....etc"  At one point I saw something fly into the aisle from where the girls were sitting.  I heard later that one of the girls smashed another girl's flowers and threw the flower pieces into the aisle.  I looked up at the girl's mother (who was the groom's attendant) and she mouthed back, "What is she doing?!?!"  At another point during the ceremony, I felt something on my ankle and looked down to see one of the girls lying down between me and my sister who was standing behind me.  She was playing with my sister's toes.  I bent down and gently tapped her to go back and sit down in her spot in front of the pew.

I have no idea how the boys behaved since they were on the other side of the aisle.

Once they were presented as Mr. and Mrs., it was time for some fun!  "I'm a Believer" began to play and we all did the Monkee walk back up the aisle.

What?  You don't know what the Monkee walk is?  This song was originally sung by the Monkees, a group my sisters and I fell in love with when we were kids.  We, along with our cousins, often did the Monkee walk....the fun walk The Monkees would do on their show.  Basically, you walk wide steps, putting your legs in front of the person next to you.  It gives this cross-legged effect while you walk.  And if you're still confused, I will personally show you the next time you see me.

Back to the wedding...

We all had little bells to ring instead of rice or bubbles or flower petals or whatever is done these days.  Which is kind of surprising since my sister has a constant headache.  But it was clearly stated that the bells should not be brought into the reception for that reason.

Mr. and Mrs. Hilpipre!

Their get-away car: a decorated golf cart with Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packer stuff representing the bride's and groom's teams, respectively.

The reception was held at the newly remodeled Warren Opera House that sits on the town square.  As we bridesmaids guided the guests to the proper place, we watched the bride and groom cruise the square in their golf cart.

A small note on cruising the square: that was the thing to do when we were in high school.  Every Friday and Saturday nights, the square was full of teens just going around and around and around the square.  It is no longer the weekend night hangout for teens, however, but I sure have a lot of square-cruising memories!

Back to the reception...

So many people came to celebrate the event.

With my sister's love for chocolate, she had a variety of chocolatey treats. Chocolate fountains, candies, cupcakes.  And my all-favorite: Chocolate ice cream with Pepsi, instead of your typical sherpet with 7-Up for a wedding punch.  If you haven't tried it, you must!

My sister's favorite candy is M&M's.  So what else would she have for her wedding cake?

The bride and groom with their 2 sons.

The Hilpipres, living happily ever after.