Wedding. Tennessee. Photos. Stuff.

I'm in a wee bit of a hurry so I can't give you much of a detailed post but I can give you a buttload of photos to look at from the weekend.

Did you know that a buttload is an actual unit of measurement?

Buttload: “A ‘butt‘ is a traditional unit of volume used for wines and other alcoholic beverages. A butt is generally defined to be two hogsheads, but the size of hogsheads varies according to the contents. In the United States a hogshead is typically 63 gallons and a butt is 126 gallons.”

Anywho - me and the family took little road trip (277 miles) to the Memphis, Tennessee area for my sister-in-law's wedding.

Sister-in-laws wedding? You ask.

I'll explain in the post.

Government approved traffic sign in TN.

Settling into our hotel room.

The wedding venue. Rustic chic.

And here's the bride and groom! Isn't she gorgeous?

So lemme tell you about this special wedding.

Dori (the bride) is my late brother-in-law's widow.

Did that make sense?

The wife of my husband's brother who passed away a few years ago.

Dori and Zack (my husband's brother) were married about four years when Zach tragically passed away from cancer. Before he met Dori, Zach beat cancer and then his life was improved a million times over when he met and married this Albanian beauty. Unfortunate Zach's cancer came back with a vengeance and Dori cared for him with undying love and patience until he passed away.

 I've never seen loyalty shine so brightly  - I get choked up every time I think about it.

Dori's immediate family all live in Albania so Zach's parent became much like her adoptive mother and father which makes her still very much a part of our family.

Dori and Rob (the new husband) started dating last year (?) and tied the knot this weekend.

I don't know Rob but he seems like a really nice, super laid back, groovy kind of fellow. He's going to fit in well.

Wedding bathroom selfie.

My family.

After the bride and groom had their first dance, the bride pulled out a white handkerchief and twirled it about and her mom put a white fez on the groom. They joined hands, got in a circle and danced a traditional Albanian celebratory dance to some sweet Albanian pop music. I wanted to join so badly but I had to hang on to a super grumpy toddler.

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The wedding favors were chocolates made by a family friend.

That night after I struggled to get the kids to go to sleep (it was awful -THEY were AWFUL) I rewarded myself with a giant burger from the cafe downstairs and local coffee milk ale. 

Quiet time in a hotel room with a burger was tremendously blissful.

The next morning. 

 

 Yeah, Cedar got one nasty boo boo at the wedding. After family portraits she took off running and hit the pavement face first. 

We all went to the Memphis Pyramid which is now a ridiculously huge Bass Pro Shop.

I don't give a crap about Bass Pro Shops but that place was pretty sweet.

There were live animals, restaurants, aquatic displays and even a bowling ally. 

This giant elevator takes you to the top of the pyramid and also to a bar.  

We had to cut our stay short because I was losing my patience with my baby girl.

Cedar squirmed and cried and threw fits the entire trip and I was reaching the end of my rope. 

She was teething, going through a growth spurt, in unfamiliar surroundings -  all with a fresh wicked face injury.

She. Was. Not. Happy.

So we left and headed back to good ol' Tejas.

BONUS PICS:

River turned three on the 20th!

I let him have a go at a lolly pop. And then I tossed it. I'm just not a fan of candy but hey, it was his birthday.

We took him out to eat at a little restaurant with an indoor playground and took him over to a pet supply store to see the animals.

Look at this champ! Someone suggested we tell people she got into a fight with another baby. I'm going to run with that because that's hilarious.