The Reception.

The Reception May 1st:

Pre-Reception
So Maria and Mitch decided to have there reception at this really nice pavilion located right next to the temple. The day before, all the boys removed the picnic tables that in the pavilion so that we could set up the tables for the reception the next day. Here are a few pictures of the setting up process:

The flowers used for the reception were down right gorgeous!

These were the florists who designed the flower bouquets for the receiving line.

What the pavilion looked like after we were done setting up the tables and everything.

The Wedding Cake

(This picture above is my favorite picture of the cake)

(This is a close second favourite)

Picture time:

Aaron had gotten his shirt completely soaked by playing in the drinking fountain so I took his shirt off and he didn't like not having a shirt on. So I found the nearest dry thing and gave it to him to wear. It was one of my sweaters and made for a funny picture.)

Since Maria and Mitch got married the night before, they took there wedding pictures before the reception. this is a picture of Maria and Mitch and the flower girls.

Aaron doing what boys do best: destroying things.

Not the best picture because Mitch's just had to scratch his forehead but from left to right you have Mom, Maria, Mitch and Papa.

Dan and Lesley, what more can you say?

The couple with there photographer

The happy couple

The family that came to the wedding. Left-right: Dan, Lesley, Uncle Greg, Aunt Jill, Uncle Harvey, Aunt Kathryn, Mom and Papa.

A nice picture of Papa and Mom

The Fresno Temple

The Reception

This is where the food was put. At first everyone was trying to get the food from the side closest to the camera and they were reaching around the cake to get at the food. So we switched things around so people were on the other side of the cake and think it was much safer!

I love the look on every one's face in this one; Ben and Uncle Harvey are shoving their faces, Uncle Greg and Aunt Kill are just starring off into space, and Aunt Kathryn is giving me the evil eye.

Ben

The receiving line: Looks like Mitch is about to do a dance and Papa wants to see it ;)

Just a cute picture

The flowers in the receiving line.

Cutting the Cake

They both were very nice to each other when they fed each other cake.

Fun pictures

You have to have a picture of one of the boys holding the bouquet. Cory just happened to be it.

Mom, Ben, Aaron and Lesley enjoying the shade.

Aaron and I just having a little bit of fun.

I thought this was a very nice picture of my Mom, Aunt Jill and Aunt Kathryn.

Father and Daughter Dance

Mom and Papa dancing

The curtains were beautiful and hid the food prep area very well but it was a pain to keep up. The wind kept blowing it over. Finally we wired the bottom down, put rocks on the bases and roped the the top down so it wouldn't fly away. I'm glad it worked out because it looked great!

After the Reception

Aaron after the reception. You can tell he got a little bit of sun, along with the rest of us.

That evening before opening gifts. Can you see Maria's tan line?

On the drive home the next morning. Poor Cory had gotten his wisdom teeth out the Tuesday of this week. As you can tell his face was still a bit swollen and I don't think he was feeling very good at this point in time.

After the reception and opening gifts, we drove down to Visalia CA to see where Aunt Kathryn lives and to visit with them for a brief moment. Aunt Kathryn is my mothers aunt (sister to her dad). This was the first time that many of us had ever been down there. On the drive think everyone took a little nap at some point because we were all exhausted from the day and the weekend.

The day after the reception was Sunday and we got up and left Fresno at around 8:30. We stopped somewhere down the road for church and then it was off to the airport to drop me off. Since I flew in they picked me up on there way down to Fresno and dropped me off, which was really nice of them and worked out perfectly.

All in all it was a very good week end and I really enjoyed being able to spend time with my family and to see Maria so incredibly happy. She deserves all the happiness in the world and think she has found someone who will try his hardest to give that to her.