Our Little Jitterbug

Mom and Dad took us out to eat at Carabba's on Friday, January 25. It was so nice for us all to be together and just enjoy one another's company.  

 

Saturday, January 26, Kayla had her first dance recital at the Northwest Arkansas Community College with a group of students from her daycare. They meet once a week on Thursdays with their dance instructor and they have recitals twice a year.

 

Our little chipmunk is on the left side...

 

 

Here's a video of one of her dances.

 

 

I laughed the whole time because their costumes were so stinking cute. I'm not sure dancing will be Kayla's forte, but she definitely enjoys it!

 

Like any true southerner, our daughter wanted a treat after her debut performance so we headed to Braum's for some ice cream.

 



 

Birthday cake is currently Kayla's favorite.

 

Christina's Wedding Day, January 19, 2013

 

 

Saturday morning began at Mom's house with beauty shop in the bathroom and dining room.

 

I did Lara's makeup for her wedding, so it's only appropriate I do it for Christina's as well.

 



 

Rhyan was our hair stylist.

 

My only matron of honor duty was to do the bride's makeup.

 

 

 

Due to all of the hustle and bustle at the house surrounding getting ready, Kayla did not get a chance to nap. So, she got a small one in on the 30 minute drive to White Hall from Sherwood.

 

Nene, Papa, and their favorite little granddaughter; actually, their only grand baby period.

 

Our pretty little princesses: Layla (5 yrs) and Kayla (3 yrs)

 

Beautiful Bride

 

They get to pucker up for the rest of their lives!

 



Laura Courshesne, Rhyan Shirley, Cherish Owens, Lara Cahan, Christina Shirley (very soon to be Owens), Janice Northen, Hope Rowe, Shannon Wicker

 



 

"Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters..."

 

 

Our sweet flower girl forgot to throw out her snow, but she did such a great job walking down the aisle so sweetly and slowly.

 

Our two dads are ready to give Chrissy away...

 

Happily "almost" Married

 

 

Unity Candle

 



 

All of our hard work on Friday paid off. The food tasted delicious, and looked great!

Elinda Dannar is a true cake artist!

 



 

Wedding Party table

 

Church gym converted into winter wonderland...

 

 

The miracle workers pulled it off!! It was a GORGEOUS winter wedding thanks to Mom and Aunt Rhonda!

 

Rhyan acted as DJ and her favorite line from the evening was "There are two food tables folks. There are two tables..." Despite her repetition, everyone still seemed to think the food on the left hand side was better, despite the fact there was the exact same food on both sides.

 



 

Christina and Josh Owens

 

Father-daughter dance

 

 

Flower girl-ring bearer dance

 

Another father-daughter dance (Brian, get ready!)

 

Kayla was such a trooper and after a night full of fun, food, and dance, she was POOPED!!

 

 



 



Wedding Dress Rehearsal

The evening of the dress rehearsal was fairly chaotic. The person in charge was extremely disorganized so suffice it to say I was not a happy camper. But somehow, it all came together (for the most part) for the ceremony the next day.

 

 

Christina and Josh

 

 

Chaos at its finest.

PaPa and Kayla

 



 

Following the dress rehearsal and dinner, it was time to get to work. Mom was in charge and when she gets in teacher mode, she can be fairly intimidating. She gave each one of us a job we needed to execute in a timely manner.

 

Hope and Lara were smart enough to leave before the work started. They put their sweat in that day with the food preparation. :)

 



Cousin Megan was assigned the important job of untangling the lights.

Brian was in charge of place settings.

 

 

Cherish had the job of ironing the table cloths.

 

Laura and Rhyan after a hard night's work. 



Pre-Wedding Bliss

Since I'm a month behind on Christina's wedding, I thought I would continue describing the event that was the Shirley-Owens wedding which took place on Saturday, January 19. On Thursday, January 17, our cousin Elinda started making the wedding cake. She did an amazing job and the end result was both beautiful and delicious!

 

 

 

We devoted our Friday to prepping the food for Saturday evening. Mom just told us where to go and what to cut, and we were a well-oiled machine in no time. Is it ironic that Rhyan was in charge of the chicken and she doesn't eat much meat?

 

 

 

 

 

Gary (Lara's dad and my adopted father) and Christina were in charge of chopping celery and apples. Dad was apparently in charge of entertaining Gary while he worked.

 

 

Mom measured and dumped the ingredients for the chicken salad while Donna (Lara's mom and my adopted mother) stirred.

 

Lara was in charge of eating - correction "packaging" - the chicken salad in containers.

 



 

Everyone was rewarded for their hard work with a delicious lunch consisting of sandwiches and soup.

 

 

Lara, Shannon, Hope, Christina, Rhyan

 

Gary, Donna, Mom, Dad

 



 

Baby Wicker (9 weeks) & Baby Cahan (13 weeks) 

Another possibility is that we both enjoyed lunch a little too much!