Keith and Kayla in the House!

My eldest niece, Kayla Michon, became Mrs. Keith House last weekend (actually... it was several weeks ago, but it has taken me this long to write this post.) in Blue Springs, Missouri. We loaded up the mini and did what only we can do - we turned this trip into another National Lampoons Griffin Roadtrip Adventure, about which I simply don't have time to provide a written play-by-play.

I will say that at some point in the trip, I threw up down my front in the van and had to change clothes roadside in rush hour traffic, and any money we might have saved by NOT flying was swiftly used up by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and Lee's Summit Emergency Department. Anyway, back to the beautiful wedding that made it all worth-while...

And with one little lift, Jack shows Davers the hotel pool we had managed to hide from him all day long. Big brother's always got his back.

Son Kyle walks his Momma down the aisle. And quite predictably, I cried for the first time during the wedding prep.

When Kayla called to ask if we'd allow BOTH kiddos to be a part of her wedding, I couldn't imagine Davis sitting in a wagon with Keith's 9-month-old nephew while Jack slowly rolled them down the aisle. I imagined Davis either smacking Caden and pulling his hair, or standing up and playing wagon surfboard and jumping out. That is if he'd even keep his suit on. The rehearsal was comical to say the least. Between the wagon speed, steep slope of the aisle, and Caden being fairly new at the whole sitting up thing, it was decided that Caden's Grandma should follow behind "just in case."

Jack loved his "Ring Bearer prize." Davis got a puzzle that kept him busy just long enough to get through dinner.

Nothing makes a bride and groom look like an instant family like asking them to hold my kids for a photo. (Left: at Kyle's rehearsal last year)

The boys with the BEAUTIFUL bride just before the ceremony. Nana helps wrangle the wild Ring Bear.

Left: Uncle Greg gives the boys a pep talk before the ceremony. Right: That's a whole lotta cute in one little wagon.

And, finally, the BIG moment arrived...

Kayla looked amazing and the boys were perfect angels all the way down the aisle. I scooped up Davers and we sat down with our bag of snacks, books, and toys. They kept him quiet for about 90 seconds. I quickly had to run him out to the back of the church and spent the rest of the ceremony in the church nursery with Matt, another Dad, and our three toddlers. So, I didn't hear the ceremony but I hear it was awesome.

I love this picture of Kayla resting her head on Keith's shoulder while Greg lead them in prayer.

As Papa used to say, "Keith, you may salute your bride." It is so exciting to see two people who love the Lord, love each other, and love life. There is so much hope and promise in these two.

The bride and groom with the super-tired, super-handsome Ring bearers.

Off to the reception where it was time to PARTAY! They surprised everyone with this dance. Reminded me our OUR reception almost 11 years ago. Only without the music or the dancing. ha!

The cakes.

These pictures of Jack "dancing" crack me up. He definitely gets his moves from his Mama...

... and his looks from his Dad. We had to leave the reception after about 40 minutes. Davis was NOT havin' it.

I was able to snap these last pics in their dress duds before calling it a night.

Looking adorable takes a lot out of ya. Plus, he was developing walking pneumonia, we found out the next day at the E.R. Poor guy.

This is what the mini looked like when we headed home. Jack is peeking over the piles of crap and dirty laundry. As hard as it is for me to put this in writing, I must say: While it's certainly not winning me any cool points, the MV does have a heckuvalotta cargo space.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip and so great to see everyone under such fun conditions. It went by way too quickly and, as always, we wished we lived closer.... and like we do after every road trip... we promised ourselves next time we'd fly.