The wedding!!!

My daughter's wedding in Spokane was beautiful -- we laughed, we cried, we hugged, we rejoiced in the perfect weather with the rose garden at Manito Park in full bloom.

It was sunny and warm on the wedding day, sandwiched in between two chilly, drizzly days. We really lucked out! Julia and Jade absolutely glowed with love as they walked down the grassy aisle together into married life.

Above is the hug at the end of the ceremony, and below they're hugging with happiness at home before the wedding.

I think this photo of me with Julia before the wedding is my favorite of the whole weekend. My hand is on her pregnant belly, so there are three generations of us in the photo. And she's wearing my 40-year-old wedding dress! It has an elastic waist, so it fit both of us.

She did some last minute vacuuming as I was trying to get them out the door for the ceremony. After the reception everyone went to their house, so she wanted it to be perfect -- which it was.

At the rose garden, guests milled around, took pictures and met new family before the ceremony.

Here I am with my family and Jade.

With my son, Keith, and his wife, Rachel.

Above is my sister Terry and her family, and below is my sister Kathleen and her husband, Peter.

Kathleen and Peter's dog, Zoomie, was a big hit with Terry's granddaughter, Metta.

These are my very good friends Paula and Duane, who we've known for almost 30 years since Julia was in first grade.

And here are some of Jade's family.

The officiant, Audrey, is a friend of Julia's and they hammed it up with the rings.

After the ceremony it was off to Allie's Vegan Pizzeria and Cafe for the reception meal. Julia saved up glass containers of various shapes and sizes for a year to hold the flowers, which she bought at Trader Joe's (below).

My brother, Kevin, shows off his hot pink shirt and matching wedding paraphernalia. The wedding colors were bright pink and orange.

Keith and Rachel got down to business when the pizzas arrived. No one went away hungry.

Then it was off to Julia and Jade's house for cupcakes, munchies and yard games. Allie's made triple chocolate cupcakes, chocolate with creme de menthe icing, chocolate peanut butter, and lemon raspberry. Delicious!!! They even gave me my own six-pack of chocolate cupcakes (specified in the contract) to take back to my hotel because I've been known to get a little upset at previous family weddings when I didn't get seconds on the cake.

It was definitely sandal weather with all that sunshine and a high in the 70s. Mine are the ones with flowers, which I bought because the ceremony was in the rose garden.

Here I am in Julia's back yard with all of my kids and I couldn't be happier!

 

The next day we went back to Manito Park to wander around some more. The roses were just spectacular.

Here's Julia with a friend from her college days in Bellingham who she hadn't seen in years.

We also gathered for many family meals. This dinner is at the Saranac Public House, where Julia wore a smoking hot red maternity dress.

Above is our first meal together, at my favorite Thai restaurant, Bangkok Thai. Below is our final meal together at Rut (with two dots over the "u").

 

Last but not least, there were bunny snuggles. 

Have a colorful day