Jeremiah & Allison's Wedding & Weekend Festivities in Iowa!

What fun it is to again go through these pictures and re-live the joy of my dear sister's wedding weekend! It was such a sweet and special time and I will cherish the memories always! Here is a little recap.

The weekend (for our little family) started on Wednesday night with a "drive through the night" trip to Iowa. John thought it might work well for our little men if we left at bedtime and (hopefully) got them to sleep on the way. It was a grand idea and worked like a charm! Both Axton and Elliot slept the whole way (five hours) and we arrived at my grandma's house (she lives one mile from my family's farm, and we stayed with her) around 1:30am Thursday morning. We got a good nights' sleep for the remainder of the night! 

Thursday found us in and out of my family's house--eating, visiting, and helping with wedding prep and projects. 

This was a definite highlight--the bride and groom took this little group of out-of-town friends/family out for coffee! Such a nice time to relax and chat before the weekend activities really hit!

One of the most fun things about the weekend was alllll the friends and family that kept arriving! Such a treat to see so many dear people! With Elliot being so little, this was the first time to introduce him to most people, which was so lovely. 

Allison's dear friend Susy & co arrived from Mexico and did all of the florals for the wedding! It was a huge job and a little challenging with the heat of Friday, but they were incredible.

So many flowers! They resulted in many beautiful bouquets and arrangements.

Friday decorating....

ironing....

arranging....

more arranging (by the talented reception coordinator..)

And smiling!!

The centerpieces for the reception tables were glass bottles spray-painted silver and filled with hydrangeas from my family's prolific hydrangea bushes.

Time for the rehearsal to start! Axton with the bride and groom..to be!

There isn't a whole lot to say about the rehearsal part. What would a rehearsal be without tape, intense expressions, discussing possible options, and trying to keep the bridal party from chatting and not paying attention? =)

Afterwards we all enjoyed a delicious rehearsal dinner downstairs. 

I love it when I get to introduce my babies to my friends! 

You might recognize this same frame and stand from my wedding! 

What can I say, we sisters like to share. =) 

The church, wedding morning, ready to go. Simple and beautiful.

An early morning back rub for the bride...

This sweet friend did hairstyles for the bridesmaids. Again, it took me back to our wedding, because she was part of the hair/makeup crew for my wedding also, almost three years ago.

So many smiles on this very special day!

Almost all ready!

Here are a few "behind the scenes" pictures from my phone, which I had given to one of the personal attendants. The professional pictures are of course WAY better, but sometimes it is fun to see the production from this different angle, too.

My sister was literally the most beautiful bride. I know that is always said about every bride, but seriously...she was absolutely gorgeous!! She had her dress and veil specially designed and sewn from this seamstress on Etsy, and it was a vision! I'm sure she will post more about it herself in the future, but it was amazing. Its not everyday you can find a seamstress who can sew you a dress like this with only three example pictures, and measurements. 

I consider myself a fairly competent seamstress, but that lady is in a WHOLE league of her own to be able to make up a pattern and sew a dress that needed no alterations, with that little information!

Such a fun bride tribe! Three sisters, three sisters in love, and three sisters in love to be.

Some of the bridal party pictures were taken at the beautiful old Victorian home of a friend of ours. (interesting note is that some of John and my wedding pictures were taken here as well, only ours were indoors due to a much different weather climate!)

Sisterhood! We got our own sandals (all either silver or grey) and then Allison bought our dresses from four different online boutiques. 

My sister is getting some ADORABLE nieces and nephews! What a cute little crowd. Right after I took this picture they were all clamoring to see it, so I got down to show them, and the one flower girl gave a little gasp and said, "awww, I look SO CUTE!!" =) 

It was all I could do not to laugh out loud. Quite the charming little lady. 

Prayer right before starting time.

Allison and Rebecca. Such a tender sister moment.

Here we have the tiniest and possibly the cutest itty bitty wedding attendee, Elliot. =) He was good as gold the entire day! He ate and slept lots and smiled in between.

The reception was absolutely beautiful. It was held in the town square which was just a few blocks from the church. There was a light breeze and lots of shade and it was SO PERFECT. 

Send off time! 

My friend Emily was the wedding photographer and it was such a treat to see her again! Way back in the day, we used to travel with a girls ministry together, and a group of my friends and I even took a road trip to South Dakota to attend her wedding back in 2013.

Now we are both married and each have two boys. Time flies! 

She did an absolutely incredible job with photographing the wedding. You can view her post of the wedding and lots of the professional pictures, here at this link! 

I didn't get a picture with my little family, sadly. But at least I got one with this hot usher who happens to be my favorite person! =)

Quick outfit details, also: 

Dress: Lana Lace Midi Dress by Citrus & Lemon

Bracelet: I got it off of Amazon, but unfortunately it is no longer available. This one is very similar, however. There were so many cute styles!

Earrings: Walmart (can't find them online)

Shoes: Silver Heels by I.Miller

(picture by Emily Mitton Photography)

This is one of my very favorites of the professional pictures, because it is such an example of God's goodness to my family! Only five years ago we were a tribe of twelve--two parents and ten very single singles. =) At the beginning of 2016, my parents began to very seriously fast and pray for marriages in our family. And what do you know, as my dad would say, "they started dropping like flies". =) 

Four of us got married in 2017, making our number 16.

Two grandbabies arrived in 2018, making our number 18.

Two more grandbabies in 2019, making our number 20.

Another marriage and three more grand babies in 2020, at the time of this post, with granddbaby #8 arriving, Lord willing, in early December.

By the end of 2020, our clan of original 12 will have just over doubled to the number of 25! Wow!

God is so good and faithful and I am in awe continually of all He has done in our lives. We are so blessed!

And I am so grateful for the incredible and godly husband that God provided for my dear sister. It was a beautiful wedding, truly, and such a special day!

Hope you enjoyed this post!

-Chels

Note: all of the items linked in this post are ones I own and love! The amazon items are affiliate links. Please read my affiliate disclosure here.

Mother & Son Fall Travels 2019

This fall was a full one for our little family. A number of travel opportunities came up, and Axton and I enjoyed taking advantage of them! Sadly, due to other commitments, it didn't work out for John to go with us, but thankfully for me I have a father who taught me to be totally comfortable traveling on my own, a husband who taught me to be safe and aware of my surroundings, and a baby who has learned to be flexible, so between all that, we were set! 

The first trip was in September, traveling to northeast Iowa for my family's annual family camp. It was a seven hour drive (a little longer with gas, bathroom, and nursing stops) but we actually made it in just eight hours and as evidenced by Axton's smile above, we were thrilled to finally be there.

My trusty Ergo was our best friend during our stay and kept both of us quite happy!
(see my affiliate link disclosure here)

Axton was very spoiled by all of the attention he received! He loved making morning announcements with Grandpa B, at chapel.

Accidetental matching with friends always calls for a picture!

So fun to meet alllll of mommy's friends!

John was able to drive up for a day which was wonderful. We managed to get everyone together for a picture-you'd be surprised how hard it was, but we managed!

Walks with Nana

We had great crowds for both weeks of camp. John and I reworked and then ran the whole registration process this year, so it was especially fun for me to get to be there and welcome all the families who I'd had contact with throughout the year.

Hanging out with Grandpa and cousin Wallace. Quite literally. =)

Exploring outside on a warm day. Axton LOVES being outside and when it comes to discovering and getting into things, he is definitely ALL BOY.

Trying to get a decent picture with these three little cousins was, well, unique. =)

The first week of October, Axton and I traveled out to NY to be with family and attend my grandfather's funeral. It was a very long and wearying trip. For a variety of reasons, I felt it would be easier to drive than to fly, so I drove up to Iowa by myself, with Axton, and then out to NY with my parents/siblings. Unfortunately Axton got sick on the way so it ended up being one of those trips that was honestly quite miserable, but we were very thankful to arrive and to be there.

It was a very bittersweet time, truly. A sad reason to all be together, but so sweet to see so many cousins etc whom I hadn't seen for awhile. Axton enjoyed the other little people.

So good to see my bestie again!

All of the great grandchildren were given roses to place on the grave. Axton was exhausted after the funeral service and ended up sleeping during the graveside portion, so I took him out after he woke up and we put his rose on the grave. Such a sweet moment.

I'm so thankful for the legacy of a godly grandfather. The whole funeral reflected his life so well---even in death he was surrounded there by so many friends and family. His grandchildren were an integral part of the service. Several shared tributes, one led the congregational singing, a number were pallbearers/ushers, all of the grandchildren sang together for the special music, and one of the grandsons, who is a pastor, even preached the funeral message. Truly such a legacy and one of the most meaningful funerals I have ever attended.

Bless his heart. All things considered, he really did so well, in spite of not feeling well most of the time we were in NY. Toward the end he improved and the day home was much better, as evidenced by the happy smile. =)

Beautiful views as we drove through NY. These views brought back many years of memories for me from so many happy summer trips traveling the same route. 

A late night stop on the journey to Iowa.

Once in Iowa, I caught some much needed sleep (while Axton was cared for by aunties and nana) and then he and I finished our trip home to Kansas by ourselves. What a champ he was!

Just over a week later found us back in Iowa again, this time for a family visit and to attend a friends' wedding. 

We got to spend some time with Axton's Great Grandma Bontrager.

We also enjoyed lunch/shopping out with all the sisterhood and babies.

Axton and Micah having a stare down. =)

My sister Allison was a bridesmaid in the wedding, which was fun! It was a very cold fall day, but a beautiful wedding.

And finally, the last weekend of October found us flying to Texas (along w my sis Allison) to attend the wedding of one of our cousins. It was Axton's second time flying and he did so well, sleeping for most of both flights and charming people left and right. 

We got a picture of all the "Bontragers" who attended the wedding.
Such a treat to get to be there for it!

So fun to do the trip with Allison! Many special memories were made and a fabulous time was had.

And that's a little taste of our traveling to and fro for the fall of 2019! We have mostly stayed on "home turf" ever since and been enjoying a beautiful winter/holiday season at home!

-Chels