Wedding Weekend: Rehearsal Dinner

Saturday began the time of slight chaos due to keeping track of our family of four, as well as keeping up with Mom and Dad and the rest of the wedding agenda.  We were dealing with multiple bags, two hotel rooms in different locations, two cars, and dressy clothes…  We did a switcheroo early in the morning and Josh went with Dad and Mom stayed with me.  Dad, Michelle’s dad, Josh, Larry, and four groomsmen/friends went golfing, and they seemed to have a good time!  I had the bright idea that Mom and I should brave The Mall of America…with two small children.  I wish I could take that back, but hindsight is always 20/20.  We should have just done a Target run (I needed more bibs for Mr. Graham who has become quite the spitter) and found somewhere yummy for lunch.  Instead, we got to The Mall, and Mom and Jackson went inside to get Jackson a bigger size of shoes for the wedding while I fed Graham.  When I finished I wrapped him up in the Moby Wrap so Jackson could ride in the stroller.  By the time I found Mom she had figured out that there were phones attached to the directory signs so you could ask an operator how to get to the store you were looking for.  SMART!  Except, there are no signs directing you towards anchor stores, and none of the five store employees we asked knew where Macy’s was.  I was so frustrated and upset, I seriously almost started to cry.  We just turned around and left.  There was no way we could just wander around and hope we found what we were looking for!  It was quite awful, and by the time we got to Target, there really wasn’t time for anything special for lunch, so we went back to Mom and Dad’s apartment  and ate some of the leftover pizza and pie from the night before.  Jackson and Graham got baths and naps before getting dressed for the rehearsal!!!

The beautiful ceiling at Temple Israel

The groomsmen including Josh and two friends Larry has had since early elementary school :)

My cute Ring Bearer practicing

Parents-of-the-Groom and the Larry

One little boy with his Transformer truck...

...and one little girl with her sparkly wand :)

The rehearsal went really  well—Jackson looked very cute practicing as the Ring Bearer J  After the rehearsal at the temple, we all went to Ike’s for dinner.  My parents hosted a really wonderful get together!  The food was delicious from the passed appetizers to the burgers and sandwiches for dinner and the selection of desserts!  All out-of-town guests were invited to the rehearsal dinner , so it was really nice to have time to visit with our good friends and family that came to MN for the wedding weekend. 

 Jackson was AMAZING!  We had parked ourselves at a booth/table combo right by the door, and this worked out perfectly because Jackson was able to sit there playing with his toys.  He felt comfortable enough then to interact with pretty much everyone who came over to chat with him.  Graham was content sleeping and then sitting with Josh for the beginning of the evening.  Jackson let us know pretty clearly when he was done, so Josh again was gracious enough to take Jackson back to Mom and Dad’s to lay down.  I got to stay with Graham and visit some more with friends.  I already said it, but it was such a fun night, and it was really nice to get to finally meet some of Larry and Michelle’s friends we had heard about!

I don't know for how long these sites stay active, but here is the link to the Becker/Sandler Wedding!