the last wedding

my not-so-baby sister got married on april fool's day, which is so fitting if you know steph–she is the life of the party and all about fun! she found a pretty perfect match in ben. the last balkman wedding! 

fun fact: i have been pregnant for all but ONE of four sibling weddings between nate's family and my family. i mean, really! i happened to be very pregnant for this occasion and aged myself by about fifty years when i wore compression nylons with sandals. lame, but the only way i could get through the day.

i always think there will be extra time when we come to utah for a wedding, but the week was jam-packed with family gatherings, errands, and wedding prep. sage and nora were so excited to wear their fancy dresses and toss flower petals down the aisle for the ring ceremony. the temple sealing was performed by my uncle kevin, and it was so cool to have all of my cousins and siblings together in that room. i really truly love weddings.

sage's favorite part of the wedding was dancing! and soaking up every last drop of cousin time. family ski day, pampering with all the girls, long conversations at night, games galore...and then it all ended too quickly.

my grandma with all of her children and all but one of her 24 grandchildren

my mom had to make me a custom maternity version of the bridesmaid dress. she's a genius (and i really need to get on that whole sewing thing...).

steph chose a pumpkin chocolate chip cake. dare i say it was the BEST wedding cake i've ever had? it was.

the kids sang "families can be together forever" at the ring ceremony

one last kiss goodbye and they were off to canada for their honeymoon!

(but everyone knows the after party is the best part of family weddings...and it didn't hurt that there was tons of leftover food and wedding cake!)