Jared's Punta Cana Wedding

Ryan, Kate and I went to my brother Jared's wedding this past weekend in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Ryan's mom came and stayed with the boys so we didn't have to haul them across the nation, get them passports and have them miss a week of school.

Here's a very long rundown of the festivities... Feel free to just scroll through the pictures.

TUESDAY
Fortunately, we flew Lori in on Saturday, because Denver got a foot of snow and 35 mph winds all day. Collin's school was canceled. I ran around like a crazy person trying to get the last of our things bought for the trip. I highly recommend running errands in the snow - I got all the best parking spots, there were no checkout lane lines, and I was the only one in all the dressing rooms. It was great, and the roads weren't really even that bad.

We left about 8:30 pm, and Kate fell right asleep in the car. We parked in long-term parking and took a shuttle to the airport. We checked our bag, and Kate slept. We had to wake her for TSA screening, and she was pleasant and cheerful getting to our gate. I nursed her on the plane before we even left the gate, and she slept until we landed in Miami four hours later. Score!

WEDNESDAY
We landed in Miami at 6 am local time, and despite Kate's absolute perfection, neither of us had slept more than 15 minutes. We walked for an eternity to our connecting gate and started our 4-hour layover. Lucky for us, Jared and his fiancee Charlotte were also on our connecting flight, so we got to chat while waiting. They both were absolutely glowing with joy.

Right when it was time to board they switched our gate back to where our first flight came in, and we had to truck across the airport again. Sigh. Kate was absolute perfection again, nursing and then napping in her car seat. We checked her stroller and car seat and boarded. I nursed her most of this flight, and she slept (albeit more fitfully than before) the whole flight. I didn't sleep at all.

We arrived in the Dominican at 1:30 pm local time. We paid our "tourism fee," showed our passports at immigration, turned in our declarations paper, and picked up our bags. We stood in line after line, but the Dominicans kept pulling us to the front to fast-track us because of Kate. It was awesome. Everyone we met thought she was so beautiful, asking to hold her and everything. They REALLY wanted her to say "hola" since she looks about the size of a one-year old. Unfortunately, she's only 5 months and could only flash her toothy grin. All week we heard, "Hola, bebe!" They just loved her.

Meeting up with our shuttle to the resort took a while, and we were so wasted tired. Kate got pretty grumpy in the van, and there wasn't anything I could do to calm her. I think more than anything she just wanted us to stop holding her so she could wiggle.

We got to the resort, and Ryan waited to check us in. I wandered over to the balcony to look at the ocean. I heard someone say, "Are you a Morello?" Charlotte's family was all waiting in the lobby for her and Jared to arrive (they were on a different shuttle than us) and recognized me as a sibling. Her family is wonderful, and we immediately felt welcomed to the group.

While we chatted, Ryan was told the resort didn't have our reservation, and that we had been booked with the Diamond Club. Basically, this was an upgrade to special accommodations, personalized butler services, free spa services, private beach cabanas, etc. We totally didn't pay for it, but since they didn't have any reservation for us elsewhere, we went with it.

After lots of talking and a tour of the resort, we FINALLY made it to our room about 5 pm. Have I mentioned how absolutely tired we were? Anyway, I nursed Kate again, put her in her car seat for a nap, threw on our swimsuits and headed to the pool.

Charlotte's family was all down there, and we discovered our personal butler had left out many important pieces of information - towel cards, wifi password, television access (all resort info was on the tv). We headed back to the room to figure it all out. I was soooo tired, hungry, frustrated and worn out.

In the end, we ate a quick buffet dinner with a fussy baby, and all tried to go to bed. About 11:30, my sister emailed to say that they had just gotten to their room and invited us over. Kate, having slept great all night and all day, was as happy as can be, so we headed over to see them. She didn't get tired until 1 am, so we stayed in their room until then. It was a long, long day.

THURSDAY
We woke late on our first real day of vacation. In fact, we barely made it to the breakfast buffet before it closed at 10:30 am. My uncle Ron and his wife Kristie met us there, as well as my Aunt Geri and her husband Danny. I was in a MUCH better mood now.

We ate and then headed to the beach. We decided to check out our private Diamond Club beach, and it was pretty awesome. Cushioned lounge chairs, lots of shade, and very attentive drink servers.

We really lived up the all-you-can-consume environment of the resort. We drank as many virgin (non-alcoholic) drinks as they offered. Our favorites were Dirty Monkeys (chocolate, coconut and banana), Mango Margaritas, and of course Pina Coladas.

Kate slept. Sometime that afternoon my brother Rob and my mom and dad arrived at the resort too. The reunion had begun!

We spent the whole day on the beach, until about 4:30, when we came in to shower and cleanup. Ryan got us dinner reservations at the steakhouse for 6 pm. Right as we were headed in, my Aunt Kristie showed up and offered to take Kate so Ryan, Rob and I could have an adult conversation. Just as we took our last bite of dessert, my Uncle Ron hurried into the restaurant saying Kate was shrieking and asking, "Where is the pacifier?" (They took her so suddenly that I didn't get a chance to tell them important things... like she doesn't take a pacifier.)

Anyway, I rushed out and she was SCREAMING outside. Everyone was turning and looking and wondering what was wrong with this "bebe."

My sister came just then (hearing the commotion) and let me hurry to her hotel room since it was the closest, and the only thing that was going to calm her down was nursing. I sat on the bed and fed her and she was asleep in seconds. I carried her back to the restaurant, and Ryan and Rob were out front with all my family.

The resort had set up pirate decorations in the center plaza, and this evening there was dancing and pirate costumes. It was pretty fun. Kate slept nearby, and my dad kept an eye on her carrier while we danced. It was great fun, but then she woke up and was happily awake until 1 am again.

FRIDAY
We went together to the hotel gym, but we got in trouble for bringing Kate inside. We were going to take turns working out, but then my mom showed up in the lobby and took her to a pre-wedding meeting with her. After working out, we decided to skip breakfast so we'd have room for lunch. We headed to the neighboring resort (our wristbands worked here too) where there were water slides. My sister's in-laws came too, so they watched Kate's carrier while she slept, so Ryan and I could do some slides together.

We ate at a buffet in that resort, and then headed back to the beach. After getting Kate asleep again, Rob and I checked boogie boards out from the hotel and tried our luck in the waves. I only caught two, but Rob did great. It really was just like when we were kids vacationing in the Outer Banks. Boogie boarding with Rob took second place in my all-time favorite parts of the vacation.

About 4 o'clock, we headed back to the room to shower and get dressed for the rehearsal dinner. We got a few pictures before the meal started, but then Kate got tired and needed a nap. She slept through the meal.

Right as we ate the last bite of our baklava, it started to trickle. We rushed to the nearby martini bar, and the clouds opened up in a deluge! I fed Kate her oatmeal while we waited 5 minutes for it to end.

The resort entertainment this evening was a jazz concert in the theater. Diamond Club members got special seating and better treats. Ryan and I shared our better treats, but we sat with my family. It was AWFUL. We thought it was going to be jazz music, like the Blues, but really it was girls barely-clothed pretending to be Beyonce. Our whole family got up and left in the middle of the second dance. Kate slept.

After that failure, we sat in the downstairs lobby playing cards as a family until Kate woke up and needed to eat. She played on our bed in the room until 1 am again.

SATURDAY

Because the wedding was in the middle of the afternoon, we opted not to get sandy and salty and skipped the beach today. We had breakfast and took the camera to go for a walk around the resort. We found lots of fun plants, flowers, trees and animals. The Dominican is truly a beautiful place. Kate slept in her car seat.

About noon, we headed in to get all fancied up. I couldn't get Kate to nap until 1 pm, and then we had to wake her at 1:30 to get her into her dress.

BAD CHOICE. She screamed and screamed and screamed, and all I wanted was for her to be awake and happy for the wedding and pictures. Her dress was designed and handmade by Ryan's mom to match the other flower girls' dresses, but we didn't get a single picture of them all together. We put her in her car seat to nap, and she slept through the whole thing.

The wedding was beautiful. It was hot, but the ocean was in the background and was a perfect turquoise, bluish green.

The sand was sparkling, and Jared and Charlotte were gorgeous. My dad "performed" the marriage (they actually got legally married in Ohio over Christmas vacation, but this was their ceremony), and he gave them wonderful advice. They each wrote vows that they read, and it was beautiful.

There were a bunch of pictures afterwards too, but Kate slept.

Then we all headed back to our rooms to change for the reception. We changed into more comfortable clothes, and I fed Kate. We headed to the lobby and met a bus to take us to the reception boat. Kate slept.

The bus drove us to an alley that we walked down to get to a fishing boat. We had to wade into the water, climb into the rocking canoe, and then it motored us out to the dinner and dancing boat. It was a little scary handing the car seat where Kate was sleeping, but Ryan and my uncles and brothers were a big help.

The reception was awesome. We saw the sun set over the palm trees, we ate a delicious dinner (lobster, fish, chicken and steak kebabs, fries and cucumber salad), and then the tables were cleared and we danced.

Kate ate her oatmeal and I nursed her, and she fell asleep in her car seat so Ryan and I could slow and fast dance together. The boat reception was my favorite part of the whole trip. 

Taking the fishing boat back to the beach in the pitch black night, and then walking down the dark alley to the bus was the worst part of the whole trip. We even saw a guy in full military clothes with a GIANT gun in the alley. Everyone else said he was there so I'd feel safe, but I decided that if he needed THAT to make me safe, that I didn't feel safe at all. I also fell when the little boat almost capsized when I was climbing out, and I've got some fun bruises to show for it.

When we got back to the hotel, we played cards as a family in the lobby of the hotel. It was a pretty great day.

SUNDAY
This was our last day of vacation, so after breakfast at the buffet, we spent the whole day on the beach.

At one point, my mom watched Kate's carrier while she slept, and all my brothers and their wives and Ryan and I all went into the ocean and rode waves together. This was my third favorite part of the whole trip. Spending time with your grown siblings without your/their children around is pretty close to heaven to me. We also stopped in at the water park one last time to do our favorite slides again. Kate slept. 

That night we had reservations for our family (21 people in all!) at the Japanese teppanyaki restaurant. I love the places where they cook with fire in front of you on the grill. We enjoyed steak, chicken and shrimp with fried rice. I love that it's entertainment and eating at the same time. Kate slept.

After dinner, we changed into our Broncos clothes and headed to the resort's sports bar. The hotel actually threw a huge party in the theater with lots of food and drinks.

It was fun to watch the game with fans cheering for both sides. Kate slept.

I left after the first quarter to play cards with the rest of  my family in the lobby. The mosquitoes were horrible this night though, so I headed back to the room and fell asleep while Kate played next to me. I woke up at 1 am to put her to bed, and Ryan came back from the game to say we'd won. Go Broncos!

MONDAY
This morning I spent with my sister Kim. We had breakfast just the two of us, and then walked the beach. We did some gift shopping together, and then I headed back to the room to get all packed up. Ryan had gotten Kate to sleep and already done most of the packing, so we headed to the lobby to get checked out.

Our shuttle came to get us at 1 pm, and while Kate slept, the the traveling nightmare began again. The Dominicans fast-tracked us through each of the airport lines because of Kate in the stroller, but even then... it was lots of lines and waiting and hassle. Kate was perfect, sleeping in her car seat and letting us wake her for security checks. We got to our gate an hour early and ate Wendy's. By some miracle, we had an empty seat in our row for the 2-hour flight to Miami, and Kate was great.

Our 2-hour Miami layover though was awful. We had to stand in FIVE different lines, and they only fast-tracked us because of the stroller once. We had to have our passports checked twice, pick up and drop off our checked bags, and go back through TSA screening again. The airport was totally overwhelmed, and as soon as we'd get in a long line, then they'd tell us to go somewhere else because they were opening another line to try to get us through faster. We traipsed over and around the airport for the whole two hours, and we got to our gate just as it was boarding. It was exhausting, and it was the middle of the night again. Kate slept and was perfect.

We boarded our final flight to Denver, and arrived about 30 minutes late (midnight) local time  - 3 am Dominican time. I hadn't slept at all but had nursed Kate again and again while she slept fitfully in my lap.

TUESDAY
Arriving in Denver at midnight, we had to take the shuttle to baggage claim. Everyone was wearing orange, and the airport was buzzing with the win. We got our luggage an hour after landing. Then we had to get the shuttle to long-term parking. There was snow on the ground still, and it was bitterly cold. Lastly, we had to do the 1-hour drive home to Fort Collins. Kate slept through the whole thing.

We finally walked through the door at 2 am (5 am Dominican time). We collapsed in bed. Kate woke two hours later to nurse, and then the boys were all noisily up 2 hours after that. I dragged my fat butt out of bed and showered.

Collin was the guest reader at school at 8:45, and I really wanted to be there. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open, smile and clap. By 9:15, I was back in my jammies and in bed. I slept until 1 pm, when I got up to say goodbye to Lori, since Ryan was driving her back to the airport. Whew. And then it was back to real life.

***

And that was our amazingly, awesome February beach vacation and wedding. We did lots of fun stuff, and Kate slept in her car seat wherever she was hauled.

Would I ever choose to go to the Dominican again? No.
1 - Everyone had bouts of diarrhea and throwing up. Ryan and I did pretty well, but many of the others were sick at least one day. Charlotte was even sick on her wedding day!
2 -The Caribbean really is VERY far from the Rocky Mountains. A four-hour flight plus a two-hour flight, plus awful layovers made the travel time much, much too long.

Was it beautiful, warm and awesome? Yes. Was the wedding wonderful? Yes. Was seeing all my family together great? Yes. Would I have missed it? NEVER. But I'm voting for Hawaii or another US territory next time.

And we have a 5-year-old!

Happy 5th birthday, Brennan!

Brennan has had a good year. We still have our moments, and he is still very physical, but he is doing much better. He loves to run, jump, kick and hit. I like to think we are all managing it a bit better than when he was younger, and I think we really are. When he spazzes, he's sent to his room. When I remember him as a two and three year old, I cringe. Poor Brennan... Poor me!

Brennan is learning to ride a two-wheeler. He has the balancing part down perfectly, but he sometimes forgets to pedal. I'm sure he'll have it perfectly by summertime, which will be awesome for going to school with Collin in the fall. 

This year, he is LOVING his preschool and teacher. He goes Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. She says he is doing great, and that all the kids consider him their friend. He loves snack time, recess and all the crafts and art projects.

His preschool and primary teachers just love him. They say he always knows the answers to all the questions, and all the kids really look up to him. I hope he can use all that emulation to be a great leader. When I see other kids his age, they frequently only come up to his shoulder (he's tall), and certainly don't speak or articulate as well. He's a smart kiddo.

He loves to tell jokes. He has an amazing memory and knows many, many jokes. To and from preschool I hear joke after joke that he has learned. I don't know how he remembers them all. And he totally gets all the plays on words and double meanings. It's amazing.

He still loves crafting and creating. Not a day goes by that I'm not cleaning up scraps of paper, foam, stickers, markers, etc. He loves cutting and gluing too. He is very specific: It is art if it is flat, and it is a craft if it can stand up on its own. 

He also loves letters and numbers. He is starting some pre-reading books too. He is very good with a pencil, and his projects are often covered in letters and numbers. 

He is a pretty picky eater, and very few dinners don't begin with him declaring "This is disgusting!" Of course, very few dinners end with him not eating quite a bit of it too, so there you have it. His favorite meal one week is almost certainly to be declared disgusting the following week. I rarely win when it comes to feeding him. He does absolutely love sliced cheddar cheese, salami and Wheat Thin crackers. He also loves peanut butter, honey and banana sandwiches. When he makes them for himself, he calls them "art sandwiches."

He is napping less and less lately. I'd say he is pretty much done, except when Mom has just had it and makes him lay down for a while anyway. He was napping every day until about November, and then every other day until December, so that was pretty cool. I enjoyed it, especially with Katelyn's erratic sleeping schedule.

My plan is to put him in half-day kindergarten in the fall. He would really thrive in the full-day class, but I just can't stomach throwing away all that cash to pay for it. Sorry Buddy. If only you didn't have so many siblings. 

He got a matching Transformer to Collin's, but in purple. He loves it about as much as Collin loves his!

Happy birthday, B! Love you!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! 

With Love, 

The Williams Crew 

And he's seven!

Happy 7th birthday, Collin! 

For birthdays, I decided I wanted to try to simplify my life and only do one every other year. But since his birthday was the first day of Christmas Break, I told him he could invite two friends over for a play date. I asked if he wanted to do an activity with them, and he chose decorating gingerbread men. After making all the icing, baking a multitude of shapes, buying all the candy decorations, and setting everything at each one's place with little bowls of all the choices, I realized I DID throw him a party. Sigh. I can't seem to take the easy street. He did have a ton of fun, and his friends were super well-behaved, so I guess it is all good.

Collin loves first grade. September was rough as he adjusted to full-day school, but he is doing great now. I still really miss having him around though. He is a good friend and a hard worker. He has a tendency to be too much of a perfectionist and unable to complete his work on time, but he's trying to manage his time better.

Collin is becoming a self-taught piano player. He took lessons from our neighbor January through May, but then she had a baby. I've been on a waiting list with another lady ever since. I could take him somewhere else, but this new teacher lives close by and would be far more convenient. He is getting really good at figuring out the melody of primary songs he knows. Sometimes I buy music for songs online he really wants (Gethsemane), but other times he figures them out on his own (I Know My Savior Loves Me). We also have all the "I Can Play It" songs printed from the Friend magazine and easy Christmas songs too. The new teacher says we are the top name on her list now, so he should be able to get in sometime next year.

He is becoming a very good reader. He still tires easily with chapter books, but he can decode Boxcar Children and Magic Tree House. Now to just work on his stamina. His comprehension is off the charts. He is also good at understanding math concepts, but he needs to work on his math facts.

He played soccer last Spring and again in the Fall. He loved his Spring team (super noncompetitive and just plain fun), but his coach in the Fall was very into drills and skills and winning games. Collin hated it. He learned a ton though, and he really got good at being in the right place at the right time. He just isn't a competitive kid by nature and always seemed a little afraid of the ball and the other kids. At the last game, at the last second, he scored his first goal! It really was the end, because they didn't even line up for another kickoff afterwards. Then, of course, he decided he wanted to play again in the Spring. Silly boy. We'll see.

Collin loves to ride his bike. He mastered the two-wheeler this summer, and now he rides all the time. He rides every day to and from school, and he always wants to ride after school too. We got a lot of snow last week and it still hasn't melted, and it's killing him to have to walk everywhere. He loves his bike!

When I pointed out he would be getting baptized next year, he said he didn't want to. When asked why, he told me he didn't want to go all the way under water, even though he does want to follow Jesus' example. Here's hoping we can work on that this coming year.

He lost his first two baby teeth (the bottom ones) the summer before kindergarten, and then he didn't lose any more for a LONG time. Then while we were driving home from Utah after Thanksgiving weekend, he pulled out one of his top ones all on his own. Tough kid. Unfortunately, he has a MASSIVE gap, and I know we are now headed into the goofy years of not-cute pictures.

He loves to play with Brennan. They have elaborate games of pretend: ninjas, spies, cowboys. They love to dress up the most. I have a hard time getting them to school on time because they don't want to stop to get ready. They particularly like to climb under our basement stairs where all our moving boxes are; they call it the "box cave."

Who couldn't love this girl? Even without a cute outfit and no bow, don't you just want to smother her in kisses? 

Collin still couldn't really care less about Katelyn. I did hear him ONE time say "it's okay" to her when she was crying in the car, but just that once. He is also pretty much only ever annoyed with Ethan. All he ever says to him is, "No, Eefie. No!" He just finds kids generally pretty annoying. And lest he appear almost perfect (though he really almost is), he is developing a bit of a mouth, especially with his dad. He loses "screen time" regularly for talking back to his parents.

Okay, back to the good stuff. He has become an adventurous eater. His favorite meal is steak, mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. I don't know many seven year-olds begging for steak! He also likes to use chopsticks when we have stir fry.

For his birthday, he got a Optimus Prime transformer. He's in heaven. Truly a perfect gift for him.
Here's a funny side story: So Ryan took Brennan shopping for a gift for Collin a few Saturdays ago. Brennan picked out this Transformer for him. He was SOOO excited about it. He kept saying he was going to tell Collin what he got him, and we kept telling him not to. Then one morning on the way to preschool, Brennan told me he had told Collin that morning what he had got him. Ryan and I didn't know what to do. So, we decided they'd both still be surprised if Collin got it for his birthday instead of for Christmas. Brennan's face when Collin opened it was CLASSIC. He was so confused. Anyway, the gift we wanted to give Collin for his birthday will just wait until Christmas morning now. Gotcha!

Happy birthday, Biggest Boy! Love you!

Happy birthday, Eefie! (plus one month)

Yikes! Ethan turned two a month ago, and I never said a thing about him. Whew. I just can't keep up with the break-neck pace life is coming at me.

So here's to Ethan and his second birthday...

I think he is in my absolute favorite stage. He has the most kissable, pudgy, smooth cheeks, and he's always asking us to "ha-choo" (sounds like a sneeze but means "hold you"). His hair is soft (yes, he has hair finally!) and smooth too, and I just love holding and cuddly with him. At bedtime, he asks for "baby" which means "hold me like a baby," which I willingly oblige if I'm not holding my OTHER baby. I also like when he gets a stool and says "wash," which means he wants to watch what I'm doing. He loves "ta-ta" (tractors and all construction equipment), so we got him two new ones for his birthday.

He is a talking machine now too. He has a word for just about everything. My favorite is "tee" for television. His favorite movie is "E," which is the only letter he's learned from watching Letter Factory every MWF morning when Brennan is at school. (I feel less guilty letting him watching tv all morning if it's "educational.") He has learned "mine" too, but he also likes to remind us of what belongs to everyone else. He calls himself "E-E." It's adorable.

He helped me make his birthday cake the morning of his birthday. I wanted pumpkin sheet cake with cream cheese frosting, so that's what he got. :-) He loved it! Of course, he loves "cha" (chocolate) and all junk food, so this was no surprise.

He absolutely loves his little sister. He likes to hold her and kiss the top of her head. He gives her her "ba-ba" (his word for blankie) when she cries. He even tries to give her her binky, but she doesn't really take it from anyone anymore. He is truly the most affectionate little man in our house.

He is a mess-maker. Even though I do really love this stage, I also really wish he was less into everything. He is constantly pulling every book off the shelves and every pan and its lid out of the drawers. Everywhere I turn he's dumped something. Today he took the top of Ryan's deodorant and LICKED it. Gross. He draws on everything, lots of circles around and around. He also likes to turn on the faucet and fill and dump cups. It's a big mess, but he loves his "wa-wa."

He is a great eater. He definitely goes through phases (teething, colds) of not being hungry, but all in all, he'll try just about everything. He still loves pasta, yogurt and hot dogs best.

He sleeps from 7pm-6:15am, and he naps every day from 12:30-3:30pm. I am learning that I have really good sleepers for kids. I think they've inherited the need for lots of sleep from their mom. I love my sleep too!

He unfortunately has a cough and runny nose right now. It is making for some rough days and rougher nights. He gave it to me and Katelyn too, so that sucks.

He loves sharing a room with his brothers, and he really doesn't know he isn't a big kid too. He wants to ride his bike in the street and go to preschool too. He jumps on the trampoline with them and splashes in the bathtub. (Yes, we still put all three boys in together. Kate goes first by herself.) He refuses to hold my hand in the preschool parking lot, and he's constantly in trouble for running ahead.

He is still quite the escape-artist, and I keep all the doors out of the house locked, especially the one out to the garage. He loves to play in the driver's seat of the van. He knows how to eject all the cds from the player, turn on the hazards and mess with the interior lights. He's trouble, and the most adorably cute and fun little boy in the world!

We are headed to Utah in the morning for Thanksgiving. Wish us luck with an 8-hr drive plus stops for pottying, nursing, burping and screaming. I'm terrified. And there's no saying how well the kids will all sleep once we get there. Sigh. The things we do to see family.