The Pre-Party

Well, I'm on a kick to get some of the wedding memories from 2 years ago down "on paper" so as to remember some of things I don't want to forget!

So, the wedding was on a Saturday and we knew that by Thursday night, friends and family would have arrived from all over the country for the celebration! So, of course we decided a party was in order!

It was great to see good friends who looked this good after coming in from North Dakota!

There were several new babies...
...and Michael kept everyone fed!

It was pure bliss for me. It's hard being the lone one in KS when friends and family are spread through out MN, MI, WI, ND, MA, NH, CA, CO...you get the idea. But this particular night, they were all in town!
One of the really fun things was that two of my Aunts, one from one side, one from the other, had never met! Of course they've known of each other for years, but they were finally able to meet at this party!! What a great moment.

There were t-ball games played...

and, of course, lots of good laughs had. I love that I have such good friends that they know and have spent time with my grandparents.

Unfortunately, since we were in KS, the kiddos were forced to spend some time playing in the basement...

...when the tornado warnings popped up!

At one point my two uncles from MI were standing out on the deck when the tornado sirens started blaring. I told them that's what it was and they told me I was wrong!! That those were not tornado sirens! ha! I responded that indeed they were and while they were welcome to watch the twisters from the deck, all of the babies would need to go to the basement! :)

I love this photo of my grandmas!

Since it was a Gronberg party, there were large amounts of ice cream involved. No one was especially surprised to see this guy finishing it off:

Then giving Piano lessons?
The night became funnier and funnier...

...and we had a blast spending time with the people we love the most!

Even if some of them may have forgotten their manners:

As the Norwegians would say, "Uff da!!"

Man of Honor

In an effort to remember the details I don't want to forget, I've been periodically blogging about elements of our wedding. The intention was to do it when the ideas were really fresh in my mind...and I'm not sure they are now, two years later, but there are still several elements of the day I'd like to journal as I'm sure I remember more now that I will, say, two years from now!

This has to do with my "Man of Honor."

I knew that when I got married, there was one person I wanted standing next to me. Michael and I dreamed of a ceremony where we would exchange vows with our brothers by our sides.

And we did:

But getting him to the alter (in an upright position) was no small feat.

He arrived from California a couple days before the wedding, as fun and energetic as ever. The rehearsal was flawless and he not only practiced being "Man of Honor" but walking his lovely grandmothers down the aisle.

The rehearsal dinner was great fun and we had a ball...

The next morning, my wedding day, I awoke early. I called up to my parents suite (we were all in the same hotel...he was staying in their suite) to let them know I was on my way up to have coffee with them before starting the exciting day.

The hesitancy in my dad's voice caught me off guard. He sort of muttered, "uh...ok. We'll see you in a couple minutes." I thought it was odd that he wasn't more enthusiastic, but I shrugged it off an headed up to their room. Upon entering, he and my mom exchanged glances and calmly told me that my brother wasn't feeling well...he had come down a case of the stomach flu overnight.

I laughed, said something to the effect of "how bad can it be??" and walked back to his room to see what was up. When I entered and spoke to him, he moaned in the worst way and said he'd been throwing up all night. He was clearly very, very sick.

I walked back into the sitting room and, like a 5-year-old burst into tears, wailing, "but I don't want my brother to be sick! waaaahhhh!" But, within about 3 seconds of bursting into tears, my inner germaphobe caught hold of me and I realized I had better get the heck out of that room before I caught what he had! I flew out the door, telling my mom I'd see her at our hair appointment in a few hours.

Now, one of my mom's best friends, Madeline (and a nurse, like mom) was undergoing cancer treatment prior to and around the time of the wedding. She told her oncologist that she would follow his every instruction regarding the treatment of her diagnosed breast cancer, but she simply MUST be allowed to travel to Kansas City for a wedding in May. He agreed and before she left for the wedding, he gave her several vials of a prescription anti-nausea injection, since that was a common side effects of her treatment.

My mom and her friend met up at some point during the morning and mom told her friend what had happened. Mom was stressing out because she had one kid getting married that day and one kid that couldn't go 10 minutes without puking violently. Madeline pointed out that she had the injections of anti-nausea medications and while the drug made one very tired, it definitely kept the recipient from puking!

At that point, mom made an executive decision and decided Saeth would be getting the shot. When she soft-sounded it with him, he didn't like the idea. So, in full-on nurse modes, she and Madeline entered his room, held him down (which I'm sure wasn't too difficult by this time) and gave him a shot in the rump.

He was NOT happy and apparently he wailed, "my stomach already huuuurt. Now my asss huuurts!"

However, he was able to stop puking for the first time in 12+ hours and come hell or high water, my mom was going to get him to the wedding!!

The next time I saw him, he looked like this:

Bless my parents heart, they were able to get him into a tux and to the church for pictures! He would come out for those he needed to be in, then go lay down until he was needed again.



He didn't quite look like himself, but considering how drugged up he was, I think he did a great job!

Our photographer apparently wasn't the most observant. If you look closely at this photo:

You can see he and my dad, ducking behind a column. He, trying not to pass out. My dad, trying to hold him up!

He made it into and through the ceremony:

And didn't pass out, even though he must have been asked a hundred times if he was going to (by me and Father/Uncle Ed)!

I am so glad that, despite how terribly sick he was, my baby brother stood next to me while I was married...

...though after the ceremony he passed out and missed the entire reception. The only thing about the day that wasn't perfect.

However, by the next day, he was feeling great! Catching up with old friends...

...and back to himself!

One Year of Wedded Bliss

May 3, 2008 was such a perfect day! Blue skies, springflowers blooming...couldn't have asked for more!

The ceremony was beautiful...

And we had dear friends and family from close to home and across the country there to celebrate with us!

Here's to many, many happy and healthy years as Mr. and Mrs. Kolell.

The Wedding, Segment II: Flower Girl Olivia

Ok. Back to my "write about one element of the wedding so that I remember it" series. Reminder: this is to sustain my memory and will likely bore you! :)

College roommate Staci's just-turned-3 daughter Olivia served as our flower girl!


Staci and I were roommates for 4 years and had a ball in college.

When planning for the wedding, I knew immediately what Olivia should wear! You see, about 26 years ago, I was in a wedding (yes, the scowly girl with the funny hair)...

This little eyelet dress from Montgomery Ward's was sitting in my mom's basement! She had saved it all those years! So we dug it out, sent it to Olivia… …and had lots of fun emailing pics of her in it. Staci had it altered slightly and added a brown bow to match the wedding party (the groomsmen wore brown tuxedos).

We first got to see Olivia at our party on Thursday night before the wedding. She arrived decked out in a cute, girly outfit...but soon found a mud puddle. So...we had to improvise and find her a new little "dress"……her new "uncle" Michael thought it was the nicest dress he'd ever seen. {wink, wink}

By the time the wedding day rolled around, Olivia was comfortable with everyone and ready to roll! She did a great job during photographs! This is she and Nicholas...

and she, her brother Isaac and Nichols getting their flowers. Nicholas doesn't look too impressed.

And giving Michael a sweet hug!And while we were ticking down the final moments before the ceremony, she and Nicholas (nephew and ring bearer) were kept very focused with M&M's! They were cute. Olivia walked right down the aisle like she was supposed to. She captivated the guests.........and got QUITE the giggles when she delicately reached into her nose and picked it as she walked down the aisle!!

That is a story we'll always remember! I didn't actually see it happen, but heard about it later! She was the perfect flower girl and itwas great having her part of the day!!