Edmonton and a Wedding

For months I had been looking forward to my cousin Ryan’s wedding in Edmonton. Getting the whole family together is really hard, but what’s a better excuse than a giant party? Another great aspect was that it also happened to take place on the weekend before Christmas, and it’s been YEARS since the whole family has been together for Christmas.

So once Ryan told me the wedding date I quickly looked at hotels and booked one right away. With the wedding being close to Christmas I was worried about things booking up fast, and I’m also a little picky when it comes to hotels. We ended up staying at the Sandman Signature, and we were blown away with their customer service (I’ll get into that a little bit later).

So Nick and I were invited to attend the Ring Ceremony, Family Dinner and Reception. We decided to just head up the morning of the wedding and head straight to the ceremony. They were sealed earlier that morning at the Edmonton Temple, which my parents got to be in attendance. We got to Edmonton with lots of time to spare and just hung out with my family and grandparents. News of my pregnancy and our baby’s congenital defect had already spread, so of course they had lots of questions (which I fully expected).

Finally the ceremony and program got underway and it was so beautiful – especially the bride Devonee. A late lunch was served and I got to finally meet Ryan’s new wife. Devonee was wonderful and I love her already! She was so kind and spent time talking and getting to know us. Finally they left to take pictures, and we decided to leave the church and go check into our hotel and maybe take an afternoon nap.

During all of this we heard that my niece Alexa was very sick for the first time since she was born and was vomiting nonstop. Apparently she threw up over everything Danika had brought, even the hotel bed. Danika called down to the front desk (the whole family happened to stay in the same hotel) to inquire about laundry service, which they didn’t have. They suggested she use one of the washer and dryers that some of their suites had, so Danika headed down there to grab a room key. After talking to the front desk girl, they asked if she would just like to be upgraded for free. This made such a huge difference, as Alexa continued to throw up all weekend and Danika ended up using the washer and dryer multiple times. The suite also came with a little kitchenette, which was also a huge help. Caring for a sick baby isn’t easy, but dealing with one when you’re miles from home sucks.

Danika and Chad ended up missing out on the reception, which Danika was so bummed out about. Around 6:30pm Nick and I headed back to the church for the reception and dance. We had dinner, dessert (plus a candy bar, which was my favourite part), and finally the dance got underway. It was a really fun night overall. Austin caught the garter belt, and Nick twirled me around the dance floor a few times. Finally around 10pm we left and headed back to the hotel.

The next day we stopped in Red Deer on our way home where Nick wanted to take me to “his” Denny’s. It was the Denny’s that he and Tia (his EMT partner) would eat at once a week while he worked for East Central EMS. It was a great way to end a great weekend!

Ryan, Devonee, Me and Nick

Austin catching the garter