Our Excellent Adventure - A Wedding Weekend

At the end of January, we traveled to Indianapolis to attend our nephew Karl's wedding. Here is a previous post when we were getting ready for the trip.

(Our camera was accidentally left in our car that day, which was parked four blocks away in subzero wind chills. Not wanting to get that "Are you out of your mind?" look from hubby, I opted not to ask for him to return to the car to get it.:) These are pictures taken from a combination of Ben and Lisa's camera, Facebook pics by permission, and the hotel website.)

We were there to be with family and friends and celebrate the marriage of Karl and his bride Emily.

Emily and Karl
(a previous photo)

The wedding and the reception were held at the downtown Omni Hotel .

This is the entrance of the hotel.

When you walk into the lobby and look to the right, you will see the restaurant. This where we spent a good part of Saturday, late morning and afternoon, having coffee or cokes with both sides of our family while they enjoyed brunch or lunch- ( Lon and I stayed at a different hotel just minutes away (a later post to come:)- where we already had eaten. .) First, was brunch with Ben, Lisa and Sophia, Leigh and Paul (mother and brother of the groom), and several of Leigh's friends. ( I might add for clarification, that Leigh is Lon's sister:) Such a wonderful time reconnecting, -and being introduced to Leigh's dear friends whom we'd heard about over the years, but had never met. (Hello Ann!:)
Look past the table in the middle of the room with the big arrangement, (to the chair on the left) at the back table. That is where where we sat having so much fun. It was affectionately called "our table".- as we returned to it again on Sunday for brunch before leaving for home.
By then, we felt like "regulars":) It was just right for our large group:)

After brunch, we went up to Ben and Lisa's room with Sophie to relax and hang out a bit. They had baby land set up in their room. I remember those days of packing almost everything you owned for a trip with kids:) We are so happy they made the trip from Pittsburgh to be there!

These next two pics are the website's photos of the hotel's suites. Very nice.

Amanda was her Aunt Leigh's "roomy" in her suite similar to this. She loved it! Thank you Leigh! Amanda had a great time AND was able to get some studying done also:)
PaPa having fun with Sophie.

She's standing up a lot now!

It wasn't long before we got a call from the lobby that Steve, Opal, Kristy, Dean and little Corbin had arrived! Introductions: Steve (my brother) and Opal (my sweet SIL) live about 1 1/2 hours. south of Indianapolis. Kristy (their daughter, my niece) and Dean (her husband) and Corbin (their little son) live about 15 minutes from downtown.

In this pic: Dean, Opal, Steve

Here are the cousins -Amanda, Ben, Kristy, Corbin. (I'm not sure where Jonathan was at this point)

We had a great time being together again. We joined them at lunch and talked until it was time for us to get ready for the 4:00 wedding. We found out at lunch that our visit was not over with Steve and Opal! Kristy and Dean were giving them Saturday night and brunch on Sunday at the Omni for their belated 35th wedding anniversary gift!! We were able to spend MORE time with Steve and Opal later that night!! Precious time together- I love hearing Steve's stories of what is going on in their lives. Opal and I talked and talked- we laughed, we cried...I love you guys!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Intermission~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, does anyone need a bathroom break? We are just getting started with the wedding! Go ahead - we'll wait.....:)
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This is the room where the wedding was held. For the wedding, all of this was cleared away and covered chairs like the ones at the reception were facing the front. It later was transformed into the dance area for the reception.

The Best Man, Paul -- Karl's younger brother. Our son Jonathan roomed with Paul and their two cousins for the weekend. It was such a great time for these cousins, now young men, to be together again.
The Groom, Karl walking down the aisle with the ring bearer. (Such a great idea)

Here comes the beautiful bride, Emily.:)


See the door on the far wall in the picture below? That was the entrance to the wedding.

And this was the gorgeous ballroom for the reception.
The wedding party was introduced and descended down the stairway from the balcony- just lovely!
The tables were set very similar to this, only with different centerpieces and candles- very elegant.

Sophia brought a smile to people's faces where ever she was. Grammy gets some one on one time with her at the reception.


...and with Amanda...I wonder what is going on over there Sophie?:)

The Bride and Groom...

The Groom dancing with his beautiful and proud mother...

Ben, Lisa and Sophie dancing together.


It was such a pleasure to share in this wonderful marriage celebration. Our prayers are with Karl and Emily as Karl looks forward to graduating from med school this May, and as they continue on this journey of their lives together. God bless.