happy 4th anniversary, byrds!!!!

celebrating a very happy 4 years with the love of my life!  four years.  four years of creating a life together, creating an even greater friendship, creating an even stronger love.  & now onto creating a little porter!

 {1st year of happiness in montevallo}

{2nd year of happiness in memphis}

{3rd year of happiness in nola}

i love you, dear love of my life.  you are truly the man of my dreams.

love love,

kjp.

my little brother is married!

my little brother is married!!  to a beautiful, gorgeous woman, both inside & out.  ally truly is a joy to be around & brings out the super fun man in brent.  we are incredibly excited for the beginning of their very fun life together as husband & wife.  so without further ado, introducing mr & mrs brentalan!!

the wedding & reception were held at the gorgeous farmer's market in oklahoma city.  i love the historic beauty of the building with the modern touches.  the sparkly lights & white lanterns, the crackly brick walls, & the fabulous view of downtown okc...

 {the devon tour is so tall.  ridiculously tall.}

as soon as brent saw his bride walking down the isle, the tears formed into his eyes.  i've never seen brent cry {ok ok, maybe as a very small child when i stole his racecars or beat him at nintendo}, so it was amazing to see the joy & true feelings in his face.

my bro-in-law, benny boo, officiated the ceremony.  the words were sincere & whitty & loving & perfectly brent & ally. 

& the reception was crazy fun!!  our family favorite band, ij ganem band, played the night away.  we danced, we laughed, & we celebrated the wonderful couple.  so much fun.

the one & only amy cakes made the stunning wedding cakes!  all five of them!  amy cakes is pretty much the best cake maker ever.  she made my wedding cake {here} & makes my favorite cake in the entire world - amy cake's lemon cake.  oh, i love that cake.

 {the five cakes & the best man & maid of honor speeches}

 {the new mr & mrs taking a little dance break}

{my dad & my sisters!}

{& my little mini-me!
miss siena,
my 11 year old, much prettier than i, niece}

{the cutest little nine month old in the world:
mr malcolm man}

{the vandaveer family of 3!}

{so happy to see you, ashley & ryan!!
harvey loft reunion!!}

a gorgeous wedding, a fantastic reception, & a wonderful evening with our family & friends.  a perfect night to for brent & ally to get married.  congratulations, mr & mrs stanley!!

love love,

kjp.

a beautiful ceremony of love in beautiful napa.

the highlight of our napa trip was an absolutely gorgeous wedding of one of blake's best friends from college & his beautiful bride.  we are so thankful to have shared in their big day, so thankful to see so many of the wonderful friends blake made in college, so thankful to experience a lovely example of love.

the wedding took place at an amazing estate in the napa valley, full of vineyards & gardens, a lovely home, & an amazing view.

{the isle the bride walked down to her groom}

the ceremony was so unique, so special.  the bride & the groom each had written a love letter to the other during their engagements.  words of respect, words of awe, words of fun, words of joy, & words of love.  each letter was shared during the ceremony.  it truly was a neat experience.  we had not yet met the bride, but we felt like we knew her by the end of the ceremony.  & we certainly learned why a-mar was so smitten with his now bride.

{introducing the new mr & mrs martin}

for those wonderful friends that were in our wedding, this was the first time we had seen them in three years.  for the other amazing people, blakey hadn't seen them since college!  {that's seven years, if you're counting :) } 

{grahamy & jess!}

it was so great to meet even more of the awesome people that shaped blakey's college days.  as has happened every time, i am amazed at the quality of people from depauw.

{three stellar gentlemen}

{so happy to have finally met you, kate!}

{dylan!}

after the beautiful wedding was a fantastic party.  we danced, we toasted, we laughed, we took a pretty fabulous photo flip book, & we even got to spend some time with the happy couple.  it was a great party.

{he boys!}

{good quality man love}

{what favor do you give at a napa wedding?
wine, of course.}

the perfect end to the perfect vacation.

love love,

kjp.

#hydewedding!

our trip to houston was all for a beautiful wedding celebration of a great porter family friend & his bride.  chris & diana were married on a gorgeous spring evening on the patio of a fun downtown restaurant with park trees, tall buildings, & a lovely sunset backdrop.

it was a delightful ceremony with a wedding reading i had not previously heard called "blessing of the hands".  i hope you read the entire poem {here}, as it really is beautiful.  my favorite line is the ending:

& lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled & aged

will still be reaching for yours,

still giving you the unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

after the ceremony, a fantastic party commenced!  champagne, four layers of wedding cake flavors, & dancing all night long.  we had a marvelous time!

{joel bear!}

{the ladies... yeah!}

{always great man time}

& dance we did...

so many blessing on your marriage, chris & diana!  & thank you for a fantastic party!

love love,
kjp.