Holiday weekend in Knoxville

We had a lot to celebrate a few weekends ago in Knoxville, Dec. 10 - 11! Thomas's cousin Louise got married and we had our annual Peery cousins Christmas get-together at Aunt Ashley and Uncle Zack's house. It was a fun-filled and busy weekend and we loved it!

We left our house early on Saturday morning and went straight to A & Z's house for a BBQ lunch with Abby. In uncharacteristic fashion, I didn't take a single picture of our lunch. The boys loved the food, getting to see Abby and they enjoyed playing outside on the swingset/playground that Taylor and Anna have in their backyard. We got to meet their sweet dog, Dixie, for the first time (that's only partially true because Thomas and Stokes got to meet Dixie back in the fall when they came to Knoxville). After a fun luncheon and some cousin play-time, we had to get downtown and check in to our hotel to try to do a little nap/"quiet time" before we had to be at the wedding.

The boys didn't really nap, but we did lay down and and kinda, sorta rest for a while, while Thomas went with his dad to get a local beer! It was a bit unfortunate that the solid nap didn't work out, but hey, what can you do?!?! It was their first time in a hotel room and they thought the phone was awesome - it was their first time to see a landline phone in reaching distance. They were "calling" lots of people!

After a short rest, we got everyone dressed and ready and downstairs to the hotel lobby, where I insisted on getting a quick pic of the boys all dressed up in front of the Christmas tree.

How ADORABLE do they look with these blazers?!?! I die.

Stokes has gotten good with his "camera ready" face.
We have some work to do with Ryan and William. :)

Then it was wedding time! Louise and Clay had their wedding ceremony and reception at The Foundry and it was absolutely gorgeous! Everyone looked so beautiful with their wintery dressed up attire and the setting was incredible. Louise was a stunning bride and the wedding was just awesome. We loved having a get together with so many family members all in one place. Here's a picture that Thomas was able to snap of the ceremony.

Uncle Jim Ed and Louise <3

I, on the other hand, did not get to see the ceremony. As soon as we sat down, William started crying...loudly. So we made a hasty exit and waited out the ceremony behind closed doors with lots and lots of tears and illogical demands. It was one of those kinds of days, post no-nap. Once the ceremony ended, William seemed to calm down and was happy to be the center of attention for anyone and everyone that might want to pay him some mind during the cocktail hour.

We sat down and had a delicious dinner and then the band started and the dancing begun. The boys were troopers throughout much of the evening (excluding William's ceremony time melt-down) and then had a blast dancing to the music. The room where the ceremony had been was cleared out during the cocktail hour and so by the time the band started playing, it was a big open space for the boys and their cousins to run and dance and play. They had a ball! It was so sweet seeing them all playing together and having so much fun with each other. Thomas and I got to dance with each other and with all the boys and we loved the music and the band. We hung out long enough to get some wedding cake, but around 8 pm, it was time for us to head out. We went back to the hotel, got the boys all tucked in to their sofa bed and by then, Thomas and I were worn out, too! Around midnight, William ended up in bed with us and then by 6 or 6:30 am, everyone was in our bed watching cartoons. It was a fun night and a sweet morning.

We didn't rush around to get ready on Sunday morning, and ended up getting out of the hotel a little later than we would have liked, and went straight over to Ashley and Zack's again for a Sunday brunch with MaSha. We had a delicious brunch and got to open up presents from aunts and uncles and cousins and MaSha.

Everyone gathered around Uncle Matt

MaSha with Stokes and Ryan

Lots of love

Brunch spread

Playtime with the piano

Thomas helping Ryan open a gift

Presents!!!

We love gift opening time!

Yayyyyyy - lots of happy kiddos

MaSha with the boys

MaSha with all her grands

What a sweet bunch

Siblings with spouses pic

Making some "beautiful" music

Loving family time

The day wasn't complete for Stokes until
he could get on Uncle Zack's tractor!!!!

This was already 2 weeks ago and I'm behind on posting, due to travel and just craziness around the holidays. Our weekend in Knoxville already seems like it was a long time ago since we've been so busy, so writing this post was fun to go back and remember our good times. I can't wait to see the professional pictures from Louise and Clay's wedding. I'm disappointed that I didn't take my camera and didn't get any pictures, but I'm sure the photographer was able to capture some really great moments. I must conclude by saying that Ashley is a wonderful hostess! We typically have the big Peery family get togethers in Greenville since it's in between Knoxville and Charleston, but this time, since we were all there for the wedding anyways, we got to go to Ashley's house. She has the best taste and style and decorating IQ. Her house looked spectacular and her hostessing skills make me want to polish up my game before everyone comes to our house next time. She raises the bar - on life. Can't wait until we can go to Knoxville again for another visit. We always have a wonderful time!