Caitlin and Devin's Wedding in St. Louis

Well, John and I watched our last child get married last weekend. It is surprisingly emotional for moms to let go of their last one because I guess it means that we are no longer needed, and are definitely being replaced. I'm sure it is a universal emotion but kind of unexpected for me. A little melancholy even with all the excitement.  Devin Moss married Caitlin McCain in the St. Louis Temple on August 6th 2010. Marisa Belle was a cute little flower girl.

It was funny that everybody in our family had a different of 4 flights on 3 different airlines and all of us were late, delayed or sat on the tarmac for long stretches. We had planned on going to a St. Louis Cardinals game and when our plane was over an hour late getting in and by the time we got our bags and rental cars it was too late, already 4th inning and we thought we'd not even make it to half the game. So sad. So we went swimming in the hotel pool instead.  

Boy the heat and humidity of St. Louis was quite staggering coming from a dry desert like Salt Lake City. We were sweating instantly off the plane! Yuk. I'll take my dry heat anyday. And we had tons of mosquito bites by the end of the 3 days there. At our hotel the McCains had left red St. Louis Cardinals tote bags full of yummy treats, chips, nuts and sodas. What great hosts they were! We loved it! 

One of our favorite places to eat on vacations is IHOP. I love that place. It is a wonderland of breakfast food selections. I love all the little syrup pots and jelly packets to choose from. I remember being awed by them as a kid and I still love to have a pancake full of 3 kinds of syrups. But nothing really compares to the stuffed french toast I had covered with whip cream and strawberries. Heavenly! We tried a different breakfast place every morning but everybody loves IHOP the best.  Here's Gary in his hot rental car.  It's a Chevy man!

We met up with Devin's inlaws the McCains and went to the temple together for Caitlin's endowment and then went to lunch at their house. It was fun to get to know them and see their beautiful home with all the greenbelts in the backyard. St. Louis is super green, trees everywhere! Mrs. McCain works at the Pottery Barn there and has such cute furniture and decorations all over the house.  I bet Caitlin will have a real cute apartment too with mom's help in the decorating department. :) 

 We had a rehearsal dinner at the pizza parlor and we all sang "Forever, forever you'll stay in my heart and I will love you forever forever, we never will part, oh how I'll love you forever, forever, that's how it will be, to live without you would only be heartbreak for me......" just like in the movie My Best Friend's Wedding with Julia Roberts. It was really fun and we were obnoxiously boisterous. We kept telling the other diners, "those 2 are gettin married tomorrow!" and everybody would smile and stare.  So cute.  Megan (2 years) started dancing around with these 2 straws and we all swore she looked like she was directing a symphony orchestra. It was too funny.  Tiffany and Gary went with John and I to see the museum and the St. Louis Arch and got some cute pictures.

It's amazing how tiny that thing looked from the airplane coming into town and how massive it is standing underneath it.  An amazing engineering feat in truth.

 Jeff and Wendy waited, were delayed, got up in the air finally and had to turn around 45 minutes into the flight, then waited all day in the airport while they tried to fix the plane. Their 1:30 afternoon flight finally got in after 8:30 p.m. and they missed a lot of fun being together with us. Josie, it turns out, the newest baby of the family (7 weeks) doesn't like traveling. Go figure!

The next day was wedding day and boy the weather became more mild and couldn't have been better actually.  Caitlin chose black and white and cream for colors and all the guys looked cute in their formal tuxes and girls in black with white rose corsages or bouquets. Caitlin's wedding dress was super pretty with lots of embellishment, pearls and lace, and her hair pulled over into a side bun with wispy tendrils. The flower girls had creme lace dresses with black ribbon sashes and little purses full of white rose petals to throw around. So cute.

Then we went to the ring ceremony and reception at a country club that was fabulous and beautiful.  Mostly it all took place outdoor under a big white tent and we had a lovely dinner and then danced to a D.J. with kareoke. My son-in-law Dr. Gary Tremayne wowed us all with his Neil Diamond impression and we all sang along to Sweet Caroline. We HAD to put it on utube for all his family to see and make fun of.  Caitlin's mom and dad did Love Shack and had us all rockin out.  My husband John took to his video and roamed from table to table making everybody say something. I'm sure he annoyed everybody but the video is kinda fun to watch.  Caitlin's little sister Abby told him "Remember my name, I'll be famous on broadway someday!" Too funny. Super cute 12 year old girl. 



The Ring Bearer & the 2 flower girls at the ring ceremony...





Dylan Feik & Devin (missionary companions)


Many of Devin and Caitlin's college buddies from BYU and Devin's missionary friends drove 24 hours to be with them and help celebrate. They were super fun and crazy and they made watching the dancing and of course the BYU fight song hysterically funny.  We have it all on video.  Good for some laughs later.  I'm so glad they have such great people as friends and I was impressed with the bonds of friendship they all share. I hope they will continue to all be close friends throughout their lives.  Elder Dylan Feik drove all day with his wife to help Devin celebrate. He and Devin were 1st companions to each other in the MTC and were both assistants to the president twice on their missions.  We loved seeing him and grilling him on Armenian words and remembering their time in Aremenia and Georgia a few years ago. Caitlin's cousin Brendan was so cute I'll have to fix him up with one of my nieces who goes to BYU.  He'd be a real catch too. Super cute and funny!

The next day we all went out to breakfast again and then packed up to go back home. Megan and Marisa are quite the jet setters now. We had to take a picture of them sitting in the baggage size checker like they were a pair of luggage.

Megan fell asleep on my lap and slept the whole 3 hours home. Boy were my legs stiff after that.  Tiff loaned me her Kindle on the flight out and I got through the whole book of Hunger Games by the time we reached the Salt Lake Airport coming back in.  Now I'm super hooked on kindle reading.  I found a free application to use my laptop with Kindle so almost as good and hey, FREE!  Books are cheaper too.

Well, I only have one more week and it's back to school for me.  Devin and Caitlin are off to the Cayman Islands for their honeymoon. I hope they don't get stuck in an airport or on a tarmac like the rest of us.