The Reception...

The reception was just as beautiful as the wedding. The flowers were gorgeous.

Daniel was in love with the chocolate fountain (you can already see the chocolate on his face and the reception hasn't even started yet) I only caught him with his finger in it once. ;)

There were two tables of refreshments. Everybody loved the italian sodas. (this is our cousin Diana, she's one of those few people who still look gorgeous even when they are very pregnant, isn't she?)

Maren and Lucy got a hold of a marker and tried to make themselves look pretty by putting on "mascara." (what wedding would be complete without little kids making some trouble?) I was actually really impressed that they didn't get any on their dresses!Near the end of the reception there were fireworks by the pool.I was nervous about how Sam would do during the fireworks, since Daniel hated them until he was 4. (we're talking HATE, screaming, crying and hiding, lol) but Sam thought they were so great. He sat and laughed and giggled while he watched. Daniel's obviously gotten over his phobia too. :)We all got to pelt them with rice on their way out, that made it official!When people started heading out I was finally able to get a couple of quick shots of the reception area (the back yard ;)  )

I had put together some floating groups of candles. Sadly, there was too much wind during most of the reception, but they were beautiful by the end. Next time though, I'll be anchoring them throughout the pool so that they don't end up like this every half an hour. (and next time I'd probably use lanterns so that the wind doesn't blow them out... details, right?)

After everybody left I went to put my poor poor feet in the pool (I'd forgotten to bring dress shoes to utah with me, so I had to buy a new pair the day before the wedding and didn't get a chance to break them in. ouch!) My little niece Maren came to join me for a bit. 

 

She had really loved helping me put flowers in the pool earlier, so I would take some of them out and let her throw them back in.

All of a sudden she perked up and said, "I know just the thing!" And she ran off. I heard her yelling, "Shoo Shan! (my name) Shoo  Shan! I found more flowers for us, I found more flowers for us!" If you know Maren, who know just how excited she gets, lol. She came running around the corner with this:

She'd found the bridal bouquet and was heading straight for the pool. It was too cute. The girl who had caught the bouquet was hot on her heels. (and there were adults around the pool since it was open). So she never would have made it, but she was sure excited about it. Gotta love these cute little kids. ;)