The Long Awaited Update - Our Wedding

Chris and I are finally ready to post some new pictures after a looooong period of nothingness! We now officially have the internet in our cozy apartment here in Mission Valley, so hopefully I will become an active blogger once again!

I have greatly enjoyed seeing everyone else's pictures of our wedding over the past month. Thank you to all of you who have posted them. Ryan and Andrew did a terrific job! Instead of posting the same pictures, I am going to use a few snapshots from one of Chris's friends who was kind enough to email them to us, in addition to others from our photographers. Some of them are not professionally taken or edited, but they will give a flavor to our Big Day that I don't think anyone else has captured thus far. Enjoy!

Mrs. Polanycia (Chica) and Mrs. Scott (Squishy) kissing the last "Baker sister"

good-bye. . . at least to the shared family name!

One of my personal favorites - me and one of the many individuals who made my dream wedding come true. Thanks for the consoling moment in my room on Wednesday evening, Bek. I love you!

Isn't Pastor Duttry great!?! I guess he caught the Christmas spirit just before the ceremony! When I saw him walk in wearing a Santa hat, I knew it was going to be a fun ceremony.

Me and "my kids" - These are the six kids I have babysat for the past nine years. There was no possible way to choose only one flower girl and one ring bearer, so I found a position for all of them. Brandon (14) pulled Jonathan (1) in a sleigh; Riley (9) and Teresa (8) walked together as flower girl and ring bearer; and Joshua (5) and Emily (3) walked together as flower girl and Bible bearer. They were absolutely precious all dressed up in fancy dresses and little tuxedos! These children will always be priceless to me, and I'm so glad they were such a big part of my wedding.

My incredibly adorable father as he walks his last daughter down the aisle. I'm glad Rebekah and Chica went first because Dad had the whole walking-in-unison-with-a-girl thing down really well by his third go around! It doesn't hurt that with his adorableness (Merriam-Webster definition: worthy of being adored; extremely charming) comes his cute little stature. I love this picture because it captures a thousand unspoken words. I love you, Faj. Thanks for being my Superman!

My Christmas wedding . . .the beauty of a longtime dream captured in one picture

The bride's face as she informs her groom that "this whole event is the most natural thing I have ever done."

"With this ring, I thee wed. . .and pledge to thee all my love and FIDELITY!" (Only a handful of people will truly understand this. Let's just say my pastor is hysterical.)

"I now present to you, for the first time - Mr. and Mrs. Chris Smith."

Our "getaway car" was anonymously decorated with shaving cream, toothpaste, and toilet paper. We did manage, however, to use the provided toilet paper to smear off as much shaving cream and toothpaste as we could to put the top down before making our way to the nearest car wash. Great fun and good memories!