Four Years Later

I would like to take this opportunity to say Happy 4th Anniversary to my wonderful husband.  Our wedding day has taken 2nd place only to the day Gretchen was born as the happiest day of my life.  Here are some memories to remind us how far we've come in 4 short years.

And to all of our friends and family that were kind enough to join us in our wedding celebration, this indeed is a special day for you too!  Happy 4th Anniversary of the Hottest Day of Your Lives.  Nothing says "we love you" like a bunch of Wisconsins and Canadians that sit through an outdoor ceremony in 100+ degree heat.  It makes me smile considering that we have our heat on and I'm wearing a sweater AND a sweatshirt to celebrate this anniversary - you just never know what changes will come your way.

This post will be mostly a shameless posting of some of my favorite wedding photos, but I urge you to read on, they are really great photos.  Thank you again Chris Baltazar: http://baltazarfotos.com/, you amazing stealth of a photographer, you.

Right around this time, 4 years ago, I was still wearing my "Soon to be Mrs. Gill" shirt...

Which is what I wore all day while getting ready, UNTIL it was time for The Dress:



 The beadwork, the buttons, oh, how I love that dress.  Look at how happy I am in that dress:

This is one of my favorite pictures of my Dad.  You know he was happy with a smile like that, wearing a tux, in 106 degree temperatures.  That's 41C for all of you metric folks out there.  And of course, my mom, looking lovely in green.  I never noticed how similar our hair was that day until now - we are like mirror images...

Here is the man of the day, my groom.  Looking dapper with his parents - I wonder where Gretchen gets her beautiful blue eyes:

Our brothers all endured the heat in rented tuxes without complaint.  What a great looking bunch of fellas!  

(Yes, Chip, you are in the brother category)

Julie, Kristen and Sarah, my lovely bridesmaids.  How we miss you all so much...

Just moments before my last name changed (though with our move to Buenos Aires it has temporarily changed back)

And now for the photos of 2 ecstatic newlyweds.  I'll bet Jon thought this was a lot of photos...if he only knew how many I would take of Gretchen...

We tried - we just can't do serious faced photos.  Here is one that made us laugh - we look so angry!   

All smiles is so much better for us:

 It was proud smiles all around for our parents that day:

And check out this chica! She's our sister now!  Happy anniversary to the other Gills of our generation! 

 It was, by far, more than I ever could have imagined out of a wedding.  Thank you to everyone that helped us start our life together.

"Take my hand, we'll make it I swear..." - Bon Jovi knows what he's talking about.

And what a life it has been so far.  We have moved to another country, learned a new language, had a beautiful baby girl and traveled to places we didn't know existed back when these pictures were taken.  Here's to a lifetime of happiness and adventure, for whatever surprises the rest of our marriage brings us.