wedding bells for katie

My little sister got married. I almost can't believe it. But I guess since her facebook status says she's married and she's now Katie Steinhoff and not Katie Hotard anymore, it must be real. She's off on her honeymoon and I couldn’t be happier for her. The celebrations surrounding her big day and the wedding itself were amazing. I was home for 3 weeks and I swear, it was the busiest time I've had in probably the past year! Every day was filled with tasks to check off of the to-do lists. When I collapsed into bed each night, I barely hit the pillow before being fast asleep. It was hectic trying to get all the things done for her wedding while still planning and doing stuff for mine as well but everything got done and her big day went off without any hitches.


Katie was beautiful and there wasn't a moment when she didn't have a huge smile on her face (ok - maybe during the 900th picture of the family).


The reception was at the Pearl Stable and it was set for 350 and we maxed that place out - there wasn't an open seat in the house! We danced all night and had our fill of fajitas and margaritas! Oh, and the best part was the nacho cheese fountain… it really doesn't get much better than flowing cheese on top of mexican food! Rickey, Jason and I were in charge of delivering all the presents to their house after the reception - we filled an entire van with all the back seats down plus the backseat and trunk of a smaller sedan. CRAZY! What generous family and friends they have - they are so fortunate to start off their life together set with all the kitchen ware and tools any family could want!
It was fun to see how her big day unfolded - sort of a good trial run for me. It was perfect for her but there are numerous things that will be completely different for my big day. For instance, we aren't having a church wedding so it won't be as formal. Not as many bridesmaids/groomsmen and definitely not as many people. It's fun to see how as sisters, we are so much alike but that our tastes are also so different.

I'm so happy that I got to see and talk with my entire family. The time with them is never long enough but just seeing them for the few days was worth it…plus we're all getting back together in Puerto Rico in just 5 short months!

Here's a picture of most of the cousins from the Hotard-Escudero family - we're missing Andrea & Chris and their 2 cute kids Jay & Ava, Fred had to work, Cessly was in Colorado and Jeff had to stay back in Louisiana for some studying (and evidently a date)...Oh and Cameron but he was technically there, he was just in the middle of his nap time.

Alex, Linden, Sofia, Diego, Joey, Rickey, Jamie, Jason, Graham, Anne-Marie, Lee
Bryn, Teresa, Marisa, Paul, Katie, Christy
Jennifer, Jon, Kara, Mia
Ryan, Zach, Anderson, Campbell, and little Ana