On a Friday morning towards the end of September, we boarded a plane and headed east in order to attend the wedding of Caroline's cousin, Amelia, in South Bend, IN.  Although Amelia, like Caroline, has ties to Michigan, both she and her fiancé, Graham, were PhD students at Notre Dame when they became engaged and, as such, they decided to hold the wedding there.   Since our final flight destination was Chicago (we would rent a car and drive to South Bend from there), we decided to leave Albuquerque a day early and visit some childhood friends of Caroline's in the Windy City.  As luck would have it, both Barb and Brian were able to meet up with us at the Elephant & Castle Pub, where the 3 old friends caught up and reminisced about days gone by.  Even more luckily, we also had the opportunity to meet Brian's new wife Katelyn, who did an admirable job, along with Scott, of putting up with the trio's antics and (probably very boring) old stories.  It was a fun evening, to be sure, ending with a bottle of wine at Barb's awesome new downtown condo, which we were glad to see.  It was certainly well worth taking that extra day to reconnect with friends!

On Saturday morning we checked out of our latest Priceline coup, the historic and grandly restored Palmer House Hilton, and set out for South Bend under heavy, grey skies.  Upon arrival, we surprised the bride and her mom, Caroline's Aunt Mary, at home with a brief visit. We were delighted to be able to catch up with them and to see the couple's wonderfully cozy and unique apartment located above a former grocery store before the festivities began.  Sadly Graham, whom we had yet to meet, was out with his mom, so that introduction would have to wait for the evening.  Although Caroline's parents were already acquainted with him, we'd be meeting Graham for the first time at the rehearsal dinner to be held at Elia's Mediterranean Restaurant and hosted by Graham's mother, Pat that evening.  It turned out to be a wonderful evening of family and friends, food and drink and warm pre-wedding wishes; not only did Caroline love the food (which she wasn't sure about going into), but she and Scott loved Graham as well!  It was 2 thumbs up all around! 

On the morning of the wedding day, the sun came out of hiding and we spent a pleasant and leisurely afternoon strolling the Notre Dame Campus before we needed  get ourselves ready for the wedding festivities, that evening.  After an early family-reunion dinner near the hotel with Caroline's mom, step-dad, sister Jen and brother-in-law Ivan, we attended the lovely ceremony and elegantly understated reception (with some amazing vegan food made largely by Aunt Mary) at the Potawatomi Greenhouse.  All in all, it was a wonderful, celebratory weekend, full of good, family-wedding fun that we were very pleased to be a part of.  Congratulations, Amelia & Graham!

Scott poses in the ornate lobby at the Palmer House

Caroline poses with step-dad Bill and mom Jane before the rehearsal dinner

The bride poses with her Aunt Jane and her Mom

Notre Dame campus

Caroline relaxes on the giant sectional in our room at the Hyatt Place

Newlyweds!

Brothers-in-law, Scott and Ivan toast the happy couple

The happy couple

Caroline cuts a rug on the dance floor with the Bride & Groom