Three years ago today, I stood up in front of all our family and friends and toasted my sister and her new husband. Not only was I photographing this wedding with Adam, I was also 9 weeks pregnant (puking all day) and co Matron of honor with Britt (who just had anna). It was a very memorable day to say the least. My heart hurts to think about all the ups and downs our family has experienced in these three short years. Through my hormonal/sentimental tears and laughter, here is what I had to say:

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First of all I want to say, shooting so many weddings has given me the opportunity to hear some really good and some NOT SO GOOD toasts. If there is one thing that I have learned from all of them is, WRITE IT DOWN because if you don’t, you talk in circles, ramble and end up saying some terrible stuff about the bride and groom. Lol. So bear with me as I follow my notes along.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m Ali’s baby sister by about 3 yrs. Britt and I are the tomboys and she’s the one who somehow managed to get most the ‘girl genes’ Britt and I were supposed to get. She’s the Martha Stewart in the family who loves to throw dinner parties and wear pink ruffles. Over all the years of living in the same house we did some pretty hilarious things together, we shared a lot of special moments… and we fought A LOT. But mom was right when she told us then, “you’ll eventually be best friends!”

By the time I was in 8^th grade I decided Ali wasn’t so bad and asked her to be my confirmation sponsor. That was the beginning of me looking up to her as a role model. In high school I ended up joining all the same clubs as her, partly because I was interested in being a better person—and partly because she was my ride home. 😮

Eventually I grew to love serving and ministry work like she did.  We went on various mission trips and lead all sorts of retreats. Ali is lucky enough to be teaching at a school where she can continue all of her service work. Ben and Ali have even traveled to south Africa together to serve. I love that he shares the desire give and love like she does.

When they got engaged we offered Ali our upstairs so she could save up money to buy a house. This obviously meant Ben was at our place everyday as well. So over the past year I’ve been jotting down a bunch of random notes that I thought would get a good laugh out of the crowd tonight. Since most of them were completely non-related I’ve decided to do the top five funniest things said or done at the Pace/Tracy/Nunery house this year.

5. One time Ben was out of town and my 28 yr old sister—who had partied a little too hard—woke me up in the middle of the night demanding that I come upstairs and spoon with her. That wasn’t enough, so I had to read her a story til she fell asleep. (I’m surprised she didn’t try to twirl my hair.) Did I mention she was…ummm…missing her clothing? She’s also been known to take Adam’s spot in bed as we stay up late and talk like we are 10 yrs old. This happened last on Wednesday night!

4. The Tracy family has a passion for dressing up.  Between Ali and I, we have the most eccentric clothing collection. In fact one night Adam walked in to find Ben, Ali and I cooking dinner each in our own wig. Is that weird? I don’t think it is.

3. Ali has a remarkable ability to lose every possession she has.  One night Ben threatened to make her wear a shock collar to help her with this problem. I think he actually put it on the registry.

2. It has been their goal to make me eat healthy. Apparently cheese fries and ranch for dinner aren’t acceptable. Ben literally won’t let me get up from the dinner table to get dessert til I finish my vegetables. One night he even ate a cupcake in front of me and said, “I can do this because I’m the adult and yer the kid!” JERK.

1. The first weekend she moved in, we were eating outside on the porch. Adam was on my right and Ben was on my left. Suddenly, I felt a hand resting on my LEFT leg. Thought it was weird but didn’t mention it cause we were all looking down eating. Then it kinda rubbed my leg and I was like…”for real ben? I know we look alike but you can’t tell the difference?” He looks up and about turned white when he realized it was MY leg, not Ali’s!

The past year has been amazing having her live with me. We have grown so much closer and I’m going to miss you guys a lot. Thanks for buying a house on the Westside (or the black hole as Ben likes to call it)! This way you won’t be far when I call you after dinner and ask you to bring over some ice cream. Geeeze, I’m really not looking forward to going back to doing all the cooking, cleaning and yardwork next week.

One last bit of advice for you Ben:

Go ahead and just replace all the money in your wallet with a picture of your new beautiful wife. Cheers to Ali and Ben! Just always remember to kiss hello, goodbye and goodnight everyday til you’re old and gray! I love you guys.

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She was a gorgeous bride, wasn’t she?

Thinking of you today, Ben. I hate more than anything that you aren’t together, in flesh, celebrating. I love you and know that all of our hearts are heavy with yours. Love, Mel.