9 Years Ago

I was a little hesitant to post photos from our wedding for fear of them looking cheesy or embarrassing. Then I remembered seeing this photo and decided it would be O.K.It was 9 years ago that Sara and I tied the knot. Below are a lot of pictures from that great day. I will give a recap of what I remember from way back then. (If you don't like scrolling through a bunch of pictures, this probably is not the blog post for you.)

We got married on a Saturday morning down in San Diego. The Los Angeles Temple was our first choice, but it was closed at the time. It was a nice, overcast day. In fact, we were worried it would be a little too overcast. There were a few early morning sprinkles that had us hoping it wouldn't rain.

Sara, of course, looked beautiful. I looked like my hair got in an altercation with a lawnmower.

Although it wasn't our first choice, the San Diego Temple does look pretty awesome.

If you haven't been to a wedding before, you might not know that you have to pose for enough pictures to supply every citizen of China with their own photo.

This picture is a little deceiving. I was whispering in her ear and then our earrings got tangled.

A bunch of people travelled down the coast to share the day with us.

Can you find yourself? Where's Yoda?

Here is the wedding party. We call it a wedding party because everyone in it likes to party, especially me.

Here are the groomsmen.

And the bridesmaids.

Barb, the matron of honor.

A.J.
(This was my one bridesmaid pick. Sara got to choose her brother as a groomsman to even things out.)

Anna, Sara's sister (before her Bob Marley phase).

Carla, future sister-in-law

Charissa, one of Sara's BFF's

Eva, Sara's other sister

Krazin, another one of Sara's BFF's

And Catrina, our future niece.
She was nice enough to come to our wedding on her birthday.

All of the Kelley family was in attendance.

Look at the next two pictures of the McAlister Clan and see if you notice a difference between the two.

In the first picture everyone is all bunched up and close. In the second picture, you add me and nobody wants to get near me. I've learned later on in life, that Sam wasn't exactly a big fan of me. This photo kind of proves it. Just like moss, I eventually grew on him. (But it makes you wonder how anyone could not like me.)

Mike and Sam didn't get to have a forehead shining battle, due to the lack of sun. Had there been sun, somebody might have gone blind.

Sara and her mom.

This is probably my favorite picture of our wedding pictures. I don't know why, but I just really like it. (The one's of Sara and I are pretty good too.)

Sara and her parents. It's not widely known, but Sam and Bonnie go to so many weddings that they just wear these outfits around the house. That way they don't have to worry about finding them each weekend.

Both of my grandmas made the trip.

Here are the Kelley men. Can you believe that we used to look like this. More on that later....

Here is some of the Bishop Bunch. If you were there, you know.

After 3 million rolls of film we headed off to lunch at some mexican place (which is not a commentary on the ethnic make-up of the city of San Diego). If I remember right, it was El Torito.

Then we headed up to Altadena for the wedding reception, and a cool glass of milk. Ken was in training for the future Mr. Sasquatch competition. Years later that training would win him the title of The General. He also was the DJ that night, but I don't know what his DJ name is.

Kenny and Rachel had recently gotten married themselves.

The Original Mr. Mustachio family, before there was a Mr. Mustachio award. It is a shame that Neil has never competed, because that looks like an award winning mustache. Wyatt already looks like he is up to something. I think he had a hand in defacing our car that night, but could never prove it.

The Eva Knievel family. Our wedding must have created some sparks, because a lot of people who attended the reception eventually got married. I'm not saying that it is all because of our wedding. I'm just saying that it is something to consider.

Another future marriage influenced by our wedding, alledgedly.

Sam had serious aspirations of catching the bouquet, and was disappointed when told he was not eligible to participate.

Here is the Kelley family before adding Sara.

And now after adding Sara. She did increase our overall good looks exponentially. She also finally gave my mom somebody to help her in the battle against the male dominance (unless you count Kyle).

Here we are with our cake. I don't recall choosing this cake. In fact, I don't recall having a say in much of anything. That is not necessarily a bad thing. There is more about the cake to follow....

Krauser, a.k.a. The Nicest Guy In The World. If you've met him, you will agree.

Yes, Knick was actually this small at one time.

This is when George was trying to pull off black people hair dos. We later informed him that he is white.

George's brother Kato was sporting a much whiter look.

This is a funny picture, because Kato and A.J. had previously dated. You can tell by the look on Kato's face that he is thrilled to be sitting next to her.

Grandma Mac crashed the party.

Here us Kelley men are again. Have I mentioned Jed's hair yet? Apparently, Jed was very confused at this time. Why else would he do that to his hair?

In fact, his hair led him to try and do this. Luckily, I was able to pull myself away before he got too frisky.

I don't know who these people are. They must have wanted some free food. Toward the end of the night Jed and the guy in the front accidently touched heads and set off a small fire.

Here are some more wedding crashers. The food must have been good to get all these strangers to come.

And now the cake story. This picture marks a first in our marriage. Sara told me that if I smeared cake on her face, that I wouldn't be "getting some" later.

We laughed about it then, but that tactic has been used for 9 years now. I don't think there is any effective defense against it either.

Having spent 24 years waiting to "get some", I did not smear cake on her face. Had the threat not been made, this picture would have looked a lot different.

This photo captures a very rare moment. I am not much into the whole pda thing. You may not find another picture like this again.

Sara threw the bouquet. I've noticed that at weddings you will have a bunch of women involved in this. The little girls really don't stand a chance.

But when the guy throws the garter, the older guys stay at the back of the pack and really have no desire to catch it. So, it is usually a younger kid who gets it.

We informed Krazin that California state law would prohibit her from marrying David for quite a few years. They actually did end up getting married about a month ago, to other people. (Not to beat a dead horse, but just another example of our wedding's influence on other people to get married.)

We danced to our song, Antologia by Shakira.

Genie in a Bottle by Christina Aguilera was the top song at the time, but it didn't seem appropriate for the night.

Then we got to dance with our parents.

Then our parents got to dance with each other. This is another rare photo. You'll probably spot Bigfoot before you see Mike dancing again.

Sara looked gorgeous. I don't recall her wearing this dress again after that day. At the end of the reception we headed off to the hotel to play some board games. The next morning we were of to a bed and breakfast in Santa Barbara. And the rest is history. Were you there? Did I forget to mention anything? Feel free to add your insights in the comment section.

9 years have gone by. We have added 4 kids to the equation and I have no regrets. I'm very blessed to have Sara in my life and look forward to spending eternity with her.

Happy Anniversary, Sara! I love you.