**This is a long post, you’ve been warned!**  (All these amazing photos by Jenn Repp)

Our gorgeous and tear-inducing ceremony began exactly at 11:30am:

One last adjustment by Mom:

Phoebe & Chuck:

Kay & Roger:

Dorothy & Ken:

A hug for luck:

We only had one song play, both as we all walked the aisle, and again at the end:

Ben’s long-time friend, Ryan Elliott, honored us by performing our ceremony:

We wrote our own vows.  I spoke to the children first:

To all three of them (and our friends and family):

Ben then got everyone laughing with his sweet and funny special vows for me:

Back to me for my vows to Ben:

We created a time capsule together and each hammered in a nail.  In the box is a bottle of wine (that will age well), a copy of our vows, and a “love letter” written by each of us to our future selves.  On our 25th anniversary we will open it up, sip the wine, and read those old letters:

Rings!  Ben’s was a little tough to get on:

We danced our way down the aisle as an official family:

Our good friends, and amazing people, Rachel & Mike signed as our witnesses:

For those who are interested, the following are the vows we spoke that morning:

Becky to Kids:

1. I promise to try and always be a safe place for you to come to when your emotions are too big for you. I will try to remember that you are still learning and growing and sometimes it’s simply more than you can handle alone.
2. I promise to try and make every day an adventure, even if only in a small way. I will also continue to take you on medium and big adventures too! I want to show you both how amazing this world is.
3. I promise to always try to listen. To really hear what you are trying to tell me, even when you don’t have the right words. To listen with an open and non-judgmental heart, so that you feel safe sharing yourself with me.
4. I promise to love you when you least deserve it, because I know that it’s when you will really need it.

Becky to All:

5. I promise to respect the past, to continue to cherish where we all came from and as we move forward as a family to remember our beginnings with love and honor.

Ben to Becky:

1. I promise to defend you, whenever possible, from squishy lizards and fuzzy rodents, whether in person or by preventing you from seeing them on the Internet. These vile, insidious creatures shall not stain your consciousness if I can help it.
2. I promise to keep you well-supplied with things that make you grin, such as pictures of cute puppies, actual cute puppies, great wine, great food, and great coffee, and kisses when you least expect them.
3. I promise never to let your thirst for adventure go unquenched. I will follow you wherever your wanderlust takes you, and I will bring you with me on my own crusades.
4. I promise to dance. This is a little out of my white-guy comfort zone, but it sort of goes with what I just said; your smile gets so big when you see me making a fool out of myself. I vow to do it more.
5. Finally, and most of all, I promise to love you. Maybe less on some days than others, but always, and each year more than the last.

Becky to Ben:

1. I promise to always make life interesting.
2. I promise to remember that you are not perfect, neither am I. I will still love you when you are down or in a bad mood or just too tired to do the things I want to do.
3. I promise to continue to work hard at not bull-dozing you with my continuous crazy plans and ideas, and to take the time to step back and let you express your feelings and thoughts. To make sure we are both facing the same direction when we move forward in our life. I can conquer the world with one hand as long as you are holding the other.
4. I promise to make your interests as important as mine, and to allow you the time you need and want for things, like video games, without making you feel guilty. It’s not frivolous, and just because I don’t want to hang out with Batman or Mario doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy your time with them.
5. I promise to remember that you are giving me a part of you that could break. I won’t try to hurt you, or change you, or expect more than you can give. I will smile when you make me happy, tell you when you make me mad, and miss you when you are not there.