The Hays Family: North Carolina Wedding Weekend

After a whole day of delays, delays, delays, we finally made it to NC with Lila and Jackson! Huzzah!!

We went for John and Hope's wedding, but we also went because it was the perfect time to take our two oldest back to dad's old stompin' grounds. The wedding was in Winston-Salem, home of the Demon Deacons--this was our chance!

We stayed at Graylyn--a beautiful former estate that has now been turned into a hotel and conference center. It's gorgeous! We checked in at The Manor and a man escorted us to The Mews with his golf cart.

The Mews used to be the stables when it was still a private home. So neat they it has been renovated into part of the hotel. It's got lots of character.

These days, it's where most of the suites are located. Ours was two stories, with the master bedroom being upstairs. We dropped off our bags and then headed over to Tim and Alison's house for a cookout.

These three guys shared an apartment their senior year at Wake Forest. It's crazy how much has changed since then, but so cool to see what all they've done! Brian started a company called Facility Dude with Garyen's dad that has been super-successful, Jared became a very good commercial real-estate attorney, and Tim built the house we were in!

Lila enjoyed playing baby dolls with Lillabeth, who is 2 1/2. She was such a sweet little girl and shared her dolls and toys all night.

We had so much fun catching up with Tim, Alison, Jennifer and Brian. It's been WAY too long since we've seen them. We have vowed not to make it that long again! We chatted the night away, despite our long day of travel, and finally headed back to our hotel.

After a good night's sleep in the Mews, we woke up hungry for breakfast. We walked out into the picturesque courtyard, refreshed by the 72 degree temperature. Heavenly!

Our buffet breakfast was fantastic, too. It was really like a grandma had made breakfast from scratch, just for our family. J man was content once he found his pile of bacon:)

Seriously, are we inside a Norman Rockwell painting?

Lila even found her castle for next time!

After we ate, we met some of Jared's college buddies and walked around the campus. We found their old dorm--the one where 8 of them lived their junior year--a 4 bedroom suite, with one bathroom. Lots of good times were had there, and Jared, Ramy and Zach got to reminisce a little.

We wondered over to the brand new Business School and got to go inside. It had plenty of comfy chairs, that this little lady decided to just camp out. A future Demon Deacon, perhaps?

By that time, we had picked up Justin and Matt. All of us walked through Wait Chapel, the site of Brian and Jennifer's wedding, and also where Jared once saw a Dave Mathews Band concert!
Lots of good memories.

I bet it was hard to imagine 17 years ago, when Jared first walked on The Quad, that he would one day bring back his wife and kids. Such a cool day!

After our walk down memory lane, we went back to get ready for the wedding. I walked into the bathroom and was staring straight at this Kodak Moment. J's first "real" tie. Too grown up for this mama.

We watched John and Hope's wedding, then headed over to the reception inside the fellowship hall of First Baptist.

We had a few appetizers...

then got to mingle a little bit more. I visited with Patricia, Karen and Gina..

while Jared got to introduce Jackson to Pete's son, also named Jackson.
They are 7 years and a few feet apart, but maybe little J will catch him one day!

Tickle Time:)

Most of the MAN group made the trip. Very cool.

After the reception, Jared insisted that we make a pit-stop at Bojangle's for some cinnamon biscuits. He has talked about this for many years. Imagine his surprise when he walks into Bojangle's and sees that this golden item is no longer on the menu. Never fear, though, the employee-of-the-month offered to make it special for him. So clutch! Think of a biscuit and a cinnamon roll having a baby. The result is amazing!

The cinnamon biscuit is so good, in fact, that when offered to this sleeping beauty after being awoken from her deep sleep, she was all smiles:)

Good thing, too, because we had more friends to go meet! Lila loved holding Baby Connor...

and enjoyed playing inside his big sister's playhouse.

Daddy had a smile all night, too, and he loved catching up with Tim, Matt, Brian, Tim K., Justin, Andy and Ramy out on the back porch.

Ramy was so cool and even played soccer with the kids for a little while. What a neat backyard!

We all enjoyed the relaxing evening--the big kids...

and little kids, too. Jen's kids came that night, so Jackson and Lila got to meet Ben and Lilly finally. They were instant friends!

Reunion night #2 was a big success, too, so we stayed up late, yet again.
We figured we could sleep back in Texas.

The next morning was our 12th wedding anniversary! We woke up, went to breakfast with the kids at the Manor, and then checked out this sweet koi pond.

I enlisted my favorite 8 year old photographer to document the big day (isn't he a doll?!)

12 Years together!

We met in the 4th grade, started dating our sophomore year of college, and got married when we were 23. We literally grew up together. I love you, babe!