Marine Corps Ball

On Friday was the Marine Corps Ball for MALS 11. This year it was in downtown San Diego at the Hyatt.  This year we had to get a baby sitter (you know since we have a kid) which actually wasn't hard at all. The bishop's wife and family were a ton of help with letting Clayton be with them so that Kyle and I could have a night out. I pretty much spent most of the day  getting ready for the ball. My hair doesn't stay curled very well regardless of how much hairspray I put in it. Oh well. I wasn't wanting it to be crazy curly anyways.

Even though I knew what time we were leaving, I was still in a rush to get out the door. My dress was a corsette and so I needed help putting it on (thank you Kyle). We had some issues with it. I needed it super tight so that it wouldn't fall down. It was lower than I thought it was going to be (I am pretty sure we could have tightened it more but we were in such a hurry). On the way to drop off the baby and to head to the hotel I was cutting fabric and trying to pin all over. I'm sure all of the cars driving by us thought I was a nut. Oh well. By the time we got to the hotel I didn't feel very confident. Maybe I was just in a weird mood. Whatever.

Kyle was told to be at the hotel at 4:00 (that's when cocktail hour started... not that we drink). Well... when we got there the bar was getting set up and there really weren't many people there. I guess cocktail hour didn't start until five. Some of Kyle's sergeants invited us upstairs to a hotel room where I met a couple wives and visited. They had all started drinking at about 1:00 haha. Some more guys from Kyle's shop came upstairs and eventually we all filed back downstairs. We still had to wait for about an hour after we were downstairs until the doors opened and we were seated. So, Kyle introduced me to more people from his shop and we all just visited.

isn't my hubby so handsome :)

 I borrowed the dress from my friend Libby (she also did my makeup) , and Elizabeth helped me make the jacket.

Oh funny story... while we were waiting for the doors to open I went to the restroom. I definitely had forgotten to take off my basketball shorts when I put my dress on! HA! Good thing the dress was huge and it covered it. When I mentioned it to Kyle he just said, "I noticed that when we were putting your dress on." He thought that I had done it on purpose.

Remember how I said that I was in a weird mood for the start of the night?? Well all of these girls were staring at me like crazy and looking me up and down and I definitely felt awkward and self conscious about it. I was being the crazy Mary Catherine (it happens sometimes). Kyle told me that is was because I was hotter than them and they were just jealous. That made me feel better and got me in a better mood. :)

The ceremony is all very traditional. There is a "fashion show" of the background of the Marine Corps and all of their uniforms since the beginning. There is also a ceremonial birthday cake. It is cut and the oldest Marine in the room and the youngest Marine in the room get a piece. There are a few speakers and a video and then dinner and dancing. My camera and my phone didn't get good pictures of the ceremony sorry. :/

We had some really fun people at our table this year. They were all hilarious!! They were all drunk but soooooooo funny!! 

The dinner was super yummy. Steak, chicken, mashed potatoes, asparagus, rolls, and a salad. The dessert was some kind of chocolate mousse. Doesn't it all just sound so delicious?? :)

We didn't stay long after the dinner was over but we were able to visit some more with people and I was able to get to know them better. It was great.!! All in all it was a great night. :)  I am so glad that Kyle and I were able to go on a date together. Heavens to betsie I just love that man. :)

 These are a couple of random pictures from the ball last year. Since I didn't blog for over a year I guess I should post these too.

you can tell how much he likes pictures ;)