Meet Mr. & Mrs. Galt Pettett

Jim's son Galt married French-Canadian Lyne Francyne Laferriere on October 11, 2008 in the Montelago Resort Chapel at Lake Las Vegas.

While Galt and Lyne were courting and Galt moved from Tucson to Richland, WA and Lyne moved from Tucson to San Diego and then to Detroit, they found it was easy to get to Vegas for a rendezvous - so it became a romantic city for them.

During our drive from Phoenix, we got to see the latest progress with the bridge over Hoover Dam - what an amazing project! This is going to cut weekend traffic lines - what a fantastic view that's going to be from on top!

We drove around the west side of Lake Mead and thus avoided going into Henderson and Vegas proper. We enjoyed a scenic drive in the foothills outside the city and saw very big, very ritzy houses sprawled along the shores of Lake Las Vegas.

There is a magnificent entrance with multiple waterfalls and fountains to the resort complex. The Montelago Resort is a combination of hotel rooms, condos, casitas and faux Italian Village. Someone said it looked like a Disneyland version of an Italian village. And it's next door to a huge casino and another resort and a beautifully green golf course with a club house that looks like an Italian countryside villa. We parked next to the Montelago main entrance, checked in and then parked and started to unload. There are two levels of underground parking which was very nice in the hot and windy weather.

Our 3-bedroom, 3-bath condo came with a big living room, 2 balconies, combo washer/dryer and kitchenette. And our new in-laws were right above us which was very convenient.

Jim went golfing on Friday morning and had a lot of fun - with Galt, Jeff and Shauna's son Jason from Arkansas. Jenni did a fashion show for Connie, Wanda and me - she looked great in her new duds from Scottsdale.

Friday night was the rehearsal and then the rehearsal dinner. Everything went well and dinner was scenic and delicious. We ate family style while we watching the sun set on the village and Lake Las Vegas.

Lyne's aunt and uncle, Fern and Andre, joined our table along with Butch, Connie, Wanda and Jenni and we all enjoyed the company.

Robin impressed Lyne's aunts and uncles on her mother's side because she had memorized all their names in order: Paul with wife Colombe and daughter Melanie, then ___ and ___ and Lyne's mother Nicole, then ___ and Francine -Lyne's godmother and flight attendant and Fern (Fernande).

And Jim impressed Lyne's female relatives with his muscular legs from all the miles of cycling he's done.

The wedding on Saturday was gorgeous. Lyne looked beautiful and Galt was handsome. Lyne's sister Julie sang and her lovely voice echoed in the chapel over the water. Lyne's sister Carol read from the Bible.

Here's Gilles and Carol with Nicholas, Maxim and baby, Galt and Lyne, Nicole and Ron, Dan and Mollie and Julie.

The rest of the wedding party looked great in their red, black and white - including niece Mollie as the flower girl and the two ring-bearing nephews Nicholas and Maxim. Here's the photographer and the wedding party.


After the wedding, the photographer took pictures in the chapel.

Then we walked through the village to join the wedding celebration.

Galt danced with his mom, Sharon, and Lyne danced with her father Ron while her mother Nicole was teary-eyed.

Lyne's sisters Carol and Julie had decorated two pairs of socks for Jeff and Jenni to wear to start off a traditional French-Canadian dance. As unmarried older siblings, Jeff and Jenni danced while people tossed $$$ onto the dance floor for the honeymoon - then Galt and Lyne joined them and then other guests joined in. Jeff wore Canadian-colored socks and Jenni wore American socks, both with googly eyes and bells sewn on.

Here's Jeff, Samantha, Jason and Galt - Jason is Shauna Pettett's son; Jason and Samantha came all the way from Arkansas to help Galt and Lyne celebrate their wedding.

Jeff's friend and co-worker from Southwest Airlines, Collette, volunteered her condo in Colorado for the honeymoon. Collette flew in to Vegas for just a few hours - she almost missed the wedding trying to find her way to the chapel. We were so glad to see her! Here's Jeff and Collette and Jim and Collette...











Jim and Jill Mitchell from Phoenix joined in the wedding celebration. Lyne had wonderful decorations for the tables - silver replicas of the Eiffel Tower (where Galt proposed) that held photos of Galt and Lyne and their family and friends, candles, etc.

Dancing and music continued until 11 pm - then it was off to bed for some and to the casinos for others.

Jeff drove one van load into Vegas while Jason drove another. Lyne walked around Las Vegas in her wedding dress with Galt and members of the wedding party like she'd seen other couples do during her previous visits.

Breakfast on Sunday morning was great with the Laferriere family right next to the Pettett family talking over the wedding events.

Jeff drove members of Lyne's family into Vegas where they stayed several days after the wedding for a family reunion - one cousin and his wife even came from Australia!