My name is Michael, and I am the brother of the groom. Growing up with Chris has some great memories from Boy Scouts to the annual summer cruises. My most cherished memory was the weekend we spent in 2007 hiking to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. We made it a quick haul down and back up and ended with a bang getting back to the top before a blizzard hit.

Chris and I first met at Boy Scout camp in the summer of 2005, where we were both staff members. What started as a summer of work soon developed into a lifelong friendship. We spent our days on adventures—mainly on the archery range, hiking, driving to Payson, and getting into some shenanigans. These experiences forged a deep bond between us. Our friendship grew stronger as we tackled the 800-mile Arizona Trail over several years. Chris became a central part of my life, and when I got married, he was the obvious choice for my best man. His impact on my life and family has been profound and lasting.

Im one of the Matrons of Honor and Emily’s eldest sister. Emily has been in my life since I was 8 years old and though I have two kids now, Emily (or as I call her Schmemmy) will always feel like my first baby. As you can imagine, 27 years together alots for many memories- several of them great! Because I have so many to choose from, I’ll give you one of my favorites. When Emily was tiny, around 3 years old and we were prepping for Christmas around the Brader house, we were all diligently working on our Christmas lists… cutting out or circling photos from the most recent Toys R Us catalog. Well, Miss Emily somehow managed to get a hold of sales flyer from Walmart. Instead of a Doll or whatever the newest great toy was, we were all pleasantly pleased to find that Emily had cut out sales pictures for things like Scotch Tape, Fig Newtons, and Pledge. After laughing for what felt like the rest of the month, Christmas was upon us and wouldn’t you know it, our MawMaw Shirl got her exactly what she wanted- 3 full rolls of Scotch tape. Emily spent the next three days applying tape to every surface her little hands could reach- under tables, on cabinets, and covering heating vents until her blessed little rolls were gone. Legend has it, if around the holidays and in dire need, some of Schmemmy’s Scotch Tape will find its way to you.

I am Emily’s ‘other older’ sister. In our family I have always been a bit of a wildcard - kind of fun, kind of obnoxious - and on very RARE occasions, kind of an instigator. My favorite memory of Emily is going to the Nebraska fair together with the family, and winning her an inflatable blue crayon. Out of all the options - that was what she wanted… which my art heart totally supported. Flash forward to a few weeks later and Emily woke up screaming that she was afraid of the crayon. She had had a terrible dream about it. So after some time had passed I decided I would have a little fun - on my behalf - with the crayon situation, and tediously sprinkled dozens of crayons all over the yard. Then asked her to come play outside… obviously this didn’t go over well and probably amplified her childhood fear of crayons. For one of my senior projects in college, I even drew an illustrated Emily running through the woods being chased by - you guessed it, crayons!

I am a bridesmaid and a close childhood friend of Emily. Emily and I have been inseparable since we were kids, almost like sisters. In our younger years you could find us biking around the block, hanging out at the elementary park or creating chalk mosaics in the driveway. As we got into our teenage years, our natural habitat was probably hanging out in the living-room. My most cherished memory with Emily is before graduation at Southwest High School, senior theater students have a tradition of writing their names on the backstage wall simply called signing the wall. Emily and I chose to sign our names on the wall next to each other. That moment was a special experience we got to share and is always a moment I can smile back on.

My name is Tim and I've known Chris for about a decade at this point. We met through mutual friends but truly bonded during Greg's bachelor party to Vegas. His willingness to go above and beyond for our friend and his relentless positivity despite the obstacles that trip provided, showed me everything I needed to know. I've been lucky enough to know Chris through ups and downs and through all of it Chris has been a constant source of joy. Because of that I can't say that I have one moment in particular l'd call my favorite, but I've treasured every game night, 4th of July cookout, and darts outing with "Uncle Poop", a man I'm lucky to call my friend.

My name is Mohamed and I’ve known Christopher for 8 years. We worked together in corrections and we also graduated together from the same academy. We became really great friends since then Chris and I always had fun during work. Outside of work, I remember when we were in the academy and he always won when it came to running, and he is a really great athletic. He also cooks really good wings. I am very honored to be his friend and I am really happy that he getting married to the Emily that he fall in love with.

Emily and I first met in middle school but became a lot closer in high school. We both found interest in going to Friday night football games and also listening to the same music. We always seemed to have lunch together which was great because we could also work on our school work but more importantly, talk about our music interest. We had gone to several concerts together, an Ed Sheeran concert and also two 1D concerts. After high school, I started school at NWTC, my first night of school, I got a flat tire. My family was out of town and knew I could call Emily and her dad was able to help me change my tire. I was so thankful to have them as my second family.

My name is Liz and I’ve known Emily for 10 years. We met at Subway where we instantly bonded over an old childhood TV show no one else had ever heard of (Big Comfy Couch). From there it developed past a coworker relationship into a long time friendship full of crazy adventures, like our trip to St. Louis, and seeing each other through large life moments. The memory of Emily I hold closest to my heart was when she came to see me after I had my first child. She brought me all sorts of caffeinated goodies because she knew i was dying not having them during my pregnancy. When I brought my daughter home from the NICU she made sure to come meet my daughter and gave Maddie her bottle so I could shower. We may not have known each other when we were kids, but Emily’s friendship is one of the most amazing gifts I have ever gotten.