Wedding Weekend

 My brother got married this weekend! I now have a new sister in Mollie, and her parents and brother are now part of my family as well. After a year and a half of planning on everyone's part, the weekend could not have gone better! The fall weather was crisp (and luckily dry!), Mollie looked stunning in her dress and Jeff tidied up well. Both looked very happy and all of us were very happy to have been a part of their big day. 

It was also great to see my entire extended family who traveled from up and down the east coast to be here for the big day. Was fun to visit with close family friends who have been a part of my life since I was a wee kid and having our pastor from our childhood (who remains close to us this day) preside over the ceremony. I loved being able to spend more time this weekend with Jeff's close friends Jonny and Patrick (who served as groomsmen) and are also close friends of mine. My little brother delivered a great Best Man speech and it was good to get to know Mollie's younger brother Wes and her other bridesmaids much better.

All in all, I wish I had more siblings getting married so I could enjoy more weekends like this! I guess it's just up to me and my little brother Jimbo to make this happen. But we're not holding our breath :-)

Week of celebrations

This week marks a week of celebrations: birthdays, engagements and weddings abound! The weekend started with good friend Julie's birthday on Saturday, then there was best college bud Sheri's 30th on Sunday, followed by my mom's birthday on Monday. Oh and my brother-from-another-mother Jonny got engaged on Saturday, and my older brother Jeff gets married this Saturday. Lots to keep track of, but lots to celebrate!

After a delicious dinner at Nest Wine Bar & Cafe in downtown Bethesda, we headed back to my parent's house for some presents and cake. The birthday cake turned out to be a success after much doubt. It's essentially the same strawberry upside-down cake I made for my 30th, but made using two square glass 9"x 9" baking dishes used instead of circular cake pans. I also used a pint of strawberries in each to have even more fruit as part of the upside-down magic.

I was kind to my mom and did not write her age on the cake and instead left it with two question marks. Perhaps that's why she's smiling.

And then we wanted to take a photo of my parents and my dad insisted on including Sebastian, whom he kept trying to convince to lick my mom on the face. Nevermind the fact Sebby is deaf, he kept talking to him anyways. My mom is the only one Sebastian is not allowed to kiss and for some reason, he knows it and never so much as licks her hand. But just this one time, while seriously invading her grill, he sneaked one good face lick. Maybe he's not deaf at all. Maybe he's just like every other male I know with selective hearing.

That said, I am looking forward to seeing all of my cousins, aunts and uncles, old family friends and close friends of Jeff this weekend as he gets married. There hasn't been a family wedding in maybe 10 years, so it should be a great time!