Wedding Weekend

I know I said I wouldn't be posting until after Nationals, but my niece got married over the weekend and it was a wonderful wedding. My nieces (and two of my younger sisters) did the music for the ceremony. It was perfect. We certainly have some talented people in our family.

My next-to-the-youngest niece, Madeline, was the flower girl. She wore a dress similar to the bride's and a matching tiara and she was in child heaven! LOL. My daughter was also in the wedding, along with my niece Amy...and two other nieces, the bride's sisters Kate and Jessica. Our family was in total agreement that the bridesmaids we were related to were the prettiest. We're biased, but seriously they were the prettiest.

My brother Steven, his wife and son tried to sneak into the church through a side door in the clothes they'd worn to Scotty's early morning Little League game, but I was waiting on the other side of the door with a camera.

My sisters and mother made about...240 dozen (yes, dozen) cookies for the reception. The groom's family also made cookies. There were boxes of leftover cookies at the "open the gifts" picnic yesterday. And they were still fabulous. We will, however, been seeing lady locks and caramel cups in our sleep. (Gosh, I love a good caramel cup. Wish I wasn't dieting...I'd have taken them all home...which is probably why I have to diet.)

The reception was a hoot! I sat with my brothers John and Art and their wives Mary Jo and Shirl, and my sister Helen and her husband Frank. The pictures I took at the table didn't come out well. Actually most of the pix I took after we got to the reception and began sipping mixed drinks came out fuzzy. That's all I'm saying about that. LOL

With newly 21-year-old niece Stephanie leading the way in crazy dancing, we all had a great time. My older sister Helen can still shimmy up a storm...and I'm afraid there's embarrassing video of us dancing in a circle doing the one-finger John Tavolta disco point. Even my brother John and his wife Mary Jo danced!

Also danced with cousins Connie and Gerry (who are sisters), Sharon and Mary Kay (also sisters) and Kim, whose sister didn't come. Weddings and funerals are about the only times I get to see a lot of my cousins. So it was good to see Butch and Pat, Joel and Renee, Sharon and Donny, Mary Kay and Theron, Oh, good grief now that I've started this I realize there are lots of cousins and spouses who attended and I seriously can't list them all since I'm afraid I'll miss someone...so just let me end this section by saying it was wonderful to see my Aunt Mary out and about. She came with her son Dan and his wife Rita. But she's been under the weather for a few years so it was wonderful to see her looking so well.

My own mother looked especially good in a bright blue dress. My sister Diana, the bride's mother, had on a stunning yellow dress. Most of us, however, wore black. We laughed about how a few years ago it was a no-no to wear black to a wedding...something about hints of funerals and sadness that should be avoided. Then the fad of having a black and white bridal party hit and now it's okay to wear black. I still frown on white, though. That's the bride's color. We should leave it for her and the deliriously happy flower girl. LOL

My son brought a date, which shocked a few guests. But not all. Alexis is very pretty and very nice so she won high marks from the family. We're hoping to continue to see her at family events. I can say that because Spunky doesn't read my blog. I can even call him Spunky. Some nicknames never go away. So if you're young and still having kids remember this warning.

Nephew Bud also brought a date. She was also a lovely girl. Trevon was dateless, which is good since he's a bit young. Davie danced with his mom. Which is even better since he's definitely too young to date. My sister Mary's situation is kind of funny. Mary's an introvert, who married an extrovert. Nothing wrong with that. Opposites attract because they balance. But the funny party (incredibly funny part) is that Mary's kids are all extroverts. Mary would be perfectly happy to calmly dance in the crowd, but her kids drag her to the center of the circle and make her the center of attention. Luckily, she looked absolutely fabulous in a bright blue, form-fitting dress. Good figures abound in our family...except for mine because of those damned caramel cups!

My sister Tammy's three remaining munchkins (See above: Maddie was the flower girl) stole the show with Jessica's two boys, Gavin and Owen (who were ring bearers...No blog would be complete without the mention of how Owen wouldn't carry a pillow and stalked up the aisle to the altar looking like he was on his way to the line up for a football game...can you say Rarrrrr...) Anyway, Tammy's kids are always cute, but on Saturday they were adorable. Jack, the oldest, danced a bit. Jake enjoyed taking his Aunt Laura's time and attention, upstairs in an empty space where the kids played that we dubbed Romper Room. And -- as Alexis pointed out -- 18-month-old Lainie's feet never touched the floor. She was so cute everybody wanted to hold her. My brother Brian seemed to have her a good bit of the time. She loves Brian. It's not unusual to see Lainie, sucking her ever-present nookie, as she contentedly sits on Brian's arm. I think she likes it there because she can see everybody from that perch. It's the same reason I wear really high heels.

My niece Lea looked particularly stunning in a black and white dress with turquoise beads and shoes. Niece Lindsay had on a sensational red dress that sort of stole the show! Mandy and Becky, my sister Janette's daughters, also looked gorgeous. And let's not forget Nikki and Andi! Nikki, I believe, got the votes for the best shoes and Andi looked stunning in a black dress. As my nieces creep into adulthood, and their dresses get prettier, I feel older and older! LOL (Which is fine because my feet still thump after a few hours of dancing. I'll never totally pass the dancing torch, but I may choose to take my shoes off earlier.)

I've put so many silly things in this blog that I'm now wondering if I should hit "publish". But, there isn't a whole heck of a lot of people who read my blog so we'll just keep the silliness between us!

Oops! Almost forgot...the bride and groom, Carissa and Mike also looked wonderful. Carissa was probably the happiest bride I've ever seen...which bodes very well for Mike. LOL

Now, seriously, I have to get off the Internet and pack for Nationals. Everybody cross their fingers that my clothes fit!

I'll be posting next week!

susan
MAID IN MONTANA (That makes it sound like I was made in Montana and I wasn't...but that's the book that's out. Go buy it!)