My Best Friends Wedding!

Okay, so technically it was my little sister's wedding, but I consider her both...my sister and my best friend. It's rough living so far apart from one another, I in New Jersey, and she all the way out in Arizona. It was great that we were able to fly out to Arizona for a week to be with her during such a special time, but really...I didn't see her at all. I guess that's because she was doing "wedding stuff" and hanging out with all her child-less friends, while I stayed in a house with my brother, Cynthia and their 2 kids, cousin Tiffany and her 2 kids and of course my niece Shelby, charming husband and adorable Leah.

Anyway, the wedding was so wonderful. I don't think they could have found a better setting than the Oro Valley Church of Christ nestled in the Catalina Foothills, and the ceremony was so touching. What really got me was my father's tears. It was crazy...Jer started down the aisle with Laura and choked up and on cue, you could hear all the bridesmaids behind me start to sniffle. Laura was the most beautiful bride, Jeff should consider himself lucky. I consider myself lucky everyday. Laura is the best when you need a laugh, and great when you need a shoulder to cry on. I am doubly blessed...she is my sister and my best friend.

Family Vacation and I mean FAMILY!

Wow, We just returned from the most exhausting vacation I have ever been on. And even though 2 days later I still feel like I am recovering, I wouldn't change a thing, well except maybe add more family to the mix :) A lot of my family headed west for the weekend. My baby sister Laura got married...FINALLY, after 20 months of being engaged and lots of planning. Anyway, we had the wonderful experience of sharing a home with my brother his fiance and their kids, my niece Shelby who came to babysit and my cousin was just across the street with her 2 kids. Their house wasn't very kid-friendly so they spent most the time with us and it was GREAT! It seemed like pure chaos when I was in the midst of it all, but thinking back to my times as a kid being with our BIG family and all my cousins...I think those times were pretty chaotic too. I have to wonder how my grandparents raised their 5 boys and then would take in a truckload of grandkids for the holidays?!? Anyway, we were in Tucson, Arizona and boy was it hot, but it was a dry heat and Mitch finally agrees with me that the dry heat is more tolerable than the humidity after 2 days playing golf with my dad and the guys (I think he was nervous about this, but he did great, and I am so proud of him). On Thursday morning he got up early (7 am) packed up the kids and went to the Sonoran Desert Museum in Saguaro National Park. It was 3 hours of walking talking and viewing the wildlife. It was HOT but the kids were such troopers we really had a good time. The rest of our time was really spent enjoying the pool. I will post more later about the wedding, but here are some pictures of the kids.