California, Part 1: The Wedding.

At the end of May, the whole fam convened for a week-long extravaganza of eating, laughing, and general awesomeness. The main event was my brother Jeff's wedding, and everyone had a fantastic time. I generally love weddings anyway, but fill the guest list with my favorite people in the world, throw in some beautiful weather, great food, and hours of dancing, and there's pretty much nothing better.


The bride was stunning (am I right or am I right?).


The kids were entertained.


And, if I may say so, my peeps looked pretty awesome.
We gathered for pictures in the afternoon at Murietta's Well winery. The place was beautiful and rustic, and with the sun slowly setting over the vineyard it was just gorgeous.


Then it was time for the ceremony. Donovan was the dapper ringbearer, and Ainsleigh, Emaline, and Gemma were enlisted as flower girls. Gemma, apparently deciding that she had far too much style to merely walk in the procession, opted to do arabesques down the aisle.


When Jess appeared on her dad's arm, Sarah tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, "Look at Jeff." His face said it all--happy, peaceful, perfect.


After a lovely ceremony and a cocktail hour, we headed inside for the party. The food was delicious, and when it was time for Jess's dance with her dad, Gemma came over to sit on my lap for a closer look and whispered, "Oh, it's the princess and her father!"

And then, we danced:






After cake-cutting (including the Funfetti groom's cake my mom made that turned out to be wildly popular), it was back to dancing. My older sisters weren't sure how long their kids would last and thought they might have to take them home early. Turns out they were the life of the party and were on the dance floor til almost 11pm.




Unbeknownst to us, Dono is a breakdancer extraordinaire. He also danced with all of the bridesmaids and most of the female guests.


Partway through the night, Gemma was getting tired and went to sit down at her table. Then "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga came on and she ran back onto the floor shouting "JUST DANCE IT'LL BE OKAY!" Later, as the clock ticked past 10pm, she plopped face-down on the dance floor on top of her Ducky. About 10 seconds later, she jumped back up and got right back to dancing. These kids have stamina.


By the end of the night we were all tired and my feet hurt like crazy, but it was so much fun. A great night of partying with my favorite people, and I get a fantastic new sister out of it? Win-win-win.

More pictures here.