Tony & Kellie throw a wedding!

My brother and new sister in law had a very nice wedding in October. They were actually married the previous April at the courthouse but this was a weekend event and it was SO much fun to see family and friends!!

During the day Friday Jason and I hung out with my Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts and Uncles. It was such a nice time since I knew I wouldn't see them very much on Saturday sicne I was in the wedding. We went to a greenhouse and had an enjoyable lunch.

Loved the spiral

Bug eating plant!!

Friday night they had a wonderful rehearsal dinner at Chambers Bay, a very lovely golf course. And we got quite the sunset!!!

me and my cousin Rachel

Standard 6 cousin Cole family height picture!!

Height picture - with all the extra's!!!

The wedding day had a rough start because the bride had a rough night before, but all in all, in went really well.

Cole girl cousins

The Eeds and the future Miller's!!

My Mom and her siblings and parents.

Very nice wedding set up.

Tony and Kellie Oakes.

Congrats!!!

New England ~ Cape Cod...May & Matt's Wedding Day

May is a friend of mine for the first day of soccer tryouts freshman year...back in 1998! We were the same amount of slow when it came to running and became fast friends. Our relationship has weathered many tests and has come out wonderful on the other side! She's one of those friends that no matter what - she is there for you...case in point...

May 2009 - Painting my walls red!!

Jason and May painting away! Bye bye purple...hello red!!

Anyways, back to vacation...

We started this sunny Saturday with a trip to the beach. It was MUCH windy-er that Friday so Jason and I didn't really do much beides soak up the sun!

Roosh and Bree!! It was a bity too windy for them to kayak today.

After the beach we headed back to Matt's parents house for some lunch and relaxation! We made one more stop at the world's best ice cream stand since Jason hadn't been with us the day before then headed back to get ready for the wedding!!

May and Rich

During the wedding.

Husband and Wife :-)

The lovely bridal party!!

Look at the little girl...hilarious!!

The guest book was a picture book of The Cape.

At the Captain Lindell House. Great location for the wedding and reception.

About to leave.

Matt and May!!!

my best friends wedding ~ the PRE wedding festivities...

A friend is defined as "a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard."

Leena and I have been friends since 1989. When we became friends the Internet didn't exist, telephones had cords, we lived in St. Louis, MO, and life was simple - school, play, swim.

Life has gotten a lot more complex. At times we've lived half a world away. When I think of our friendship it brings tears to my eyes. We lived by each other for 3 years from the ages of 6 - 9. I moved to Washington in 1992. Leena moved from STL in 1998 to India. She returned to the states in 2001 for college. It is quite amazing to think that our friendship that started when we were 6 will last a life time.

Okay...on to the wedding story!! There are a TON of pictures - way too many to put on a blog post. SO you can go HERE to see all the albums.

Leena's wedding was a multi-day, multicultural (for me at least) event. I arrived on Wednesday and went straight into bridesmaid mode. Wednesday night we had homemade Indian food - a first time for me!!!

Indian Food

So good and so spicy!!

Thursday was a busy day. Leena had her nails done, we ran some errands, and then it was back home for a ceremony and Mhendi (Henna). It was so amazing to be able to document this. There was praying & partying, henna & a full household, dancing & no dad's feeding daughters!

The Ketkar Family

The bride and groom getting some food

Protecting the carpet from the henna.

The beautiful bride

Praying for the grandparents who are no longer with us

Ceremony for the couple

Mother and Daughter

The Bride and her henna

Dancing!!! Lots of dancing!!!

The whole weekend was amazing to be a part of. Many of Leena's family members I hadn't seen since I was a kid and many of them remembered me as the blonde girl. It was great to get to see her brother and her parents for a few days in a row. It was such an honor to be a part of this wedding!!

Friday involved the bridesmaids getting their nails done and finishing up some last minute details! My husband and my parents arrived on Friday with time for Jason to join us at the rehearsal dinner.

The Eeds' and The Gronli's

happy wedding day maranda & kolton...

This September 11th we had something to celebrate which was nice. Jason's cousin Maranda got married to a seemingly wonderful guy name Kolton (that was the first time we'd met him). They had a nice ceremony and reception at The Point Definace Pagoda in Tacoma, WA. It was a lovely day...great weather, fun family, good food, and a wedding celebration! Enjoy the pictures!

Dad and Daughter!

The vows. Theirs was the shortest wedding I have EVER been too! Less than 5 minutes!

The favors. They had 3 flavors in their wedding color scheme!

Group shot

Maranda with Grandma Sprague

I hear this picture is something to behold. This is Jason's grandma and her 9 kids. All of them, for supposedly the first time ever in a picture...by the time the youngest (front, right) was born the oldest (front, left) was out of the house...Needless to say I am happy I thought of this. I was sitting at dinner with his Mom and Aunts and thinking about the order of his aunts and uncles and that is when we realized they were all there. I decided a picture was in order and set about making it happen. Too bad his Grandpa isn't here to share in it. I have never known him, he passed when Jason was a kid, but Jason still talks fondly of him. PS. This is the best out of 8 pictures ;-)

Us :)