I'm baaaack

I'm back from vacation, and it was so nice to sleep in my own bed.  What?  You didn't know I had gone anywhere?  For security purposes I try not to announce ahead of time when our home will be vacant.  So where did we go?  We took the family up to Rochester.  My cousin was married on Saturday the 9th, and we had friends and family coming in from all over the nation.  Not wanting to miss an opportunity, my little brother, the General, held a barbecue on Saturday the 2nd for our family to meet his girlfriend's family.

We adore his girlfriend, and it was nice to meet so many members of her family.  SB had a great time in the General's pool with FGW's(that's future General's wife, for anyone keeping score.  Little Bro: if you're reading - give her the ring already) nephew who is also 6.

Even Buster got dressed up for the meet & greet.

We snuck away Sunday night to watch the fireworks up at the cottage.  This wasn't part of our original plans, but the kids have never missed the fireworks over the water, so we had to go.  The evening starts out with cottagers shooting off their own displays as the sun sets, each cottager lines the waterfront with flares to create a ring of fire at 9:30, and the official show is shot off from a barge in the middle of the bay at 10:00.

SB had a great time with his Cali uncle playing in the pool, and playing Kinect sports.

SB won.  There may have been a little gloating.

Midweek we returned to the cottage with my parents.  We enjoyed a boat ride,

and the kids went turtle hunting.

I love that our parents get along so well.

SB was pretty hyped up about his official ringbearer duties, and I told him that this was an audition for possibly, maybe, another wedding. (Hint, hint, give her the ring already.)  He had so much fun playing with the flower girls at the church for the rehearsal.

Here we all are the morning of the wedding.  SB was starting to get a bit nervous.

This next pic may be a shocker for anyone who's seen this guy raging out at the clubs, but the General was ordained online, and was the officiant for the ceremony.  Here he is at the rehearsal.

This wedding was definitely slightly left of traditional, but absolutely uniquely theirs.  The bride & her groom's maid of honor at the rehearsal.

The groom, and his bride's best man just after getting their boutonnieres pinned on.

Me pinning on SB's.  I ended up pinning on most of the men's boutonnieres.

SB and the General starting the processional.  They were followed by 2 pairs of flower girls hand in hand.

The bridal party.  I have no idea why I don't have a closeup pic of the bride, but her floral and lace fascinator was so pretty.  I'll have to show a closeup of it when I get a hold of everone else's pics.

There was an awful lot of drinking at the reception, and 0 pics taken by me.  We took this pic of my parents and all the siblings at the post wedding brunch before we all had to head back on the road.

I know that was a lot of pictures, so a big thanks for popping in and checking out my week in pictures.  Coming up posts will be some more outdoor sprucing up as well as some projects that have been on the backburner for awhile.

Our Anniversary & Guest Posting

I never remember my wedding anniversary.  It's not just me, CG usually doesn't remember either.  The thing is that we'd been together for a while, and lived together before marrying.  So we felt married before the ceremony.  You'll notice that WD, in all his ringbearer finery, was present at our wedding.

Sorry about the picture quality.  It's a scan of a picture, because we didn't have a digital copy.  This year, we both remembered our anniversary.  CG realized that he had a double header(he plays volleyball) and told his team he wouldn't make it, and we went out to dinner.  I'd like to say we spent the whole dinner not talking about the kids, but they did creep into the conversation a little.  Still it was a very nice evening.

I'm taking the day off over here, but you can find me guest posting over at DIY by Design today while Judy's in Italy.  I'm sharing an easy personalization project.

Baubles fit for a Princess

Laura at Decor to Adore has been writing a fantastic series on the upcoming Royal wedding.  You may remember the Fit for a Queen High Tea she held a couple of weeks ago.  This week she's asking for submissions for a What to Wear linky party.  There are 3 categories - Pretty Princess or Perfectly Putrid for all those bridesmaids dresses we may have in our closets, Hats Off for the fun hats we may have for Derby Day, and Best British Baubles for the blingy accessories one might wear.

I've worn a few truly awful bridesmaids dresses throughout the years.  Unfortunately they were from back in the days of the film camera, and both the dresses and the pics are long gone.  I love wearing hats, but they tend to be pretty basic without the feathers or blooms that you might find on a truly winsome hat.

So that leaves Baubles.  I can do baubles.  This is what I wore on my wedding day.

I've shared this pic before in sepia tones framed up on my Valentine's mantel.  It's one of my favorite pics for the sheer giddiness in Computer Genius's face as he slips on my ring.  I wore a rhinestone tiara with pearls and austrian crystals strewn through my curled up-do.  I was never a girly girl who dressed up as a princess or dreamed of marrying a prince.  I climbed trees, caught bullfrogs, and played football, but on that day in the big puffy silk chiffon gown as soon as that tiara hit my head, I started shrieking, "I'm a princess, I'm a princess!"

I even had austrian crystals on the tips of my manicured fingers.  "I'm a princess, I'm a princess!"

Our wedding bands are a combination of 18K gold and platinum.  The woman at the jewelry store recommended platinum for the detailed basket weave, because gold would have worn smooth after 50 yrs and we plan on being married at least that long.

And because the blingyness didn't end when I switched gowns part way through the reception -  Here I am in my Asian wedding gown with my little man ring bearer.  The gown is covered in gold threaded embroidery and sequins.  How's that for bling?  You can also see the enormous diamond drop earrings borrowed from my mother's extensive jewelry collection.  I was terrified I'd lose one, and kept checking my ears to make sure they were still there.

Thanks for popping in and taking this trip down memory lane with me.  Run over to Laura's party to see the bridesmaids' dresses that might show up.