Cousin Elizabeth (serious Wiggles fan) turned 2 years old, hurray! Cousin Kellie (violinist extraordinaire) turned 14, woo hoo!! Here we are with cousins Kellie and Kasey. We didn't get too many photos of the birthday party (which included Grammi Bonnie's addictive taco dip, Grammi Frani's Irish Coffee, and a toddler chicken fight) because you put 4 young girls and lots of family together, and all you get is mayhem!!
Couch potatoes, toddler style.
Toddler chicken fight with Uncle Johnnie and Daddy. Unfortunately, it ended when Emily bonked noggins with Daddy (Daddy's head hurt worse).
Dorothy the Dinosaur and Emily enjoy Elizabeth's rocking chair. This chair was Aunt Tracey's when she was a little girl, and Daddy's rocker will be on its way to Florida shortly for Emily to enjoy!
Kevvie and his "sissie".
I Do--a Wedding
Last, it was off to the Poconos for Dave and Beata's beautiful wedding. The wedding was held outside in a gorgeous resort in the Pocono mountains near my old university. Beata is from Poland, and we heard that 20 family members/friends flew in from Poland just for the wedding. Kevin was the best man, and our Emily was a flower girl.
Emily was just hilarious--she was a flower girl along with Dave's 4-year old niece, Alyssa. Alyssa would scatter rose petals up and down the aisle while Emily followed behind her, picking up the petals and placing them in her basket! Wedding guests were in hysterics. I spent the entire service balancing on tip toe since my heels were sinking in the grass, chasing Emily, who refused to sit down (remember, she's 2).
Meanwhile, the bride and groom said their wedding vows in Polish. They lit candles in memory of deceased family members, and then passed candles on to every guest for lighting while a string trio of women played "Sunrise, Sunset". The haunting sound of those strings lifting that gorgeous song high into the trees was an amazing experience. Of course, the entire time I was bent double, on tip toe, sinking slowly, and preventing Emily from running up to the violinist (she wanted the woman's bow), running up the aisle, or from ripping up plugs of grass and sod from the ground to put in her basket.
At the reception, just as the wedding party was to be introduced, Emily had a nasty pooey diaper that almost asphyxiated the bride and groom! We raced to the bathroom to change her (standing up, mind you), and missed Kevin's toast to the bride and groom. Emily then spent the entire reception on the dance floor! She had a blast dancing, and would totter over to me in her tiny heels, grab a bite of food or a sip of apple cider in a champagne flute, and rapidly totter back onto the dance floor, picking her arbitrary partners like a good party girl. The photographers loved her. I never laughed so hard, it was SOOO adorable!! Kevin just stood nearby, silently watching her, with a lovely smile on his face.
A Few More Wedding Photos
What a gorgeous gown!!!
Dave, Rick, Bob, and Kevin, friends since childhood. (Bob is a new daddy.)
Our prince!
Emily on the dance floor.Update on Madeleine
All of our paperwork is in China, and we're currently waiting to find out the exact day the Chinese goverment logged in the paperwork--that's our Log In Date (LID). This date is critical, since it begins the countdown to Madeleine, which unfortunately will take over a year (it took only 6 months for Emily). Our paperwork arrived in China on 8/20/06, so we expect the LID to be somewhere within a few days of the 20th. This is going to be a hard wait, although Emily keeps us so busy we should be able to make it through. :)
