Justin and Trish's Wedding

The day after Thanksgiving we were up early to get ready for a trip to Philadelphia for my cousin Justin's wedding. When Claire woke up and came into our room, the first thing she said was, "It's wedding day! It's wedding day!" She was soooooo excited!!! After preparing and packing up, we drove to Philly. My husband's expert driving skills enabled us to get to the hotel in 2 hours and 1 minute. The Black Friday traffic was no match for him.

We met up with my parents, grandma, brother, sister in law and nephews in the lobby of the gorgeous Omni hotel in Center City where we had to wait a while for our rooms to be ready (Don't even get my mom started on the early 1:00 check-in she was promised!). Once in our room, we quickly got dressed and made the first (2:15) shuttle to the church. The church was so beautiful. We didn't mind having extra time waiting in the church for the other guests to arrive since there was so much to look at. The ceremony began shortly after 3:00. A violin and a cello beckoned the bridal party down the aisle. My cousin's fiance looked amazing in her sparkly strapless gown. My cousins looked so handsome decked out in their tuxedos -- actually, everyone looked amazing! The ceremony was perfect and there were many tears of joy shed in our part of the church. : ) I'm sure my Aunt Karen was looking down from heaven with a big smile on her face and joy in her heart. Papa too.

Following the ceremony, we took the shuttle back to the hotel to freshen up (I re-curled Claire's hair a bit.) and relax in the lounge area before taking the shuttle to the Downtown Club for the 6:00 reception. We had a nice time at the cocktail hour, enjoying lots of delicious tidbits. My husband told my cousin (the groom) that he didn't get to eat at the cocktail hour at our wedding (We were busy taking pictures.), so he was going to fully enjoy this cocktail hour. He did!

Ryan teaching Claire everything he knows about bus safety on the shuttle.

  

Ryan, Johnny, Claire and Peter

The reception was filled with lots of fun -- TONS of dancing, great food, drinks, a photo booth, a fabulous Venetian room filled with delectable desserts and lots of family time. Claire was scared to go on the dance floor by herself at first, but once she got her groove on, she was a dancing machine! She especially loved dancing with the flower girl (Rylee) and the junior bridesmaid (Makena) who were such sweet, sweet girls! She also enjoyed hanging out with Ryan and the ring bearer (Johnny). Peter took a short nap, but he was up for the majority of the reception. He is quite the party animal at 7 1/2 months! Everyone commented on how well behaved all of the children -- Claire, Ryan, Johnny, Peter, Rylee -- were.

Claire and Trish

We left at 10:30 pm, shortly before the reception was over. The children (and adults!) were all very tired from the day's events. On our short walk back to the hotel in the cold we -- all 10 of us including my 90 year old grandma and 7 1/2 month old nephew -- saw the Liberty Bell! Claire was thrilled! It was a nice way to end the evening!

Saturday morning came way too soon, but we wanted to make sure we spent some time at the family breakfast hosted by the Trish's mom. It was casual and relaxing.

We wish the new Mr. and Mrs. a life filled with love and happiness!