I won!!!

This sweet woman just made my day!

On her 200th blog post she hosted a fun little competition (well, a drawing, actually), for which the winner would receive a fun prize. And would you believe it? I won!

Special thanks to this tasty little nugget for contributing to my win!

And thank you, Christie, for entertaining me daily with sweet stories of your adorable family!

We have a new sister!

The blushing bride, Monique.

I'm so excited! I've always wanted a sister, and now I have one...and an amazing one at that!

We drove down to Portland on Wednesday night, June 18th, with our really good friends Berto & Jenny...they're family, really. What usually is a 2.5-3 hour drive took us 5...needless to say, we had a lot of fun along the way. Thomas was waiting outside for us when we finally showed up at his townhome around 10:30pm, totally goofy and wired. We spent the next two days in a flurry of activities and errands leading up to the big day.

Highlights for me were getting to spend some quality time with Jenny, mostly laughing and reminiscing, but also having serious talks about life, love & our searches for happiness. We also did some major sales-tax-free shopping, which is always a great time.

It was also really fun to have all 5 of us under the same roof again. Eating together, playing video and card games, and generally doing a lot of laughing. A LOT of laughing.

The wedding itself was beautiful, located at the Heritage House in Wilsonville, Oregon. Surrounded by hazelnut orchards, the Heritage House has beautiful, lush gardens which served as the backdrop for both the ceremony and reception. It was sunny and hot with an occassional cold breeze.

The ceremony was very traditional with lighting of the unity candle, readings and classic vows, but was punctuated by a very spirited choreographed dance by most of the bridal party and a few extra cousins to Queen's "Somebody to Love". Oh, and it was hot outside.

The reception was filled with dancing, yummy buffet food, beer & wine, laughter, cake, more dancing and more wine...oh, and the heat. There was also the heat.

We stayed until after the sun had set, our feet ached, our bellies were full and our backs were wet with sweat. Needless to say, we slept really soundly that night.

It was such a special day getting to watch Thomas marry the gal of his dreams and getting to welcome an amazing woman into our little family. We did it with some of our closest friends by our sides, all of us with smiles on our lips and tears in our eyes.

Monique and Heidi (a bridesmaid) sippin on some cocktails at the bachelorette dinner.

Thomas, the groom (on the right) and Berto, the co-best man (on the left) dancing up a storm.

Jenny & myself surviving the blistering heat, and lookin fine!

Berto & Jenny groovin (aren't they adorable?)

Monique performing a choreographed dance and lip syncing "I Love You, I Do" (from Dreamgirls) for her new husband...SO cute!

In what has become a new tradition in our family, Berto merengued with the bride,

which is not an easy feat in a wedding dress...trust me!

Kelly & Don, mother and father-of the bride.

Dale & Tanya Schienbein, our Canadian cousins who made the trek down for the wedding.

Connor, one of Monique's little cousins, who was a total dancing machine. Seriously, this kid did not stop!

These were the table name cards that Monique made. Each table was the name of a location that was meaningful to them as a couple. Our table was Karkeek, which is the name of a local park where Thomas proposed. Aww...

This is their beautiful and delicious cake. It tasted like layers of banana bread with buttercream frosting...SOOO good!

Thomas and Monique are spending their honeymoon in both England and Ireland, how fun is that?

Congratualtions to you, brother & sister. We are so excited for the life you will be sharing and cannot wait to spend many holidays and other life milestones together!

***

By the way, I realize that there are no pictures of Erich, but I SWEAR he was there. He always manages to sneak out of the shot...sneaky husband!

Finally...

Sorry for the delay, folks. I've been super busy with working out and work and trying to stay cool in this wave of muggy/hot summer Seattle weather (YUCK! Give me clouds and rain any day!).

Here's a few photos from my birthday (June 17th) this year...

Even though I'd only been working in the office for 2 weeks, my co-workers still decorated my cubicle on my birthday and ALL signed a card for me. SO sweet!!!

Melo & Shea who joined me for my birthday celebration at the Crab Shack on the Seattle waterfront later that evening for dinner. Mmm...crab legs, oysters, clams, potatoes & corn cobs...buttery goodness!

It took them over an hour to seat us on a Tuesday night...we were all so hungry by the time we finally got our table, and we all thought Josh was going to break down and actually eat a Crab Shack employee...

Teresa, I'm sorry for this but I think this picture of you is hilarious! In her defense, she had no idea I was taking the picture of her while she was eating her bread...she looks so angry!

The Husband and I gorging ourselves.

All in all, it was a great birthday. And for once, I finally do feel a year older.

Here's to being 28!

***

I have TONS more pictures to post from Thomas & Monique's wedding, but it won't likely be until Sunday evening after my return from Yakima with Anna for her 1st (of many!) bridal showers!