whirlwind

California was fabulous... we had a great time, although I'm a bit tired from it all now (I'm sure this is something I'll be feeling for the next two months...).
I'll let my mom describe it:

Hello All,

Megan and I returned to Philadelphia last night, and thanks to the heroic efforts on Travis' part in driving to the city at that late hour, we got back to their abode on B***** before the witching hour. We had a fabulous time, though much too short, celebrating with Jimmy, Christina, friends and family. We met Chris' wonderful parents (her Mom is a doll), her brother, Michael and a multitude of friends and family. It had not rained in 6 months in LA, but it was pouring as Meg, Ted and Lin and I drove those lunatic freeways at 11:30 pm on Friday. What are all those people doing on the highway at 11:30 pm, I would like to know. We made it to our hotel and happily were joined for breakfast on Saturday by Jimmy [my uncle], Chris [his now wife], Anthony [Chris' son], Josh [Jim's son] and Gloria (the friend who introduced the bride and groom to each other). Chris was holding it together very well despite the rain that continued to fall Saturday. It was still cold, rainy and nasty when we went back to our rooms to get ready for the wedding. But Chris prayed heavily and amazingly the rained stopped and the sky turned blue and dried the grass. It was suddenly a gorgeous Southern California day!

The wedding was at a very beautiful restored historical site. The ranch house was built in the 1800s. The grounds were incedible with huge exotic trees and fragrant shrubs. Chris is an amazing artist and made all the flower arrangements, corsages, boutineers in silk and dry flowers in shades of pink and brown. Josh and Anthony walked Chris down the aisle and gave her away. A multitude of incredibly cute kids strew flowers in the aisle. The minister was very thoughtful and earthy at the same time. The food was delicious. Jim and Christi's first dance was to Satchmo singing "What a Wonderful World." Chris danced with her father, Josh and Anthony. Then Jim danced with me, which was a treat for me. Then everyone, even Ted [another uncle], danced and danced. We had sooo much fun and we missed those of our clan who could not be there. Oh yeah, Jimmy and all the guys wore black tuxes with cream colored shirts and pale pink vests and ties ... very California :-)

L, M.

The whole weekend was wonderful, and it was great to see family that we don't often get to visit with. Some pictures:















Now I just have to make it through this week, and it's on to Ireland!! Right now, with how crazy work is, it looks like that might be harder then I hoped. D - 3 crazy days to go!! :-)