Whirlwind

I can't believe it's over. This week that we've been anticipating for a year and a half is over. The family arrived and are gone, the wedding is over, the house is cleaned up. It happened so fast. But even though it went quick we had a great time while it lasted.

Having my family here was amazing. We truly enjoy each others company and have so much fun together. We really don't see each other enough but I am really grateful for the times we do get to spend together. I was so happy to have my cousins staying in our house instead of at a hotel. Number one, it is much safer (no video cameras are getting stolen from my house) and number two, Joe and I got to spend so much quality time with everyone. We got to see the babies when they went to bed at night and again first thing in the morning. We got to laugh and talk over pots of coffee. We even got to bond over our favorite bad reality show, Rock of Love. I'm so glad that I was able to open my house to all of you.

Family dinner on Thursday night was great. I got to experience one of my favorite family moments, everyone screaming over each other to be heard. We also had some pretty intense Guitar Hero challenges. Having all my cousins and their spouses and their children and our aunts and uncles all singing Slow Ride was hilarious. Seeing my mom and aunt trying to play Guitar Hero was even more hilarious. It was crazy seeing my cousins as parents now. We've all grown up together and have gone from being the kids to being the adults. Now there is a new generation of kids to entertain us all. It is wonderful watching our family grow.

I think the highlight of my weekend, though, had to be watching my baby sister get married. She made the most gorgeous bride. Seeing her step out of the limo onto the sidewalk took my breath away. Watching her walk up the aisle smiling and crying brought tears to my eyes. We all had a great time dancing and partying at the reception. Having my sister turn to me on the dance floor, drink in hand, saying, "my wedding is so fun", was great. After all the planning and the drama it is nice to have that great moment to remember.

Now my house is deafeningly quiet. The bathrooms are clean, there are no dishes in the sink, the floor has been vacuumed and mopped, the dogs are sleeping peacefully, there is nothing left to do, no one here to talk to or babies to chase around. Its kind of crazy to go from chaos to calm in a matter of hours. I know that everyone is trying to plan a trip north in August. We're going to try our best to make it up there. We'll bring the chaos to New York for a while. I can't wait to see you all again. I am so lucky to have such an amazing family.