Erin's Wedding

My oldest friend got married on July 24th. Since I was going to have a newborn, I opted out of being a bridesmaid and Elena got to be Erin's flower girl. It was a beautiful wedding and a very emotional weekend.

If my scanner wasn't broken, I would insert a childhood picture of us here. Just picture Erin with poofy hair and me with a big gap between my teeth.
Instead, here is a pic from her wedding reception:
Erin is like a little sister to me. I love her so much! We've been friends since I was 5 and she was 4 and we did everything together until I left for college across the country. In elementary school, I used to contemplate failing a grade, so that we could have classes together. We were inseparable, and because we lived across the street from each other (our parents still do), we got to hang out together ALL THE TIME. We know each other so well and have gone through so much together. I have a shockingly low number of memories from my first 18 years that don't include Erin.

I'm just so happy for her and glad that I got to be a part of her day. I could keep going, but then I would cry again. :) Her new husband Bami is a great, great guy. Dan and I really like him.
I was so lucky to be able to see them again this past week when they stopped by our house for lunch. Our town just happened to be on their way back to VA from their honeymoon. I haven't downloaded those pics yet, but I think I'll post anyway since I started this entry on July 29th (2 weeks ago!). Here we go:

Flower girl Elena. She did great. If you look closely, you can see that she dropped one petal at a time every few steps. When she got to the front of the church, she walked up to me in the front row (like she was supposed to) and dropped a couple petals just for me at my feet before she sat down. What a sweetie.
Erin and her daddy:
Her mama looking beatiful:
It's official - man and wife:
The little ring bearer's name was Mitchell. He is also 2 1/2 and was such a sweet little boy.

Mitchell and Elena:

The reception was at the Navy Base and so they were able to take some pictures right on the water - pretty cool.
My little man and I were tearing it up on the dance floor! Dan couldn't come to VA with us due to his rotation schedule, but Kevin helped me out so that I didn't have to dance solo. :)

Elena with Bami's parents. We'd never met them before (since they live in Norway), and they were super nice!

Mis padres. They were so sweet to stay until the very end and help me take care of the kids. Elena was quite a spazz as the evening wore on.

Elena passed out on the way home from the reception even though it wasn't very far from my parent's house. This is very unusual for her. My daughter is not a fan of sleep and never snoozes unless she's in bed. It had been a long day though. By the time we got home it was almost 11:00pm.