Two Years in KiwiLand: Braden & Jenn's Wedding

I flew back to the U.S in early June for my brother's wedding. I came home a week early because I knew that there was a lot to do ahead of time. I arrived on Saturday morning at 6:00 AM and had to prepare for Braden's bachelor party that evening. We went out and had a great time (unfortunately no photos from the evening). I think Braden sufferred a bit the next day, though. Between then and the wedding, I had a lot of catching up to do with my friends from home. Dan flew in from Boston for the weekend then I had a happy hour for work on Tuesday followed by hitting up all of my favorite local food places. I was dying without Doritos, good pizza, and wings. My mom was nice enough to have an assortment of five different bags of Doritos waiting for me on my arrival home and my dad had made a whole batch of homemade salsa - Delicious!!

Anyway, fastforward to Thursday...Braden's rehearsal was Thursday night in Carlisle, PA which is about a 3 hour drive from Pittsburgh. The rehearsal went smoothly followed by a delicious dinner at one of the local restaurants where we got to see a good (but somewhat corny) DVD slideshow that my dad put together of Braden and Jenn growing up.

The next day was busy with a breakfast with the extended family (this was the first time in a decade that my mom's mom, two brothers, and sister were all together at the same time) followed by the wedding.

I'm happy to report that I fulfilled my most important duty and did not loose the rings. I was quite nervous that I was going to though. The wedding went off without a hitch but we were then whisked right away for pictures. Without even a couple of minutes to relax, we moved from one place to another then finally went back to the hotel where the reception was taking place. We had to go straight out for the first dance followed immediately by the speeches from the maid of honor and best man (me!). I was nervous for my speech but it went really well and I received a lot of compliments afterwards. Braden and Jenn were good sports throughout the whole day but must have been exhausted once it was over. After my speech I was finally able to relax a bit, say hello to the family and friends, and have a few drinks.

A good time was had by all. The next morning was a big breakfast at Jenn's house followed by what was supposed to be the much anticipated tennis match between my mom, dad, uncle and cousin but it was postponed due to rain. I had to drive back to Pittsburgh for my friend, Dave's, bachelor party but I'll welcome my dad to put a link to the results of the tennis match on his blog as this was all that they talked about the whole time there.

It was great to see my family again and convenient that they were all together in one place while I was home. I wish I could have spent a bit more time with them all but hopefully I will again soon.