Congratulations, Phil and Kelly!

Jeremy's brother Phil married his girl Kelly on Saturday, in FL. All three of my menfolk were in the wedding: Jeremy as a groomsman, and the boys as ring-bearers, along with Phil and Kelly's dog Sanford. The wedding was on the west coast beach, which made for lovely sunset pictures and breezes.

Iain and Sanford did great bearing the rings down the aisle. Cory was very grumpy, nervous about crossing the bridge, and generally unwilling to cooperate. He did walk down the aisle, trailing his brother and doggy-cousin by several minutes, and came right to me.

Cory's face here pretty much sums up his disposition through the wedding festivities. As does Iain's actually. That boy was so agreeable, obedient, and chipper.

After the wedding, Grammy broke out glow sticks, and the boys played drums for a good long while. They loved the reggae - Iain especially.

Cory was much happier post-wedding, too.

Dancing to The Way You Look Tonight, one of our songs...

Family pictures. My mom came down for the day to help with the boys, and to take them back to the beach house after the wedding, so I could stay for the reception. She also, true to form, took tons of pictures. All of these are hers, actually.

Jeremy's parents rented an really nice beach house, so the family would have somewhere to gather, shower, and get ready. They very generously let us stay there for the weekend. It was so nice - right across the street from the beach, big and roomy and so comfortable. Iain, in fact, asked several times if we could move there. Staying there made the weekend so relaxing for us; it was like a vacation.

Cory and Jeremy playing Bear Pillow (Jeremy takes a "nap" on Cory-the-pillow, who turns out to be a bear, growling fiercely.):

The boys reading with Yaya (Jeremy's grandmother) on the screened-in porch:

Iain reading with Uncle Don:

I took the boys to the beach on Friday night, and all four of us went on Saturday morning. It was beautiful and so refreshing! Crystal-clear water, chairs and umbrellas provided by the beach house, not too hot, shells, sand, a good book, my family. I could get used to that - and I've never been much of a beach bunny! I have to say, the Gulf is way more relaxing and pleasant than the Atlantic. It just seems friendlier and calmer. And also, I never knew how much better a beach umbrella could make time at the beach. I've been to the beach countless times, almost always without a beach umbrella... I never knew what I was missing.

Anyway, Phil and Kelly are honeymooning, we are home again and back into real life, and I am day-dreaming about hours to read by the sea.

***

And in adoption news, today marks four months of us being DTR (dossier to Rwanda). By the old timeline, that would mean we were about a month away from approval. By the new timeline, it puts us not quite at half-way. Sigh. I seriously don't know how I will make it. 

Jeremy's birthday is on Saturday, and we're thinking (and praying for) a miraculous early approval would make just about the best birthday present he ever got.