This past August My family and I drove up to Scranton, PA for my little cousins wedding. I was not her photographer (which was welcomed on my part). I wanted to visit with all of my family.

Jessica & Justin are such a cute couple. Justin proposed  last Christmas at a Christmas light display. His proposal was written out in Christmas lights with family all around.

They were married Aug 13 at St Ann’s basilica (my parents were married here as well).

Bride and groom after rehearsal.

My cousin Jennifer and her fiancee Paul.

A gift for the flower girl, my daughter Laoise.

Morning of the wedding

Usually I am at the front of the church waiting for the bride. It was fun to be behind the scene!

So nervous!

One last deep breath!

Mr. & Mrs.

Bridesmaids and my cousins

My girls

Glad her walk down the aisle is over!

Scranton cultural center

Our hotel, the old train station

Family breakfast

Mr & Mrs. Verry on their way to breakfast

Tiffaney and Doug were married November 11th.

We had a lot of fun at their session!  It was a relaxed, stress free time.

I am lucky to be able to call the Brady’s friends. They’re the kind of people that are always there to help if you need them. They will be missed by many! I know they will make great new friends at their next base.

I’m going to miss you Katie!

Our first stop was Bedford, VA, 30 minutes from Lynchburg. My in laws have a cute house out in the country. Bedford is a scenic small town with a quaint downtown. Gorgeous views of the blue ridge mountains are abundant.

My kids had so much fun seeing Grandma & Grandpa Thomas. Grandpa had scavenger hunts ready for them (they came back covered in tics)!  We spent a lot of time out at Smith Mountain Lake with family friends. There were pontoon rides on the lake, feeding carp popcorn, kayaking and paddle boating. Movies and shopping with Grandpa, my kids were spoiled!

Back in the car, we headed up to New Jersey. My parents live in East Hanover, NJ and my sister in law in Maplewood, NJ, my husband and my hometown. It was so nice to see family! My brother drove up from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to visit too!

We took the kids to the Liberty Science Center which is very fun & hand on!  The kids had so much fun playing (and learning)!  Since we were already in Jersey City we decided to go to Hoboken & stop by Carlo’s Bakery, home of TLC’s Cake Boss! My kids love the show so they were very excited to see the bakery in person!  Buddies sister  Maddalena was very friendly and talkative!

My father decided it was time to take the kids to the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately none of the adults wanted to go (I’ve been to the statue too many times as a kids). My biggest memory of going to the statue in the past is waiting in a very long line to get to the top, I was not excited to repeat this!  We took the ferry from the Jersey side and went out to the statue. The kids were so excited! When we got to the island we found out that we could not climb the stairs up the statue, reservations need to me made. We spent a lot of time walking around her base and enjoying the scenery.

We stopped in Lancaster, PA to visit my husbands brother. Seeing the Amish was interesting. The farms and countryside were so peaceful! The 4th of July was spent in Maryland with more family on a large farm. The kids were constantly running and going through the woods. They were so dirty every night!

Our three week trip was so fun and a bit tiring! We love seeing our family and wish we could see them more often! It was nice to get back to our home! I had missed my bed a lot!

Jumping into smith mountain lake, VA

My husband

Smith Mountain lake, VA

Salem, VA

Liberty Science Center, NJ

My mom & son

Old Ferry terminal fro NJ to Manhattan

Communipaw Terminal, NJ built 1889

My Dad

My brother

Like mother like daughter!

Sister in law and brother in law

The Meeting:
Lauren’s friend Kiersti decided it would be a good idea for her to get on match.com. She met a guy on there and wanted to meet him. Well he had a party and invited Kiersti to come. Kiersti invited Lauren to go but he lived all the way in a suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth. After a few friends  said that they were going with her, Lauren decided it would be safe to go to. Once they got to the party, Lauren’s  friend Lauren kept talking about how she thought she knew this handsome young man who was standing close to us. Laure told her to ask him how they knew each other, and she wouldn’t do it. Finally after a while of hearing this, Lauren decided to ask this guy (Robert) if he knew her. He said no (and thought she was using it at a pick up line ), and they started talking after that. He got Lauren number, and they went on a date the next day. They’ve been together ever since.
The proposal:
Robert casually asked Lauren if she wanted to go to a Texas Ranger’s game on a Tuesday night. She said yes, and they went. She was amazed at the great seats!  Robert said that it was a late birthday present. Around the 5th inning, Lauren started getting harassed by a horse mascot. She asked Robert why the mascot was all in her face. Robert told her to look up at the screen. She looked at the wrong screen for a little while! After a time of confusion (which the sports announcers later talked about on the radio), she realized what was happening! He got down on one knee and asked her to marry him!

Wedding Venue

Bentley’s on the Bay

http://www.bentleysonthebay.com

The ceremony took place on the beach by the lighthouse. The rain stopped in time for the ceremony. The reception was in the courtyard of the lighthouse. Thank you, Taylor & Chris for sharing your special day with me!

On a trip to  Disney World with Laura’s family Nicholas decided to pop the question!.It was their  first day  in Magic Kingdom and it had just finished raining . Nick suggested they go offf on their own for a little bit. They made their way to Cinderella’s wishing well and Nicholas stopped Laura and he bent down and said to ” you always say every princess needs one of these” and pulled out a glass slipper with a heart filled with rhinestones on it!!! While she was wrapping it back up so I didn’t break it Nick stayed down on the ground and pulled out a small box!!! He opened it and asked Laura to marry him! She slip it on her finger and stare at it. He kept asking is that a yes, is that a yes and she was just staring at the ring. The stone belonged to his Grandma which made it even more special.   He had ordered the glass slipper from Disney before they even left Louisiana and brought it along . They had  the glass slipper engraved with their names and the proposal date before they left! It stays on the mantle next to their unity sand as a great reminder of the proposal next to the reminder of their wedding!!!