Life is good.

This past weekend was so much fun. On Friday night I had the chance to go see the balloon glow that happens every year in Forest Park. For some reason the whole time that I was at the balloon glow, I was thinking of the song "Moon glow, lamp low" by Eleni Mandell:

Moonglow, Lamp Low - Eleni Mandell

The balloon glow was a ton of fun. We were there with some coworkers and their children and it was great to play with them and enjoy the event from a child's perspective. Probably the best part was playing with the light sabers that they bought from a passing vendor. The toys they have these days are so cool. Here are some photos from the night.

On Saturday morning I hopped on a plane and headed to Washington D.C. for my cousin Graham's wedding reception. He had his wedding in Greece a little over a week before. I don't get to see this part of my family as much as I would like so I was excited for the opportunity to spend time with them all. My cousin Nancy picked me up from the airport and we headed to visit an elderly woman that she has been volunteering with for the past 3 years. It was so much fun to spend the afternoon with her. We helped her to decorate Halloween cards for all of her friends. Apparently she hand makes these cards for EVERY holiday and no two cards are the same.

We then went into preparation mode for the barbeque/reception that was taking place on Sunday. This involved some serious cheese grating, baking pan shopping, cowbell decorating, and just plain strategizing. It was really nice to get so much time with my family and to be part of this big celebration for Graham and his new wife Vanessa. The next day (Sunday) the reception started at noon and we came with green bean casserole in tow. All of the prep by the family definitely paid off, the reception was absolutely beautiful and a great celebration of Graham and Vanessa's love.

Nancy and I on the way to the reception.

The reception site

The guest book.

A beautiful bouquet of fresh picked flowers from Aunt Anne

I have a fever...

and the only cure....

is more cowbell.

Food prep in action.

The amazing wedding cake. The sister of the bride made it. The rocks are made of chocolate - YUMMO!

The grooms cake. Go Redskins.

Family

Nancy preparing to sing the song that she wrote for Graham and Vanessa

Singing to the happy couple and the rest of the reception guests

Did I mention she is a rockstar? She just recently released her first CD. Check her out at: http://www.nancyeddymusic.com/ - if you like her tracks, buy her CD and help support her in following her dreams.

All in all it was a great weekend. It wouldn't have been complete though without seeing one of my fave DC residents...

Thankfully, he and Michelle were waiting at the airport to give me a grand send-off. It was really nice of them to get so dressed up (though quite unnecessary).