a wedding on the beach...why didn't i think of that??

the main reason we went to florida was for my cousins wedding ... and it was amazing! the weather was perfect, the sunset was gorgeous, the beach was beautiful - it was just incredible! what a wonderful, majestic, artistic creator we have!! here are a few pics from the wedding ceremony

family pics after the wedding...

first pic - our beautiful family (minus mali who was catching zzzz's)
second pic - my amazing parents
thrid pic - my cousin alan, his wife joy, and their daughters libby and ashlyn
fourth pic - my aunt and uncle, jennifer and brian, parents of the beautiful bride
fifth pic - an amazingly cute couple we just happened to find walking along the beach - we just had to take their picture!

still more...

pic 1 - chris and b taunting the water
pic 2 - my cousin ashley and i
pic 3 - b was SO elated that she got to help ashley carry her dress across the beach. she felt so special!!
pic 4 - braidyn helped get the dancing started!
pic 5 - chris and joy, my cousin -in- law (is that a term?) relaxing at the reception. you can't see mali but she was napping in her carseat - storing up her energy for the party that's about to get started!

and the pics keep coming...

first pic - my mom with her brother brian and his wife, my aunt jennifer (parents of the bride!)
second pic - my cousin haley (sister of the bride) and her husband bob (who officiated the ceremony!)
third pic - father, daughter dance (the live band was AMAZING!)
fourth pic - mali enjoying the live band! she was kicking her legs and giggling - she was getting her groove on!!

first trip to the beach!

this is braidyn and mali's first experience ever at a beach - and the gulf of mexico at that!! it was SO beautiful and the weather was great! there was a cool breeze and the water was kinda cold, but other than that, it was so much fun!! here is a slideshow of our first trip to the beach ... because we took SO many pictures!!

aunt christy!!

aunt christy decided to drive up a day early and we were so excited to see her! she arrived just as we finished our meals at a great seafood place so we ordered her some crab legs and enjoyed watching her crack into her dinner! being the bossy older sister that i am, i made her wear the bib - thanks for amusing us christy!!

the private bay...

the first full day we were in florida we decided to go jet skiing in the private bay at our resort and it was a blast!! we had 25 square miles of water to play, and believe me, we played! chris and i were hitting some major waves and bouncing around all over the place, it was windy and the water was cold, but that didn't stop us! meanwhile, the girls had fun on the beach, playing in sand and splashing in the water. we took b out on the jet ski but that didn't last very long - once she realized that you eventually go faster than idle speed!

tommy b's

our first night in florida we decided to dine at tommy bahama's tropical cafe. it was great food, great fun, and great music! we found out the many uses of napkin rings ... they make great ears, eyes, and horns as demonstrated by my cousin alan and his two daughters libby and ashlyn!
there was also live music and braidyn and ashlyn quickly became the tommy bahama dancers!

andrea!!

my sweet friend came to town and we went to village inn for breakfast to catch up. mali had a great time but was bored with our conversation ...obviously!

bowlin' with my homies...

our small group went bowling for one of our "social and kid-less" nights and had so much fun! here are some of our memories...


you can see shawn showing off his unique bowling style as well as how many bowling balls it takes for a small group to bowl!

dancin' with daddy...

i came home the other day to find my princesses dancing with their daddy... they turned on the 80's dance music channel on our tv and danced away!

easter at the byrd house...

we had so much fun hunting eggs, eating, opening up easter baskets (thank you mimi!!) and hearing the easter story from papa! even though i'm not really sure they heard the story, but they sure had fun opening up each egg and seeing what was inside!

egg hunt at clay and angelas...

this is a favorite family tradition! next year we'll have to find another place to hide and find eggs since they are moving to new york - we're gonna miss this!!