The 3JK Scientists

January is a pretty dreary month around here.  It is gray and cold and wet and unrelenting.  But there was one bright spot in our month and that was the 3JK assembly put on for the whole school yesterday.  They sang and they danced and they showed us what they learned about light and sound.  It was fun and I was very glad I got the see it in person.  I videotaped it so I could share with those that couldn't be there in person.  Enjoy! (And hopefully I will be writing more as the weather cooperates more toward Spring.  Right now I'm just getting through the doldrums of winter and there really isn't much to share).

Stinkerbell is 2nd from the right (front row)

Singing the Rainbow.  Stinkerbell's solo comes in around 1:50.

Explaining why she would rather have the superpower of sound than light.

The kids rocking out to a song on light and sound.  Stinkerbell is on the right side in the bright pink shirt with the guitar and sunglasses.  You can hardly miss her :)

The kids reworked the lyrics to Imagine Dragon's Thunder.  Very cute.

Mr. and Mrs. (and Mickey and Minnie)

 The wedding.  I don't have any pictures of the actual wedding, seeing as I was standing at the altar.  Those images will hopefully be available to view in the next few weeks, but I do have a few of the reception.  Again, I was busy enjoying myself, so I snapped only a few with my cell phone and a few more with the big camera but left the actual photo taking to the professionals.  I do have great memories of a fabulous wedding filled with family, friends and a lot of fun.  See below for the details...

 

It's Disney - of course, you knew the details would be extraordinary!

First Dance!

Mickey and Minnie showed up!!!

And then the party really began...

What a fabulous ending to a great wedding week!  Congratulations P and S and welcome to this crazy family!

Wedding Prep...

After a spectacular dinner and light show for New Year's Eve, and then a little bit of after party at the house,  it seemed that New Years Day dawned earlier than usual for those of us in the bridal party.  We had to be showered, packed and ready to be out the door by 8:20 so that we could arrive at S's hotel room by 9 am for hair and makeup.  Somehow, even though we had a pretty late night (I don't get to see my brother's very often so we do tend to stay up a bit late chatting), we were anxious and eager to get going.  It was finally Wedding Day!

When we arrived at the hotel, we were told that we were at the wrong building.  We had to walk through the entire hotel, outside past the pool, around a bridge and to the building behind us - in the rain.  Carrying our dresses (and those of my girls), our suitcases and most importantly, S's wedding dress.  All without getting any of it wet or dirty.  Yikes, no pressure.

We made it.  Only to find that S had accidentally locked herself out of her hotel room and was standing in just her robe waiting for someone to let her in.  Thankfully, that bellman was right behind us and so were the hair/makeup team.  We broke out the mimosas and settled in for a few hours of pampering...

 

Hair...for all.  (Trust me that you don't want to see me without my face done yet).

 

Face done!  Curls done.  Now to get dressed.

Girls dressed!

 Gorgeous, right???  But we had forgotten the necklace...

 And those shoes!!!  Handpainted by a friend of S's son.  One of a kind and so ridiculously perfect.

As was the rest of this day...

This is the story of a Girl...

It's a simple story.  Really.

Girl is at work and sees Boy, in a tuxedo, walking through the mall with his {then} girlfriend as they are heading to the Prom (the girlfriends', as Boy is a college freshman).  They stop to chat with friends at the very place that Girl is working and then head out to the dance.  Girl has no idea that said Boy works at the same place when he is home from college.  In fact, he and his brother and sister (that's me) have worked there for years.  A few weeks pass, the school year ends and Boy is back in town and back at work, this time working alongside Girl.  The two spend many hours together at work and connect.  Boy breaks up with girlfriend.  Boy and Girl date for a few years.  And this should be where the story ends happily ever after.  But, Boy being young (and dumb) breaks up with Girl due to distance and college.  Girl goes on to get married, have 4 boys and raise her family for the next 20 years.

Girl is once again single.  She wonders what happened to
that Boy she first saw in that tuxedo so many years ago.  She looks him up, friends him on facebook and they reconnect all these years later.  Quickly, they fall in love again and Boy finally does the smart thing and doesn't let Girl get away for the second time.

And that is the story of how I got to spend my 12th Anniversary this New Year's Eve, at Boy and Girl's rehearsal dinner at a private venue in DisneyWorld, laughing and talking with family while watching the fireworks go off over Epcot from a very spectacular location.  And now I now get to call that girl, sister; and I added 4 nephews, a niece and a great-nephew into my family all in one fell swoop.

Happy Anniversary indeed!

My brother C "buying" B a drink.

Brothers.  In both the Picture above and below.

Coolest desert ever (and quite tasty!)

These chocolate balls are hollow but filled with Blondies and Buttercream.  

They put them in liquid nitrogen to flash freeze them, smack them with a spoon to break them open and then drizzle them in Carmel and sprinkle with sea salt.

Amazing!

Because the ice cream balls weren't enough we also got Mickey Ears!

And of course, a fireworks display that only Disney could create...

These guys then plotted their bike ride down on the boardwalk.  They got a group together and rented a covered bike for 8 and spent 1/2 hour cruising the boardwalk below us.

Looks like someone is milk drunk...

On our way out, C remembered the cooler full of Mickey Ears and found an ingenious way to make sure we took each and every one of them home.