Us and theTiger cubs: DC, kid-free

The Tuesday after Christmas, Scott & I left the boys at Nana and Grandpa Sam's and flew off to DC for the wedding of one of our good friends. We met Jay when he and Scott were stationed together in Columbus, MS, and have kept in close contact for all these years. Jay is stationed at the Pentagon right now & his fiancee Kristen is a nurse who has a pretty high position there, too. They are both Majors and have both been married before (Kristen has a couple of very sweet pre-teens!), so the Washington Post even did a write-up of the wedding!!! Apparently, they were featuring military "blended" marriages and Kristen and Jay fit the bill to a T. The article was fabulous & I know they were so excited to be featured.

The wedding was amazing--very small with only 50 or so guests. Kristen and Jay personalized the ceremony right down to their pup bringing the rings up in a Crown Royal bag, LOL!! Lots of touching moments (and darn the pregnant woman for forgetting Kleenex!!) including their vows they wrote themselves, passing around the rings to be prayed over by every guest, Kristen's children saying a special prayer over the rings, Jay giving his new stepson a pair of wings to symbolize his new "wingman", and all four of the new family members pouring colored sand into a glass vase to symbolize their new blended life together! Since it was New Year's Eve, the reception was quite the party. Great time seeing old friends and meeting new ones!!

Here are the four "boys" who hung out all the time back in the day--Jay, Corey, Scott, and Ryan (otherwise known as "Landmann" or "Uncle Ryan" to my kiddos):