It's all worth it.

A family wedding. We've had seven in my family alone, not including my own- which hardly counts as a full wedding considering there were only 10 of us there. Family gatherings are exhausting. Weddings are exhausting. Thus, family weddings are extremely exhausting. But worth it. My sister Chrissy got married yesterday. She was the most laid-back bride I've ever met. I think this made her even more beautiful on her wedding day. And I'm super happy to have Brett as a brother-in-law. He's seems to be a keeper! These are the moments that make me smile most about Chrissy's wedding:

*My dad walking Chrissy down the aisle. He was having a good day and looked great!

*Chrissy as a bride. Beautiful inside and out.

*Sam. The 4-year old boy that Chrissy nanny's. They have a special relationship, and I was lucky enough to spend time with him during the reception. Wanna know what we were doing? He had his mom's palm pilot and was counting down on the calculator from 9000-something down to zero. Just kept pressing enter to subtract one, all the way to zero. About every 50 or so he would tell me what number he was on. He stopped at my favorite number, 26, his mom's favorite, 12, and his favorite, 9. :D

*Time with my nieces and nephews. I love them all.

*My mom, my hero, who made over 500 pasties for the reception. Isn't she amazing?

Anyway, my favorite part of family weddings? The time at my mom and dad's, after the festivities. When the mood transitions from one kind of chaos to another. To a more intimate commotion. Spending time with my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews. It's loud and crazy, and by the time I get home I crash and am exhausted for a good 72 hours. Even still, it's all worth it. My crazy dysfunctional loving family- it's all worth it.