Jordan and Kristen Beach Blowout!

I wish I could still be sitting on the beach, but instead it's back to the grind. Last week was completely amazing though! Friday night we took the red eye out to Raleigh, NC with a layover in Detroit. We ended up running into Katie and Matt at the airport going to NC as well, and also happened to be on the same plane as Leigha and Nino on their way back to Michigan, so we started off the week right away with lots of friends! We didn't have any problems getting over there and were even a little early to meet up with Lauren and Lance in Raleigh and pick up our rental car. Unfortunately none of us had really gotten sleep on our red eye flights, so poor Ryan got the be the driver for 3 hours while the rest of us dozed in and out on the was to Emerald Isle. We broke it up with a much anticipated lunch break at Zaxby's (one of our favorite southern food stops). It's always on our list of places to go when we're back in the south. We made it to Emerald Isle just in time to shower up and get ready for the nights festivities...rehersal dinner!! The girls all headed to the hall a couple hours early to set it up and get all the food ready. Then the party started! And kept going and going and going.

Sunday was wedding day! Yay little brother! We checked out of our one resort and all went out of a big group breakfast where we also ran into Uncle Bill and Mary, so we had a rather large table of family including the day's groom! By that time we were able to check into our beach house for the week, so we did that and broke off to the beach and such. Finally it was time to get ready for the big festivites!! We headed over to the beach for the wedding a few minutes early to claim our spots and get ready to get some sweet pics and video of the days event. Everything went perfectly and the bright blue sky and sandy beach was an amazing background for the event. Dad did a great job officiating the ceremony as well and Jordan's friends helped out with the music for the ceremony. Everything was awesome!

After the ceremony we gathered back up on the deck of the beach house for a reception, dancing, and an impromptu pool party in the wee hours of the morning. It was so much fun hanging out with the family and extended family and the Freels family! I vote that Jordan and Kristen get married every year so we have an excuse to do it again! After the party at the Freels' beach house we went around the corner to our beach house to test out the gloriousness that is the hot tub. Some how people also thought it would be a great idea to fire up the grill for some brats...what everyone needs at 2am...surely. Eventually we all made it to our beds for the night, and the poor Dougherty family had to get up bright and early to start their long drive back to Michigan. I'm so glad they came down for the fun though!!

Monday night we got to do more celebrating for Jordan's birthday, and we spent the rest of the week mostly soaking up some sun on the beach, eating ridiculous amounts of food and consuming a countless amount of wine bottles. It was so much fun spending time with all my siblings that I am sooooo tempted to join them all in San Francisco now! Perhaps it will stay on my radar for the future :) I'm super jealous that they all ended up in the same area, but at least it's the same time zone and a quick flight for me to join...hint hint...visits will be happening soon.

One of the days we were in NC, we took a drive over to Beaufort, which is a historic little town known for it's role in the legacy of Blackbeard (the pirate). We walked around town for a while before renting some kayaks to boat over to a small island off the coast inhabited by wild horses. We hiked into the island to a little wetland area where they were all hanging out and god pretty close to them to snap a few pics and observe for a while. It's really cool to see them in the wild like that!

Saturday morning we got all packed up and ready for our trek back to Seattle. Our flights started off pretty awesome with a free upgrade to first class!!! This is the first time we've been able to use an upgrade since the let Ryan sit up there with me too! We took full advantage of the free food and drinks and I was pleasantly surprised by a delicious couscous dish they served! I'm going to have to give it a try to make it myself. Our second flight we almost got upgraded again, but they wouldn't let Ryan come with me on my upgrade so I had to decline. Luckily we had spacious exit row seats and a good movie on the iPad to watch. Several hours later we were back in Seattle and came home to my favorite little furry friends and a relaxing rest of the weekend!