A Much Needed Update

Sooooooo much has happened since my last post, but I have done very little picture taking, so here is a quick survey of the past few months.

First, we had Halloween.

My costume was uneventful because I was not feeling well for the weekend, but Kevin, as usual, killed it. He was especially a big hit with the kids, as DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba:

Raf and I also attended a fantastic Dashboard concert in Richmond, a dream come true for yours truly. This was the 10th anniversary tour of their first album so we heard Chris Carraba alone with his acoustic guitar about 2.3 feet in front of us. Amazing. The surviving shot:

I love him.

In other news, Tim had a birthday and this was his beautifully wrapped gift:

We saw Tosh.0 in Norfolk and it was ridiculous. The before party:

We also had numerous dinners with the Psimases, I finished a class, Raf got his fire truck driver's license and things at work were generally crazy...

I went home to PA for Thanksgiving. We had a Top Chef challenge. The rounds are featured here, plus a graph of the results (Greg made a page for us to all vote on categories of Creativity, Taste, and Presentation, as they do on "Chopped")

Course 1 was hors devours and mimosas.

 Next was a Thanksgiving sandwich, by Greg, with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and gravy. The beverage was a caramel cider drink. Both delicious!

The next course, the first by Andrew, was spinach and artichoke dip and Koggs'  Hill wine... a family favorite.

The next course was a dismal failure on both counts. I made the world's most disgusting corn bread (thus beginning a Horbal Thanksgiving tradition called "The throwing of the bread") and the beverage was some kind of disgusting whiskey. The other picture is Maddy's throw up, from eating the bread, of course. Kip claims is finger is there for perspective so you can see just how much puke there was.

 Course 3, by Kip, was garlic mashed potatoes. It was oddly accompanied by a grasshopper drink. It tasted like a Girl Scout Thin Mint. I ate and drank quite separately so this isn't as gross as it sounds.

The second to last course was a wonderful sweet potato soup made by my mommy. She added chicken stock to take away the sweetness and made it pretty phenomenal.

We at Andrew's braised turkey just around 9 PM, when all of us were already completely full. It was so delicious, though, that it was totally worth stuffing it in.

We also went to PA two weeks later for Christmas with the Horbals. This video montage by Kevin pretty much sums the whole thing up: 

And now, it's Christmas. In fact, it's Christmas Eve. I just returned from the fire station (in Creeds) where Kevin has been working and will be until 11 tomorrow. Our house is nicely decorated:

My favorite, our new stockings which were a wedding gift from Karen and Ryan:

Now I am watching Harry Potter with Maddy and waiting for Tater to come home so we can begin our holiday celebration and prepare for our honeymoon in OBX! More pictures to come!

PS. Official wedding pictures are in. Here is the only one we have in electronic copy so far:

TWO wedding posts?

More pictures coming in all the time! Today's post features photos from Karen Fletcher-Oleaga and Gayle Hockenberry. These all come with captions for your viewing pleasure!

These are the handsome ushers just before the ceremony: he who must not be named, my baby brother Kip, Kevin's friend Mudge (formerly of New York Sports Club) and Ricky, his friend from the academy.

Here's the babies... our niece Brynn and nephew Will. These kids were troopers!

My dad and I, walking down the aisle. Can you believe I didn't shiver?

Our ceremony officiant, Susan Turner, was fantastic. The ceremony was so personal and customized. We loved it! I believe that is what we are discussing here... or maybe trying to figure out the fastest way to the bar!

 Brynn and Will, wiped out after working hard!

Kevin and I with the Rafterys. From left: Melissa and BJ (Kevin's brother), plus Will, then Janet (Kevin's mom), us, Bill (Kevin's dad), a stranger, then Karen (Kevin's sister) and Brynn.

The Raftery fam. What's with Kev's stomach in this one?

Love this one! Our many and varied shoes...

Me and my mommy... love the ocean background!

The Horbals/Frederick. From left, Greg, my mom, me, and my brothers Andrew and Kip. Aren't they dapper? (That one's for you Seth!)

At some point (or most points) during this first dance I was muttering "Don't, don't, don't" to Kevin because I was afraid he would twirl or dip me and I would look like an idiot! Dancing in sneakers certainly helped though...

Raf's custom shoes. Stay tuned for official pictures featuring the date on the back...

Awesome picture by Karen! Our centerpieces were created by Jo Ann Turner. She's awesome! See us for details if you want to book her!

The ballroom chandeliers were one of the things that sold us on the Wyndham. This picture is gorgeous!

The man, the myth, the legend. There's only one Ricky.

The Raftery's friends, the Alpiars, enjoy the couples dance. The winners (longest married) were Aunt Barbara and Uncle Andy who received the tossing bouquet in lieu of tossing to the single women!

The Lyle's, friends from the academy. For a long time I thought "Lyle" was Dustin's first name. We love him.  He was the only one who helped us move my stuff in when I moved here from PA.

The Mitchells. I also thought Mitchell was Dave's first name. Sensing a pattern?

The end. For now. Stay tuned!