Tom's Wedding

We were home from our big summer trip less than a week when Paul and I headed back out again to attend my brother's wedding in CA. Since Siena was at band camp, we decided to pawn off our other two kids so that Paul and I could have a pre-anniversary trip of our own. It was high time since it had been 11 years since we had gone anywhere without the kids.

We hadn't met Linda or her kids prior to the wedding so I was excited to meet them. Linda is very nice and her kids were great, too. Tom seemed really happy and he and the kids have formed a special bond. It was nice to see them giving him big hugs. He fits right in with them. He even seems to know a lot of Chinese which shouldn't surprise me since he is quite the linguist. Of course, I don't know any Chinese so I can't be too sure of how much he knows, but they looked like they understood each other in either English or Chinese. So it works either way.
I really like Linda's extended family, too. Everyone was so sweet and welcoming. I was so glad that we could go and meet everyone.
We also got to see Lindsay and Elissa. They've grown up a lot since I've last seen them. I was impressed with how well they handled seeing their Dad get remarried.

One story that I'll never let Tom live down was when we were at his reception and one of his guests asked if I was Tom's daughter. He looked around, saw me, and shreaked, "No, she's my SISTER!" It was so funny, especially since Tom is only 16 months older than me. I'll be telling that story until my dying day. Paul and I enjoyed our time away. Actually, I think we both kind of missed the kids, but we decided that we need to take more vacations on our own and not wait another 11 years. It was great knowing that our kids were well taken care of and in fact, I don't even think they missed us. Spencer was having so much fun that he didn't even want to leave when we went to pick him up from his friend's house. Lily was perfectly content staying at the Ryan House. I'm sure she enjoyed the attention she received from all the staff there.