The Last Johnson Bride

In her dress
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

Isn't Jenny so pretty? She made such a beautiful bride on Friday night, and we were so glad to share in celebrating her marriage to Chad. The wedding was beautiful, wonderful, perfect. What a wonderful day!

I can hardly believe that all four of us have been married off--it was the last time the twinkle lights will sparkle in my parents' yard. (After three receptions there in 371 days, however, they might be a bit relieved!)

Now Jenny and Chad are relaxing in the Dominica Republic, and Jason and I are relaxing at home. Finally. No more trips until I go back later this fall to meet my new nephew (I can't miss that!). We are officially putting our suitcases back into the closet and settling in to stay. It is kind of exciting, thinking about living in our house instead of just doing laundry there.

And fall is just around the corner. It is worth living in Washington DC just for fall.

Wed by the Lake

Dawn and Brian
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

In our quest to spend more time in Idaho than in Washington, DC this summer (not a bad idea, as today in DC the humidity is making it feel like 108 degrees outside), we spent a beautiful weekend in Coeur d'Alene helping Dawn and Brian celebrate their marriage. Dawn and I shared a lovely two years in our tree-house home until we both left to live with boys--she moved to Reston with her brother and I changed my name and moved in with Jason.

The wedding was perhaps the prettiest one I've ever been to. It was outside overlooking the lake, so the setting was perfect, and the ceremony was touching and beautiful too. I got to read Shakespeare's 116th sonnet (as Dawn did at our wedding).

Jason and I also had a great time hanging out in Coeur d'Alene and Spokane, WA. We actually stayed in Spokane, and as an Idahoan I am quite of the opinion that the scenery automatically gets gorgeous when you cross the state line out of Spokane and into North Idaho. But I was pleasantly suprised with Spokane and its Riverfront Park, and we got some good "vacation" time in on this trip. Plus, we got to see "Superman" at the IMAX theatre, which (as I'm a huge fan) was pretty much the coolest non-wedding highlight of the trip...

"Our Little Brother is Married!"

Kim and Casey
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

There were three of us who kept saying that incredulously over the past weekend. During the ceremony Casey and Kim gave their mothers roses, and Shaanti whispered to me, "Why don't they give us roses, we're giving him away too!" We laughed, but we both felt it--there is something quite different about marrying off your little brother than even watching your sister get married!

Pictures can be found by clicking on this one here, and you will see that it was an absolutely beautiful wedding. The backyard at the Johnson house was again transformed into a fairyland. My favorite part of the wedding was the slideshow, with pictures of Casey dressed up as every imaginable super hero. People lightly chuckled at the picture of him as Superman, but as we went through Batman, Robin, the Green Lantern, Flash, and finally the Penguin the laughter got louder and harder. We all remember the boy who would only wear clothes with a cape.

Best of all, Kim is now officially the sister-in-law. I always felt a bit sorry for the girl Casey married, knowing that his three older sisters would be quite overprotective and hard to win over. But then I met Kim, and I instantly loved her. They headed off to Mexico to recuperate. In the meantime, Jason and I are trying to fit two weeks of work and sleep into three days before heading out again on Friday to quote sonnets at Dawn's wedding. And here I thought everyone was already married!