A Wedding Post -part 2

It was a good thing I got pictures of Tessa during the ceremony portion of the day because I barely saw her the rest of the night. Every twenty minutes or so Jake and I would scour the place to find out which cousin she had gone with to play.
The reception took place in a reception room and also upstairs on the roof. There was dancing upstairs and food downstairs. The reception started a little late, but when it did, the worker lady protecting the chocolate fountain finally let us all loose on it after the best man and maid of honor toasts.
To be honest, I didn't know a lot of people at the reception, which was a little weird for me since it was my brother, but we've lived and worked in different places for a long time now.
I took a few pictures of family that came.
I made sure to take a picture of Cole with his great Grandpa Jack. We were so happy to see my Grandpa Jack at the wedding and reception. He drove from CA, hung out for a while, and in true Grandpa Jack form, took off for a poker game with his buddies before the dancing started. I'm sad that I didn't have another opportunity to spend time with him. There's too much going on in circumstances such as these to have a quality visit, but I was still grateful to see him.
My cousin Tyler (from my dad's side), his wife Jamie, and the head of one of their two children...and my sister, too.
There is one male child from my dad and each of his three sisters who are unmistakably related to one another. Jon and Tyler are two of the four who obviously descend from the same line.
Since we were in the area, Ashley dropped by for a few minutes because I made her. What a nice friend.

At the table we've got Uncle Chad, Aly Marie, and my Uncle Chris (Mom's side). Aly Marie is beautiful.

This is my mom and grandma. I thought it was sweet. They probably won't think it's sweet that I took a picture of them when they didn't know it.

Here we have Aunt Nora, Ben, Nora's mom, and Aaron.

And here's my cousin Heidi with Cole. She is a formidable opponent on the shake your groove thang dance floor.

So, after these random pictures, I sat down with my chocolate drizzled treats and then made my way upstairs. There were all of the traditional dances -with bride and her dad, with new couple, etc. This was the best I could do in the dark...

AND THEN, I let loose with a spasm of rhythm and energy that I didn't know was bottled up in me. What fun! While other people took care of my children, Jake and I danced, danced, danced. My dad even danced for a while! He stepped on my toes, but he danced. I had an awesome time getting down with my mom, sister, cousin, brother, husband, niece, and every one else who couldn't help it.
I may have scared the wedding party. It was so worth it. I don't remember the last time I had that much fun dancing. Plus, I made my brother laugh a couple of times, which was worth my display of obnoxiousness.
Toward the end, as the evening was wrapping up, the garter was placed, and the bouquet was tossed. The song played after that was "Single Ladies." Tessa appeared out of nowhere like Beyonce was the Pied Piper. She had an intent look on her face as she started to run in a circle around the dance floor waving her arms and occasionally twirling. Every time one of her cousins would try to grab hold of her to have her dance with them, she would fling them away (and even slapped one) so she could dance. She meant business, and this was her song. Needless to say, she fell asleep with minutes of getting into the car.

After wishing the newly married duo fun in the Bahamas, my brother, sister, and I had a group hug. I love them so much. I don't know if they have any idea how much I care about them. I wish so badly that I would have gotten a picture of the three of us. I will have to make a point next time we're together.