Key lime pie....where have you been all our lives?

This will be a long but worthwhile post. B's sister Natalie married Chad last week in the Florida Keys, and they flew us out there to be a part of it!! A total of 14 people (including bride and groom) enjoyed sunny Florida as we celebrated the love of these two exquisite people :) Here are some pictures and highlights of all the fun things we did: Playing ukuleles on the patio, swimming in the indoor pool of this MANSION of a house, fishing in the backyard, going snorkeling, sunbathing, getting eaten alive by bugs, eating key lime pie 4 times, eating Cuban food, eating Natalie's organic food, fishing again late into the night, riding bikes to the beach, finding an iguana, pelican, and puffer fish all in the backyard, swing dancing the night away, drinking tea/beer/soup out on the back porch overlooking the water, driving along the 7 mile bridge with water on both sides, walking around Key West, taking millions of pictures and smiling the entire 5 days.

The actual wedding went as follows: We all prepped the organic meal together in shifts in the kitchen the day of, and set up the backyard/patio for the ceremony. While seated, Chad (groom) dressed in a linen suit, gracefully sang and played the ukulele along to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (version by Bruddah IZ). As he played, the gorgeous Natalie in a short flowing dress, ribbons in her hair, no shoes and an orchid bouquet walked towards him. Josh (their mutual friend) was the minister who actually made them husband and wife! During the ceremony, Chad and Natalie each read vows to one another, and we all got to be participate in the "sand ceremony", where we each poured our own unique blend of sand into their glass bottle. This resulted in a beautiful multi-layered bottle of sand that they could remember and keep forever! After there wasn't a dry eye in the group, we moved on to the dinner. Collectively and with Natalie's recipes and guidance, we all made salads, fish, chicken, bread, veggies galore. It was organic, delicious and with the freshest foods I think I've had in a long time! (Please also note that Brian ate more vegetables during this trip than I've ever seen him eat. Ever.=me sooooo happy!) After dinner came the chocolate fountains (HEAVEN) and we cleared the tables off the patio....and danced the night away under the stars! Keep in mind, most of the guests knew the couple through swing dancing, and were also pro dancers, so "dancing the night away" was definitely an understatement for what they were doing :)


All in all, it was a glorious-much needed-fun in the sun vacation for Brian and I, and we were so happy to be part of this intimate and beautiful wedding. The only downfall to this trip were saying goodbye to our new friends Josh, Stephanie, Heather, Tonya, Jon, and Carol. (Oh and my baggage not arriving in Phx and all the mosquito bites I'm battling is a definitely thumbs down) But other than all that...a big THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS to the new Mr and Mrs Lawson :0)

Also, a quick "shout-out" to cousin Cheree who got engaged to David while I was in Florida! Looks like I'll be heading to another wedding by the sea this summer in Hawaii. Congrats!