My Guy Meets His Future Family

I come from a ridiculously big family- my dad has about a million cousins, and my mother has five siblings (in addition to a handful of step siblings).  In the course of the last three years, I've given My Guy a free pass from family events- knowing how outrageous and overwhelming my family can be at times.  While he's been expected at holiday dinners, I haven't forced the issue with birthdays, graduation parties, or reunions; until this past weekend.  When I'm with my extended family I tend to get caught up in the excitement of seeing everyone and never want to leave.  I did warn him before hand, and encourage him to take a trip to the package store before he meets his future family. 
My father's cousins were having a family party, and I'd been looking forward to it for the last month; reminding My Guy about it a regular basis.  As wonderful as he is, he refuses to own a calendar, and if it's not work related, he won't add it to the planner in his phone; leaving me responsible for managing our social calendar.  So it was no surprise when Wednesday he texted me "Do we have plans for this weekend?"  Good grief.
So we get to the party and I couldn't be more excited to be reunited with my family.  After working for years in the restaurant industry, weekends didn't exist, so I sacrificed these types of parties.  Introducing My Guy to my family, and watching him interact with all the cousins, I felt so elated.  Listening to him talk about his previous life as a football coach, sharing his experiences in Oregon (how do you pronounce that state just south of Washington?), how passionate he is about his work and saying goodbye to everyone, and shaking hands or offering a hug made me wonder why I had waited so long.  I love my family to no end, and I love him just as much.  Since I love all of them, it should be only natural that they mesh as well as they did.  It was actually me, who after 8 hours said "We really should get home to let the dog out," and about an hour later we were saying our goodbyes. Despite the weather, it was a perfect day, and I can't wait for the next party!

Sweet Moments with My Sweet Brother

Last night I gave My Guy a free pass to go out with the boys (my family is having a big party today, and he's going to be thrown to the wolves after three years of dating... I felt he deserved some time with the guys).  It looked like I was going to have the house to myself, just me and all my wedding magazines and blogs... well as it turned out, my baby brother (who is actually eighteen- not such a baby), wound up coming over. 
Little Brother has been nothing but supportive, and he's constantly asking about the wedding, my ideas, and offering suggestions.  So last night, I'm sitting on one couch and he's on the other.  I open up the iPad, while he's busy looking for something to watch on tv.  I click on the Knot Application- the cover is a beautiful bride and her beau, the dress is gorgeous, and absolutely something I would love, when my brother says "I like that dress."  I almost melted off the couch.  Here's this eighteen year old man, who is ridiculously talented when it comes to working with his hands (he can literally take anything apart and rebuild it), he's an avid action sports fan (loves dirt biking, motor cross, demolition derbies, and anything that could cause real bodily harm), he loves to pig out on ice cream, and has never been anything less than surprising with his responses to situations.  He loves a dress I love.  So I show him a petticoat dress that I like and he says "That doesn't seem wedding-y.  It doesn't go to the floor."  I completely agree, but for a casual daytime wedding, it would be fitting... I never thought I'd be taking fashion advice from my younger brother.   
When we first got engaged, it was so important for my sisters to be involved- we spent years as children playing "Bride," it never occurred to me how involved my brother would want to be, and become on his own.  He will be a groomsmen, and we are planning a special project for him to contribute to our special day. 
While he may be twelve years younger than me, and we didn't grow up in the same household, he's one of my favorite people, and someone I've always been able to count on for support and love.  My brother's heart is far too big for his body and I'm so lucky he's part of my family.