Dancing Queen

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Jessi, got married tonight. Everything was perfect, beautiful and so much fun. When we finally left, over an hour after our girls' bedtimes, there was a huge part of me that was like, "Hon, why don't you just take Ellie home and get her to bed . . . I'm sure Annie and I can catch a ride home with someone." In fact, when coming home from the reception up at Fort Douglas, we accidentally ended up heading back to downtown on Northbound I-15 . . . I told Greg I was pretty sure it was God's way of telling us to go back to the party. Greg was pretty sure the hysterical shrieking of an overly tired five month old triumphed a missed exit. Party pooper.

Annie had the time of her life. She talked non-stop on the way home about the 'party', the 'dancing', and the 'yummy bread.' (Jessi's super talented and equally sweet Nana made everyone small loaves of incredible breads, and Annie ate almost her entire loaf in lieu of the food served at the reception.) The greatest part was the dancing. Annie danced every single song while we were there, and would happily dance with whomever wanted to dance with her; or would just turn, jerk and hop in the middle of the dance floor all by herself. People were cracking up. And, as is typical when Annie's at her cutest, everyone (complete strangers to us) were snapping pictures of our little dancing queen. At one point Jessi was sitting a rare song out, and Annie ran up to her, grabbed her finger, and dragged her back onto the dance floor. On the way home, Annie was talking about all the fun she had, and was saying, "Jessi didn't dance." "Annie, Jessi danced the whole time, what are you talking about?" "Nope, she was talking, not dancing, so I went and got her and made her dance, and then she danced and not talked." Good thing someone was there to keep the bride on task. As we were leaving, Annie was waving enthusiastically to everyone, calling out, "Bye! Bye everyone! Thanks for having a party and for dancing! Thanks for the bread! Mom, did you remember the rest of my bread? Bye! Thank you for the party!"
Anyway, it was so much fun, and we took (of course) dozens and dozens of pictures, and here are some of my favorites.

This is the general state of Annie's elated-ness at the wedding reception.


The girls and I outside the Fort Douglas Chapel.


Ellie being fairly fussy. This kept up through the whole actual wedding, so Greg was sweet enough to take the crying baby and the stir-crazy toddler outside during the actual ceremony so I could stay in the chapel.


Annie was a big fan of her first open-bar wedding reception.


My girls and me with the beautiful bride.


Annie & Jessi during the dinner.


Annie with the mother of the bride.
This just fuels her ever increasing desire for grandkids.


Also a big fan of the toasts.
The next picture we took was of my skirt, soaking wet as most of this Martinelli's cider ended up all over my lap.


Ellie being pretty chill considering we've had her out for hours and hours without a decent nap.


Annie dancing with the groom.


Getting her groove on.


Daddy/daughter dancin'.


This just about melts my heart!


More grooving.


This kid gets into it.
Everyone was having a blast dancing with Annie, and she really got into trying to mimic others dancing, including the twist, disco moves and all manner of kicks and twirls.


Yet another of my children fueling the grandchildren desire.
Ellie hung out with Jessi's Mom & Aunts for awhile so Greg and I could rock out with Annie on the dance floor (and I could actually dance with my husband).


Doesn't this kid just look thrilled to be dancing?!


I'm seriously thinking we need to dance a lot more at our house. And if anyone's having a dance party, make sure we're invited!

And Jessi, Dalan and Piper (their pet dog, who possibly doesn't know she's a dog) . . . Congratulations!
(When I told Annie we were going to Jessi & Dalan's wedding, she said excitedly, "Oh, the people who live with Piper!")