September 8, 2006
You'd think we would be done traveling for awhile, especially since school started August 28, but as it happens, you would be wrong. Uncle Alan, David's uncle, and his fiancee Ellen, were married in Danvers, MA Sunday at noon, so of course we had to go. David has been dragged to any number of my cousin's weddings over the last ten years and is now almost perfect at establishing the relationships of everyone in the rather large extended family on Mama's side. But until this summer I haven't had a chance to meet any of David's extended family, since Steven's side hides out in New England and Sharon's side is scattered places we don't get to.
In addition to meeting lots of family, we also got to see some friends. Zach and Corey, newly married and living in Northampton, let us crash on their futon Friday and Sunday nights. We had a great time stuffing ourselves with wine and cheese, being shown around their new town and sampling breakfast at two of their favorite places. Saturday night Christa, Greg and Helen drove up to Haverhill from Cambidge to have dessert with us. Christa and I have been friends since high school, but haven't seen each other in almost six years, which made meeting Helen, their four-and-a-half month old, lots of fun. Fun because I adore babies, but even more fun, since she is extremely cute and very well behaved.
It was actually quite the baby weekend. Two of David's cousins, Kristie and Richard, along with their spouses, have small children. Ally (Alessandra), is nine months old, and the daughter of Kristie and Mark, while Richard and his wife Brynn have two children: Acher, almost three, and Annelie, who's eight months old. All very happy children, so of course David kept himself busy during most of the reception by taking lots of pictures. As a bonus, I got to hold Annelie during the ceremony, since her parents had wedding duties. We had a slight disagreement over who should have control of my earrings, but we resolved it amicably.
In all, an excellent weekend, though next time we may try to avoid all the driving and fly in. Especially since we have so much family to visit, now.
