Bliss - noun. Supreme happiness; utter joy or contentment: wedded bliss.

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending my best friends wedding. It ended up being a pretty long day because my cousin Anna and I drove to Atlanta from Charlotte and then ended up driving back to Charlotte that same night, yikes. Thankfully the ride home went faster, without traffic and inclement weather. Mary looked beautiful and it was great seeing her whole family together, the Allen clan certainly are wonderful people and I love seeing them in action. I snapped as many pictures as I could the short time that I was there. I'm definitely planning on many trips to Atlanta while Mary is still living there.
Blushing bride.
The happy couple.
Apparently Mary and I can't take a normal picture. There was one where she was pulling my hair and I made a terrible face and another where I completely covered her face with my hands. I chose this picture because I look better than her...ha, it's funny because it's true. And by the way, I just want to mention that I am currently very tan, (you'll notice my beach trip in my last post) it just goes to show that Mary will always be tanner than me.
Auntie Anna and Baby JoJo hanging out at the reception. Thank God Anna drove with me!
That kid will eat anything.
The couple intro.
A beautiful set-up.
Watching the service.
This was before I left Charlotte to drive to Atlanta (the drive there took almost 5 hours where the ride back was only about 3 1/2). I was upset that we couldn't all go as a family, but I got over it, like I always do!

Release - verb. re-leased, To free from confinement, bondage, obligation, pain, etc.; let go: to release a prisoner.

Warning: world's largest post! I won't use a lot of description as most pictures speak for themselves. We took an AWESOME family filled vacation to North Myrtle Beach in early June. Our first beach vacation since living in North Carolina and our first official vacation in way too long. We rented an enormous beach house with plenty of room for the entire Vaagen clan. We swam, we went to the beach, we ate and we spent quality time watching Dora the Explorer and Spongebob. I think from now on we won't wait so long to see the beach!
A large group picture. Everyone but Noah, Amy and Aaron, who were dearly missed.
Xander shows his beach muscles.
I love these boys.Evan and Xander jumping.
Ariel and Nate with my chunky monkey.
Mimi and Xander working really hard at puzzle time.
The three most important people in my life!
Me and the hotdog at our favorite snack spot; Mr. G's...
Siblings sans Noah.
Tent city on the beach.
I want this right now!
This is what happens when Xander should be napping and finds the camera.
He was a beach baby, he's got Papa's California blood.
Keaton is so cool.
There's the front of Mr. G's.
Uncle Gunz is too cool for the pool.
Xander showing Nate Potato how to use Mama's phone.
Keaton REALLY likes Dora.
Those boys are just so silly.

Golden - adj. gold-en, Full of happiness, prosperity, or vigor: golden hours; a golden era of exploration.

In the Midwest we celebrate 'Golden Birthdays' it's when you become the age that your birthday falls on, for example, my birthday is on May 29th and this year I turned 29, therefore GOLDEN BIRTHDAY! And my 29th birthday bazaar was nothing short of spectacular. A huge thanks to my wonderful/perfect/fantastic husband for putting it together with such class and allowing me to ruin that class by having mojitos at the same party and drinking those mojitos. He had an amazing spread of food that filled a house full of people and an ice cream cake (my favorite!). One of my gifts was a pack of fireworks, which we all enjoyed, some people even did some impossible firework jumping feats. The night ended with a short walk to Cabo with our best bartending cousin, Anna! The rest is history...
Mmmmm, nummy, nummy foodies.
The spread with friends and family included. Even if Keaton doesn't love it.
X man and his bumped forehead enjoying some blueberries and watermelons.
No time for chit-chat.
Anna is so psyched to be at my party.
I love beets!! Caleb makes the BEST roasted beet salad with goat cheese, using the arugula/rocket salad from my garden!
Stripes are the name of the game...I don't know if you can see Carter is holding Jonah out of the picture because he wasn't wearing stripes...nice.
This is Xander's fake cry face. Not very convincing...
Caleb bought the ice cream cake and the candles...don't say anything, you'll just break his heart.
Bananagrams with the best of them!
Pick-a-little-talk-a-little. Pick-a-little-talk-a-lot.
Uh-oh, this is a dangerous face...watch out for it.
One of the last shots of the night, we were all in good spirits.
The next morning Xander wanted to wear his shoes to Smelly Cat to see Carter. Caleb was gracious to me the whole day and let me sleep off a crazy night.
It's always time for a back yard sprinkler/tub party...just take off their clothes and let them run...