Life Lately - a wedding and a week off

We've just had a little over a week off together as a family. It's been long-awaited and began with a wedding and ended with a PJ day.

The first weekend was my Brother-in-Law's wedding. It began with a Mendhi celebration at the bride's parent's house, where the women attending had their hands decorated with intricate henna patterns.

We then travelled on the Friday, after dropping our dog off at a dog sitter's house for the weekend, to Walton Hall, where we stayed for two nights. Ethan was really excited to be staying away and although we had a late night on Friday, he was in good spirits for the wedding on Saturday.

There were actually two parts - a Hindu ceremony at 10am and a civil ceremony at 2pm - with nibbles and photos in-between and then the wedding breakfast. It was such a nice day, with personal touches here and there meaningful to them both.

Ethan was fidgety during the first ceremony and slept through the second, and during each activity, he was such an angel really, considering how long the day was for someone so small. Ste gave a great speech as Best Man and we enjoyed spending quality time with Ste's family and wishing his brother and new wife the very best for a happy future.

After a lovely breakfast, loading the car, collecting our dog and dropping all my boys at home on Sunday, I then drove to Yorkshire to meet with my besties for two days at a spa hotel. It's a bit of an annual tradition for us and oh how I wish I were there again now!

It was a lovely little break, short and sweet as always, and Lindsay, one of two brides in our group, asked me a very special question...

She had written me a sweet card and on the back, it said 'open the drawer' and when I did, I saw the chocolate plaque above. I was so shocked and very happy too - I knew that I was going to be a bridesmaid but I didn't really expect to be asked. It's such a lovely honour and one that I hope to live up to over the next 10 months... it's going to be a busy, exciting year, especially with both my bride friends getting married just four days apart from each other.

The rest of our week was spent as a family of three. We had my Sister-in-Law's graduation celebration on Tuesday, I had work on Wednesday and the rest of our week we were at home, playing, crafting, tidying and preparing for the next couple of months.

It was a really lovely week and makes me even more excited for what's just around the corner... CHRISTMAS!