A wedding and Daddy's birthday

 Jeff Johnson was one of several friends I met in CA who flew in for Henry and Jessica's wedding. We hosted a WI-themed BBQ and served staples such as brats, zucchini cake and of course, WI beer and cheese curds.

 Riley must be telling a riveting story

 Henry, the groom, is good to go

 Seamus enjoyed his spot with out houseguests Mita and Jeff

 The officiant, bride and groom put final touches on the ceremony

 Marty was one of the members of my dissertation committe

 Jen, Henry and Jess

 Firefighters!

 The crowd hanging out at the rehearsal dinner

Good friends

 Their last day as singletons

 Micaela and her date, Minnie Mouse

 The flower girl burns a little energy before she puts on her white dress

 Many of the decorations, including the beautiful flowers hanging on shepherd hooks, were created by Jessica's Mom

 Micaela exploring the grounds

 Henry and I hung out in the background while the wedding party assembled for the processional

 Riley and the ring bearer, Bryson, with Jessica and her Dad

 She's pretty much a professional flower girl after 3 weddings

 She did a great job dropping the petals

 The bride and her father

 And I begin the ceremony

 They chose to do a hand fasting during the wedding

 "I announce with great joy that you are now husband and wife!"

 Riley sat quietly with the bride's family during the 20 minute ceremony and was very ready to walk back down when it was over

 I got to walk down the aisle, too

 Our family

 Mita and Jeff

 Jen, Marty and Mita

 I love this picture of Henry and Jessica

 My signature makes it official (almost, I still had to file the paperwork and have it approved)

 The couple with their officiant

 Henry, Riley and Jess

 The bridal party

Marty bought me a well-deserved gin and tonic after my responsibilities were over

 And then we played trivia

 Jess and Henry were quite competitive

 Time for the reception!

 Micaela enjoyed her food

 The girls were being good and calm...

 ...so Chad and I took our eyes off them for a minute to take a nice picture. During this time Micaela started pulling down the curtains. Chad took them home soon after.

 Cutting the cake, Henry-style

 The reception was at a curling club. They don't keep it iced during the summer and the rink was hidden by curtains made by Jess's Mom (the ones Micaela started pulling down) but it was very cool to check it out. 

The curling rink

 And then the dancing began

 The UC Davis Neuroscientists clean up nicely!

 Mita and Jeff stayed with us for a few days so we enjoyed making s'mores in our fire pit

 Monday morning I went to the Registrar of Deeds office to file the paperwork and make it official

 Then we went to the Green Bay zoo to feed the giraffes

 Fun for everyone!

 A very cool tamarin

 Riley and Mommy

 This poor guy giving a presentation on armadillos had no idea his audience included Dr. Padberg, a professor at the University of Central Arkansas studying...armadillos

 Time to celebrate Daddy's birthday!

 We gave him a light for the rear of his bike so cars can better see him at dusk (Riley is Ironman!)

And all he will need to make pizza on his grill, something he's been talking about forever. 

This week was spent with good friends, many of whom I hadn't seen in years. Henry and Jessica, who I met in CA but are from IL and WI respectively, got married this weekend in Green Bay. We always considered them part of our California family; besides hanging out regularly they came to all our major events (birthday parties, Thanksgiving dinners, etc.) and Henry even lived with us for a few months. They were the last friends we saw before we left CA and we were thrilled they got married near us and asked us to be part of their day. As a bonus, several other friends made the trip so we were able to catch up with them as well.

On Thursday Chad and I hosted a BBQ at our house for everyone who was in town. It was a great, relaxing night full of catching up and repeating stories from grad school. Friday was the rehearsal which Riley, the flower girl and I, the officiant, attended. Jessica and Henry both have wonderful, welcoming families and friends so it was nice to meet all of them. 

The wedding was on Saturday under a pavilion at a beautiful park. This was my first wedding as an officiant and I thought I'd be nervous. Instead I was so relaxed, hanging out with my good friend Henry before the ceremony, it was truly a lot of fun. Henry, Jessica and I (mostly Henry) put together the ceremony so it was very personal. I was able to include a few stories and my own thoughts and they even wrote their own vows. I was honored that they asked me to marry them.

Before we went to the reception we headed to a local bar (Jessica said this is WI wedding tradition) and played trivia. The reception itself was at a curling club that had been transformed into a great space for a party. We had a blast dancing and partying. Congrats to the bride and groom!

I must credit the many, many pictures above to Chad, who was an amazing photographer and child care specialist this weekend. He was awesome, shuttling the girls around and taking them home when they were tired so I could have fun with my friends. He was rewarded with the day off on Sunday (he went mountain biking) and I really appreciate his thoughtfulness while I was busy officiating and partying.

On Monday I had to file the marriage license in Brown County so Riley, Micaela, Mita, Jeff (who had stayed with us during their visit) and I headed back to Green Bay. After I completed my last duty as an officiant we went to the zoo. Its always fun to visit the zoo with other neuroscientists, I think we look at the animals a little differently. 

As if that wasn't enough excitement, Chad's birthday was Wednesday. We'll do the real celebrating this weekend but we let his open his gifts: a rear bike light so he'll be more visible to cars and a pizza stone, peel and hot pads for his grill. He's been wanting to prepare a pizza on his Komodo but didn't have the special stone that can handle high grill temperatures. We can't wait to master this new culinary challenge. Chad said he loved his gifts...biking and grilling accessories, what's not to love? Happy birthday Daddy!!!