so congratulations to ryan and lorie!!!

the world must now officially address lorie as mrs. ambrosio... whoa... that was just really weird..

the wedding was gorgeous.. seriously.. straight from a magazine.. i even snagged the beta fish centerpiece.. i named it rorie.. git it? ryan + lorie= rorie? eh.. not important.. i hope its still alive.. its been lookin pretty sickly and i only took it home two days ago?

the problem is.. ive been feeding it bread pieces.. ate informs me today that youre not supposed to do that.. only fish pellets.. so i jacked the leftover pellets from ryans house.. hopefully feeding it now will be enough to revive the lil sucker.. its so pretty!

so the wedding.. gorgeous..

i was fortunate enough to not see my mother going down the aisle with my brother.. cuz seriously.. if i did.. i dont think i would have made it down after..

these are the moments where the fact that they were gittin married seemed like it was really happening..

1. watching lorie get her pictures taken before ryan had seen her..
she was so beautiful! and the bright white of her dress with her smiling bigger than ive ever seen her smile..

2. ryan sees lorie for the first time in her dress..
so the photographer has this bright idea.. lets take a picture of ryans reaction when he first sees you in the dress.. "we'll have him wait outside and then you tap him on the shoulder..
"seriously.. he melted.. i always knew they loved each other.. but theres something different about the times when you see them lost in it..

3. seeing him down the aisle..
every stage of his life that ive known him just flashed before my eyes.. heres my big brother.. who used to give me a bloody nose and put silly putty in annas hair.. hes standing in front of me-- totally grown up.. he went from this bratty kid.. to this teenager trying to find himself through the different possibilities of who he could be.. to the man of the house and the greatest big brother, who has always tried to give his family anything and everything he had.. and finally.. hes about to be a husband starting a new family with the woman he has come to love unconditionally.. just how far he has come and how much he deserves this.. it seriously couldnt have made me happier..

4. ate's toast..
really anna.. like we hadnt been through enough already.. she reminded us all of their origins.. the first impressions she-- and i'm sure we all-- had when seeing this teenage looking girl giving him attention.. and how she came to see her as one of her best friends..
i had this memory of the night before.. lorie and anna were telling this lady that they werent just friends.. "she's gonna marry my brother.. but we're also really good friends.. not cuz we have to be.. we really like each other.. haha... " lorie really has become part of our family..

5. mother-son dance..
they danced to "you raise me up" by josh groban.. it was beautiful.. and so fitting.. it just emphasized to me how mom has always been so important to us and such a good role model and such an amazing mother.. and how ryan has always tried to repay her for that and tried to show all of his love by taking care of her the way we've always seen her taking care of us..
you see: ryan is crying.. my mom is crying.. its hard to watch her give him away.. he's her only son.. her first born.. but we know how much she wants this for him.. and how confident she is in him and lorie.. so we just watch them finish this dance.. starting to goof off near the end of it.. the way they always joke around together.. still kinda tearing once and again when the laughter subsides momentarily.. while me and anna look on (totally bawling).. knowing the shifting of our family will only bring more joy.. but the past has been an awesome ride..

and its built these amazing relationships between each family member.. in my mind and my heart i'll always have these turning points..