::Grin:: What a good weekend. My cousin Jasmine's wedding was this saturday in Long Island. The ceremony (it was actaully their second ceremony) was very simple, but very nice... using some of the filipino traditions. The reception was really nice too. Johnathan (Jasmine's new husband and my new cousin), is one of the nicest and coolest guys that I have met so far. Speaking of, he did the cutest thing at a the reception where he sang the L-O-V-E song, at at each of the four letters he had one of his brother's make the shape of the letter (think YMCA style) and then they all did a little dance for her. Haha, it was so cute! Can I marry someone that will do that at my wedding? ;) I also got to ballroom dance with my cousin Carlitos, which was the funnest ever (he used to compete fyi).

I think I enjoyed the wedding weekend so much because I was able to see so many relatives that I haven't seen in at least a few years. This is the first time in at 3 or 4 years that this many Espiritu's have gotten together. A lot of my cousins live in florida (my one aunt has 6 kids alone), and all of the kids in this one family are above the age of 26, and two of the brother's are married already. And my gosh, let me tell you my nieces and nephews are the cutest things ever! (The titles of niece and nephew refer also to the children of my cousins) The last time I saw any of them they were walking around in diapers, and now one of my oldest nephews, Christian, is 6!

Going back to the night of the wedding, after a bunch of us changed, me, my sister and my three other cousins went out to a diner and catch up with eachother. We ended up getting back at around two after sharing an odd assortment of food, and then all of us, minus my one cousin Tina, went back to our hotel room to sleep. Six of us intended in a room for four, haha, that's the way to do it. :D The following morning, we all had a final brunch at my Auntie Norma's house, an absolutely adorable house in L.I. After more munching and talking, it was finally time to go our seperate ways again. As much as I love my friend's, nothing really compares to family. The older I get, the more I appreciate the huge family and extended family that I have, and the more I cannot imagine having it any other way. With family you can joke about things that you did when you were little, or the odd idiosyncrasies that your parents share. There's a connection there that cannot compare to anything else, and that nothing else can ever fill.