California Part 3: The Saadehs

It seems odd to be documenting this trip to California for Nicole's wedding without including any pictures of the bride and groom. And since I didn't take any, I stole this one off of Facebook. I will count on my photography friends letting me know if this is not kosher.

So here they are, Mr. & Mrs. Haynie:

Next, let me say that the Saadehs really know how to throw a wedding. You don't often see dancing like there was at the reception. I think most people under the age of 70 were out on the dance floor. I even got up to learn the traditional Lebanese dance.

The music was loud enough that it was a little difficult to visit with people. But that meant that we got ourselves (and our seven kids) invited to brunch the next day.

And, lucky for us, the Saadehs throw really great brunches too.

The fabulous hosts, Heba, Anthony, and Najib:

Najib and Heba have a beautiful backyard and the weather was finally perfect. The kids were absolutely fascinated with the lemon and orange trees. I sent them on a scavenger hunt to find something of every color, and they came back with tiny white, pink, red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple flower petals and green leaves. Such a stark contrast to what could be found in the dreary December weather we left behind in Utah.

All four Saadeh siblings (with little Anthony), George, Najib, Sana, and Nasseeb:

My dad served an LDS mission to Lebanon and spent a lot of time with the Saadeh family from 1972 to 1973. He and his companion had dinner with them once a week and their mother, Suad, tutored him in Arabic. My dad was also a guest at many, many birthday parties and some extra special family dinners. He says that Suad treated him as well as if she were his mother.

Three more of my third cousins, Yasmin Saadeh, Georgi Saadeh, Michel Karam:

Kacie Malouf, George Saadeh, me:

George & Lynette Saadeh (parents of the bride) and JTM:

Nasseeb Saadeh and Margaret Malouf King:

Gabby & Sana Karam, JTM, Zeina Akkawi, George Saadeh:

Isam Akkawi and daughter, Yara:

Me and Sana Karam (she currently lives in Saudi Arabia):

George, Najib, Sana, Nasseeb, Rebecca, Sydney, and Anthony:

Kaleigh marched right up to four-year old Anthony and told him he was cute and handsome:

The food was incredible. The spread honestly looked like something right out of a magazine:

Hummus:

Spanakopita:

Baba Ghanoush:

I believe this was a cooked Lebanese yogurt called Laban:

The best baklava I've ever tasted:

It's a shame I was busy monitoring seven kids and didn't get to relax and fully enjoy the food. I would pay big money for a piece of that baklava right now.

At the brunch, they celebrated Suad's 80th birthday with this delicious mango cake.

Suad, about to blow out her candles:

And as soon as they found out we had a birthday girl, they quickly transformed the second cake into a birthday cake for Kaleigh. It was so very kind of them:

The group shot, taken after Kacie and I left: