62. June 7th, 2010 Picture.

My Cousin Timmy and his fiancée Becky are getting married in July and I am VERY excited for a Downey wedding!  We are a ton of fun, no really, we are the funnest people I know.  My cousins and I love spending time together, which I think is pretty unique, and special, and all around kick ass.  There are about 30 or so first cousins, not including any husband/wives/significant others/children, so when the whole family gets together, it is pretty overwhelming and borderline insane.  There are so many little kids running around that without fail my Uncle Bill will turn to me and go 'now which one is that and who does it belong to?'  We also really love to repeat names, so if you are new to the family, you pretty much just need to remember some key ones.  There are 2 Bills' (Uncle Bill and Cousin Bill), 3 Richards' (Uncle Dick, Big Richard and Little Richard), 2 Timmys' (Timmy from Weymouth and Timmy from Scituate), 2 Phils' (Uncle Phil and Cousin Phil), 2 Davids' (yep, you guessed it, Uncle Dave and Cousin Dave), and 3 Pauls' (Uncle Paul, Cousin Paul and Little Paul), oh and 2 Jacks', a Henry and a Harry, a Kate, Kara, Caroline, Caitlyn, Cassie, Sue, Sarah, Shawnna, 2 Stephanies', 2 Charlottes' and an Eddie.  Phew.  I should draw a map.

I am the second youngest in the family, with my cousin Liz coming in as the baby, at 25.  There aren't many single Downey cousins out there (I swear if the first cousins once removed start making laps around me, I might scream), so the weddings are few and far between now.  We went through a good run where we had about 2 or 3 a year for a few years and I am surprised that we all survived it, although we are now banned from the Days Inn in Mansfield, but whatever.  That was Maria's wedding and boy, was that fun.  I remember waking up the next morning and getting into the elevator and seeing that someone had wallpapered the entire elevator door with Sam Adams labels.  I knew that some Downey was behind it, heck I may have even helped!  The best story we like to tell is when my Cousin Dave fell asleep on a picnic table dressed in his suit and the hotel called the police to say a homeless man was sleeping outside.  When the police showed up Dave was sitting on the bench, fully decked out.  They asked if he'd seen anyone sleeping, and when he said no, they left.

Anyway, we have another Downey cousin getting married and I am beyond excited for it.  Since there are so many cousins, it was impossible for them to host us all at a traditional reception, so they are getting married in a small ceremony, with only our Aunts and Uncles present, and then throwing a huge party the following weekend for all their friends and family.  I got my invitation in the mail and I was pumped.  I also thought the address labeling was hilarious.

I saw Becky and Tim a few days later and told them I was most definitely a 'yes plus one'.  I asked Tim if he addressed my envelope but Becky said she did.  I told her I laughed out loud at the Ratty :) on the front and she said that she did it almost as a mistake.  Everyone I know calls Ratty, Ratty.  Even my mom, but his first name is Michael.  Becky said she had written Amy Deveau + Ratty... and realized that she should have written Michael Ratty and just turned the ... to a smiley face because she didn't know how to fix it.

I can't wait for July 31st!