Not Your Average Wedding

A coworker of mine (the bride) got married on Saturday night and Tim and I were invited. Since Tim's parents were here for Maren's confirmation, they agreed to take care of the kids and we went to the wedding. Ho-hum, you say?

A little background:

The bride is, shall we say, a little on the unconventional side anyway. The groom, by virtue of being around the bride for so many years, is too. His first marriage, not hers. They were not ones that were going to have your run-of-the-mill wedding in a church with "love, honor and obey" vows, the bridal march as she comes down the aisle and cookies and punch afterward. No, not this bunch. The wedding was scheduled for the last Saturday in October with a theme of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Costumes were highly encouraged.

Having been indecisive about costumes until the hour of the wedding approached, Tim and I went as zombie wedding guests.

We picked up another coworker, a nun, and went on our way. By the way, you'd have to know this person to understand how completely ironic (and therefore hilarious) this costume was for her.

After an hour and 15 minute trip, we arrived. The wedding and reception was being held at the bride and groom's house (which they have built by themselves) on their beautiful piece of property in the country.

We parked on the road and hiked up a long, steep hill. Almost everyone was in costume. All in all, there were about 100 people there and I only saw a couple that were in everyday wear.

It was quite an event. See for yourself.

The property was decked out for the "spiritual" occasion.

















All the guests were in fine "spirits" as well. (I just crack myself up.)

There was even a monk caught red-handed dipping into the spirits.


Then the ceremony began. The groom, a musician, played the mandolin as family was escorted to the front. The attendants came down the aisle...


...then the bride and groom's parents, and finally, the bride. They wrote their own vows and also repeated vows from the minister (a bumblebee). The musical interlude in the ceremony was given by the Scarecrow (not pictured) who sang "If I Only Had a Brain (a Heart, the Noive)." This was great, but the only part of the ceremony I didn't really "get" as it pertained to marriage. Funny, though.


The ceremony ended with all the guests joining in singing "All We Need is Love." This was a very different kind of wedding, but it still made me cry. I love weddings.

Next was a buffet dinner and then the cutting of the cake. There were also lovely table decorations befitting the theme. Being an artist, Tim loved these sugar skulls and probably would have liked to pocket a couple.
















After dinner, plastic glow necklaces were handed out. You know, the party favor kind that your kids beg for at carnivals and Disney on Ice. We thought that was pretty cool and since we left shortly after, in the DARK, going down that very steep hill I mentioned earlier, in heels, they were quite helpful. They gave off enough light that we could sort of see where we were going.

And Tim now says, "Once you go glow necklace, you never go back. I don't think I can go to another wedding if they're not going to have glow necklaces!"

We had a great time and wish all the happiness in the world to the happy couple!

Confirmation, Partings and Going Forth

This has been a full weekend for our clan. Lorna and I went to a costume / Dia de los Muertos wedding on Saturday night (she will tell about that as soon as her camera is charged again) and we had family in town for Maren's confirmation.

For the past nine weeks, Maren has been going each Wednesday night to confirmation class in preparation for this day. She has been preparing to be in full membership within our church and hopefully to have a better understanding about her faith and relationship to God. The confirmation class discussed baptism by a local lake, baked bread and discussed communion and this past week attended Catholic mass to see relationships that exist with Methodism. This whole process has been made all the more special by the fact that our pastors Fred and Sharon also retired today. This was their last confirmation class. To say this was a day of emotion and some tears has been an understatement.

I thought that I was good with the whole thing (Maren's confirmation and the retirement) until the moment of this picture when Fred laid his hands on my daughter's head and tried to say his prepared words. He had to pause for a long moment as he composed himself and in that moment, I came to realize what partings were truly happening today. I say partings because goodbyes are too final and complete. You see, Maren moves one more step confidently into adulthood and away from that sweet girl child I have known since birth. I have been luckily noticing more changes with her as I have spent the last few weeks with her in youth group, at the fall festival and back and forth driving to cross-country. There is no denying she is growing up. I now know how my parents have felt at key points in my life. Thanks Mom and Dad, Henry and Mary for being with us at this special moment in Maren's life.

Fred and Sharon also part ways with our family of faith and more specifically my children, my wife and myself as they begin retirement and we continue down the road of raising children. These are two people who we have met in their home, they have come to ours for church meetings, we have planned, disagreed and worked to create wonderful events together with others in the congregation. They baptized Reed, confirmed Lane and have sat in the hospital with us when we needed them the last five and three-quarter years. Fred and Sharon even called on my dad when he was in a local hospital with a stroke. Yes, in that moment of hand laying, I too got tears in my eyes and paused. Why had it taken me until now to see what was happening? Too busy in the details as Lorna tells me.

The rest of the service was meaningful and full of bidding farewell. We had a wonderful lunch and presented gifts to Fred and Sharon. In the end, several members and guests stood and spoke about Fred and Sharon. I was asked to say something on behalf of longtime members. What I said is a bit of a blur, but the essence is thank you. Thank you for being models for my kids, thank you for bringing my baby baptized into the faith, thank you for helping bring my two older ones through the confirmation process and helping Lorna and I shape them into godly people, and finally thank you for helping me grow in my faith. I have always known God in my life, but not as closely as these years I have served as a member of this church, in this place and in this moment. Now Lorna, Lane, Maren, Reed and I go forth with someone new next Sunday. Go forth in the way Fred has always bid the congregation to go forth and serve each week. Hopefully, we all go forth to continue to grow, love and serve. Thank you.

P.S. Sharon made a comment after I spoke about coming to visit us five and three-quarter years ago. They knocked on our door on a Monday evening not long after we had brought Reed home from neonatal ICU. We were VERY frazzeled to say the least. So, Lorna goes to the door, has a short conversation with Fred and Sharon on the doorstep. They probably thought us very rude. Fred and Sharon leave with Sharon evidently commenting to Fred that they will NEVER see us again. Then we showed up at the first church service at Good News and have been there ever since. Here's what Sharon didn't know. We had talked about going to Good News weeks before Reed was born, and probably would have invited them in on that Monday evening ----- however ------ I was on the coach in my boxers with a newborn who we trying to get to sleep. Just goes to show, you never know!

My Turn

My friend Bob, from my time in Japan, has started a new blog. Part of this blog is a meme which I am responding to in this entry as My Turn. So I have a lot of fall memories, but this year my favorite fall activity is that I have the opportunity to spend time with my two oldest kids as we help at our church's first fall festival. The two pictured in orange are mine with a couple of their friends from youth group. Thanks Pat for the picture! For three Sundays this month we are schleping pumpkins together, face painting, running a bounce house and generally greeting people from all over our community through this church event on the site of our future building. What's so great about this fall activity for me is the chance to see my kids at some of their best. I get to see them helping children smaller than themselves, being silly with their peers, and just being kids in a beautiful setting of our church site. It gives me a glimpse of who I have had a hand in raising ---- two strong, empathetic, smart and loving beings. Unfortunately in the busy life we lead, between jobs, school, raising three kids, keeping up with a house and being part of a new church congregation, I don't always slow down to really look at Lane and Maren in this way. As the weather cools, costumes are brought out and decorations hung, it is great to be reminded that the pace of life should slow and that we need to look around us at the falling leaves, feel the brisk air (such as it is in the South), and look close at our loved ones. Especially those that are growing way too fast and like the season, will be moving on too quickly.

Your Turn: Describe a favorite fall activity or memory.

What's My Turn / Your Turn?

Bat Boy

This is bat boy. In kindergarten, everyday nearly, there is a lesson that involves a hat. Reed was totally jazzed on Friday because he was on "green" all week for behavior and got the ninja turtle in his left hand from the class treasure chest and from the "Y" store, he got the plastic bat in his right hand. The toothless wonder greeted me with this face as I came to pick him up afterschool. I maintain, kindergarten is the BEST!

Modern-Day Camping

Reed has been asking for months for Tim to take him "camping" in the backyard. He's seen pictures of Lane doing the same thing. When Lane was about three years old, Tim set up the tent in the backyard, they took sleeping bags, pillows and Lane's stuffed Ernie (from Sesame Street) and out the back door they went to camp. Lane had a great time and Reed wanted to do it, too.

So for one reason or another, it hadn't happened yet. Until tonight. Reed asked again and we decided that Tim couldn't do it next weekend as we will have family staying with us and after that, we'd run the risk of it just being too cold outside. So tonight was the night.

However, with a swingset and a trampoline taking up most of the backyard and Tim's pond and garden taking up the rest, there's not a lot of space for a tent. (Different house than when Lane was little) Oh, Tim could've made space, but when the decision was made, it was already dark and he really wasn't fond of setting up a tent in the dark. So he pitched the modern-day camping idea to Reed and he went for it.

No tent -- just get in your sleeping bag and sleep on top of the trampoline under the stars!

I tried to take a picture, but it didn't come out very well and Blogger photo-uploading is down right now. So for now, you get the post sans picture.

And I get the whole bed to myself tonight....

An Apple for the Teacher

Yesterday morning, I woke Reed up and the very first words out of his mouth were, "I need to do a nice thing for Miss Flowers. I want to give her an apple."

I honestly don't know where that came from. Did he dream about it? Did he behave badly in class and thus feel the need to bribe the teacher? (We get a daily behavior chart, so I'm pretty sure that's not it.) Reed was determined, though, so I took a large apple out of the refrigerator, gave it to him, and off we went to school.

Later that day, I e-mailed his teacher and asked if she received her apple. She replied:

Oh my gosh, it was the cutest thing!!! He was sooo proud to give me the big apple (we even had to take time for him to introduce the apple to me?!?). Along with giving me the apple he told me I was a great teacher (how precious coming from such a young little guy)! So I can say that Reed was kind of the highlight of my day today.

We've Been Flocked!

We woke this morning to this sight. Yes, as you can see, we have been FLOCKED! For those not familar with this tradition, a group of youth installs a large group of plastic, pink flamingos on your lawn and you have to make a donation to get them removed. Thanks to our local cheer squad, we now have many pink guests on our lawn. Their eyes are kinda creepy........... wonder how much Lorna and I are gonna be out to get our lawn guests to move along.

Is it wrong or is it write?

Reed has been steadily learning how the sounds of letters, when put together, make words. He's been able to read simple words (think Hop on Pop) and recognizes other words, like his name. He's very proud of himself and excited about his progress.

Tonight, while Tim and I ate a late dinner, Reed sat next to us and colored a picture. Then Tim flipped the paper over to the back side and began writing different family member's names to see if Reed could read them. He recognized (not sure he actually "read" them) Lane, Maren, Tim and Lorna. But then he sounded out and read Todd (his uncle), Mema and Poppa (his grandparents). He didn't do so well on Susan (his aunt), or Marshall and Mitchell (his cousins). But hey, he hasn't learned blended consonants yet, so those last two are hard.

I guess Reed was tired of us quizzing him, so he decided to turn the tables. He began writing "words" and telling us to sound them out and read them.

His first word started out with the letters "LOL." Tim said "Lots of Love!" I, being so much more technologically advanced than Tim, knew exactly what it was. "Laughing out Loud," I said. But no, Reed wasn't finished with the word. Here is what he wrote:

Hmmm. Tim and I both asked, "What word is it?"

"You know!" Reed replied. Um, no we don't, Reed.

"Well, sound it out!"

So, tell us please. What do you think the word is?

Type A and Tired

I'm a Type A person. I admit it. I can't help myself. I don't know if this was a result of being the first child in my family, genetics or simply training, but I feel like I am busy all the time. I actually get nervous with free-time. This week is a case in point ----- yeah, keep reading. So it has been another busy week at our house. On top of the usual work stuff, we have had cross-country with Maren, confirmation class with Maren, driving with Lane, kindergarten homework with Reed, I worked a local college night for Lorna's company ACT, Inc. and I ran a concession stand for over three hours at my school's first social of the year. Whew! Said concession stand fed like a million middle schoolers or at least it seemed that way. I schlepped pizza, soda, popcorn, dill pickles and lots of candy --- you know all the major food groups for my art club. It's a great way to make major money in a short time period, but alot of work on the adult sponsor. I was a bit tired at the end. Can't stop however......

I spent this morning working at our church site (Holy Ground) helping get ready for our first Fall Festival. Now if you read my brother-in-law's blog, you will note that he is also getting ready for a church fall festival too. However, I know he doesn't get to play with gigantic chippers that can suck a tree and make cool mulch or off-load about a trillion hay bales for a hay maze. No, this is not your mother's Fall Festival, this is a major event happening over three weeks. There are performing groups, a pumpkin patch, story times and the blessed hay maze along with concessions, and a ton of other stuff. We are preparing for between 2000-3000 attendees. Yea, there is lots of chipping still to be done, grass to whack and cacti to dig up, and much, much more.

So we're a little busy at the moment. Life doesn't get dull. Speaking of excitement, did I mention I have been working with Lane on driving? Now there is fodder for a blog post, yessiree. Later, I got stuff to do.