The Wedding
You may not believe it but I am at a loss for words, well maybe not a complete loss. Olivia was asked to be a flower girl in her Uncle Bob's wedding and it was great. We don't get to see Bill's extended step family all that often and whenever we do it surely isn't long enough. Bill's step-brother, Bobby Michiels (Tiger's son) was marrying his childhood sweetheart DeAnn Nesby. They have been together since the 6th grade and are now 26 years old! I have not known Bob without DeAnn. Two things stand out the most in my mind about the wedding ceremony. 1. in their vows they mentioned that they are marrying their best friend; with them this is not just talk. They are such great friends. 2. DeAnn was so excited and emotional that she could not stand still during the vows or the ring exchange. She was squirming like a little girl about to unwrap the biggest present under the Christmas tree. It was perfect!
While they were watering the flowers amidst the river rock, Grandm
a was startled, to say the least. Less than a foot in front of her toes was a 3-4 foot long king snake. Luckily, the bride's dad, Mark, was there to save the day. Livi and I touched it, Aaron, followed in his father's footsteps and squealed like a little girl at the site of it! I will admit, it's pretty gross, but it did have beautiful markings. We let it go in the field next door and hoped it wouldn't be joining us for dinner. If you ask Susie, she would swear it was at least 5 feet long!
You may not believe it but I am at a loss for words, well maybe not a complete loss. Olivia was asked to be a flower girl in her Uncle Bob's wedding and it was great. We don't get to see Bill's extended step family all that often and whenever we do it surely isn't long enough. Bill's step-brother, Bobby Michiels (Tiger's son) was marrying his childhood sweetheart DeAnn Nesby. They have been together since the 6th grade and are now 26 years old! I have not known Bob without DeAnn. Two things stand out the most in my mind about the wedding ceremony. 1. in their vows they mentioned that they are marrying their best friend; with them this is not just talk. They are such great friends. 2. DeAnn was so excited and emotional that she could not stand still during the vows or the ring exchange. She was squirming like a little girl about to unwrap the biggest present under the Christmas tree. It was perfect!
The wedding was at Bob's grandpa and grandma's house down the street from Tiger and Susie's house, both beautifully set on the Sacramento River. Friday night we had the rehearsal dinner at Tiger and Susie's and then the wedding the following evening. Everything was just fantastic!
Friday, the Rehearsal Dinner
There was much to be done to get ready for the rehearsal dinner at Grandma Susie and Papa T.'s. Olivia has always enjoyed helping Grandma plant flowers. Grandma was gracious enough to keep a couple of pots unplanted so that Livi could help when we got there Friday. Aaron wanted to help instead of napping, who could blame him. Only creating memories!
While they were watering the flowers amidst the river rock, Grandm
a was startled, to say the least. Less than a foot in front of her toes was a 3-4 foot long king snake. Luckily, the bride's dad, Mark, was there to save the day. Livi and I touched it, Aaron, followed in his father's footsteps and squealed like a little girl at the site of it! I will admit, it's pretty gross, but it did have beautiful markings. We let it go in the field next door and hoped it wouldn't be joining us for dinner. If you ask Susie, she would swear it was at least 5 feet long! Saturday was a day full of fun and anticipation. The kids and I spent the day with all the cousins, aunts and uncles having a blast. Livi, tru
e to herself as always took a bit to warm up to everyone, whereas Aaron couldn't get enough of all the cute girls. (What a 
cutie he is...always loving every moment of everything!) They all played and laughed together for the entire afternoon. When it was time to start getting ready for the wedding Livi wanted to stay with the girls (who were some of the bridesmaids) and get ready with them. They even put makeup on her! Not too much though. As our friend Hailey says, "We don't want to cover up our natural beauty." I took Aaron with me back to my dad's to get ready for the ceremony.
e to herself as always took a bit to warm up to everyone, whereas Aaron couldn't get enough of all the cute girls. (What a 
cutie he is...always loving every moment of everything!) They all played and laughed together for the entire afternoon. When it was time to start getting ready for the wedding Livi wanted to stay with the girls (who were some of the bridesmaids) and get ready with them. They even put makeup on her! Not too much though. As our friend Hailey says, "We don't want to cover up our natural beauty." I took Aaron with me back to my dad's to get ready for the ceremony. 
Beforehand, pictures were taken of all the girls at Tiger and Susie's while the boys photographed at Grandma and Grandpa's. All the girls looked absolutely gorgeous with the bride looking absolutely stunning in a gown that Bob had bought for her a year ago. It was not the traditional white wedding gown but it was perfect for DeAnn and truly exquisite. Grandma Susie was so great and got a flowered wreath for Olivia's head which, I think, ended up making her the princess of the ball.
I don't have the typical pictures that the mother of a flower girl would have, for example, a picture of my daughter walking down the aisle, and there's a good explanation of that. Olivia, once again being true to herself, clammed up at the very last possible moment and started crying! She was crying so hard that her little feet were cemented to the ground. It was deja vu of the Father's Day primary program 1 year ago. (She was so rooted to the spot the primary president had to carry her off the stage.) She takes petrified to a literal experience. Thankfully the best man, Uncle Bryan and the maid of honor at the second to last minute were put with the ring bearer and flower girls and thus were able to coax Olivia along. It tugged at the heart strings of the entire standing audience as this beautifully bald flower girl made her way forward one baby step after another with tears pouring down her cheeks. (Even with all the drama, she was still very much a little lady and kept it pretty quiet, considering.) I know that hers weren't the only wet eyes at that moment. I could not co
ntrol my emotions either and from that point until the end of the ceremony, which she made it through, all my pictures were out of focus. After the ceremony, which was administered by DeAnn's grandfather, Susie asked me what happened with Olivia. "What was wrong?" she inquired. I smiled and said, "Weren't you the one who told me about Billy's first soccer game and how you had to push him onto the field, and as the kids ran up and down the field chasing the ball he stood in the middle crying!" We both laughed a bit and agreed it's hard to be the mother of a child who feels so overwhelmed in those situations. (You want your kids to experience so much, you don't want their fears holding them back.) 
ntrol my emotions either and from that point until the end of the ceremony, which she made it through, all my pictures were out of focus. After the ceremony, which was administered by DeAnn's grandfather, Susie asked me what happened with Olivia. "What was wrong?" she inquired. I smiled and said, "Weren't you the one who told me about Billy's first soccer game and how you had to push him onto the field, and as the kids ran up and down the field chasing the ball he stood in the middle crying!" We both laughed a bit and agreed it's hard to be the mother of a child who feels so overwhelmed in those situations. (You want your kids to experience so much, you don't want their fears holding them back.) 
As far as the weather was concerned it was a bit cooler than a typical August day in Redding, thanks to a slight last minute cloud cover, probably hovering just below 100. As quickly as possible Livi changed into something a bit more cool and then got on with the evening. The reception afterwards was as great as the ceremony itself. We all enjoyed dancing along with the music and chilling by the pool. The kids were having such a great time dancing that they didn't want to go home. At 10:30 we said our goodbye's and made our departure. Congratulations Uncle Bob and Aunt DeAnn! We love you and are grateful that we were able to be a part of your very special day!
Aaron really turned up the heat on the dance floor!
Vegas Baby!
Thankfully Aaron finally fell asleep on the drive down to the airport on Sunday. Dad and I were getting pretty tired of hearing him parrot, "Ai'pane, ai'pane" incessantly. Needless to say both of them were excited to fly and thrilled to see Daddy again!
2 comments:
Livi looks so beautiful in her dress, how fun to get to dress up like a princess! I'm glad you guys got to go, that's a bummer Bill wasn't able to stay for it. Looks like it was a lot of fun, I always love big weddings, they're a lot of fun!
Dear Family,
Thank you Rachel for the beautiful, fun pictures! It was a great weekend filled with special moments. I had so much fun dancing with Aaron and Livi; they wore me out!
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