The Wedding

My dad, brothers Rusty and Darrell, Cindy, me, Harris and David

Okay, sorry I've made you wait almost a week for a post about the wedding. I am usually just too brain-dead to blog at night anymore, and that's really the only time I have these days to do this.

The wedding was beautiful! Cindy, my sister-in-law :D, had no wedding planner, and yet what she pulled off on her own looked like something that could be featured in a Southern Bride magazine! Darrell and Cindy were married at a place called Capps Cove, in a little country church that looks like something you would see in Cades Cove up in the Smoky Mountains. It was a gorgeous location with woods all around - perfect for a Fall-themed wedding. Cindy was a gorgeous bride, too. She is naturally a pretty woman, and her sweet spirit makes her beautiful, but when I saw her just before the wedding, it literally took my breath away.

The boys did very well. They were excited to wear their suits once they saw Uncle Darrell was wearing one. They did get a little tired of all the pictures they had to pose for. They were getting pretty hyper with all the excitement and commotion going on, so just before the wedding started, I reminded them of what they were supposed to do and went and sat down. They did the walk down the aisle perfectly!!! I was SO proud of them! They went and stood exactly where they were supposed to as well. David got tired pretty quickly and decided to cop a squat right there on his spot. At one point he fell over backwards while squatting and hit his head on the floor. It made a loud thud on the wooden floor, and he would have started crying except that everyone giggled when it happened, and David LOVES to make people laugh, so he was quite pleased with himself over it. He did finally melt down and start to cry, so my mom just took him and held him on her lap and that made him happy.

Harris did great the whole time! He stood and held the ring box (David had the ring pillow) the whole time. He did keep turning around at me every few minutes to make sure he was doing the right thing. I made the mistake of giving him a thumbs-up one time, so then he would turn around and give me a thumbs-up every few minutes. When it came time for them to exchange rings, the preacher came and took the box from Harris, instead of just taking the rings like they had rehearsed the night before. Harris put his hands on his hips and was quite indignant for a minute, but he got over it and stood there tall and still until Darrell and Cindy were pronounced husband and wife, at which point Harris runs to me and says, "Mommy, I did it! I did it!"

Amy Beth sat in my lap the whole time. She was trying to get fussy a couple of times, but nothing too disturbing or distracting. She was very good considering she missed her afternoon nap all-together. She did spit up all over her pretty dress, but fortunately it was after everything was over and we were about to change the kids anyway for the trip home.

It was as perfect a wedding as you can hope to have, I think. God had His hands all over it. Everything came together like it was supposed to, the boys did great, as did the flower-girl (Cindy's neice). God even let the rain cooperate. Just as we were finished with the combined family pictures after the wedding and heading in to the reception area (up the hill a little bit from the church), it started to sprinkle. It apparently rained pretty good while everyone was inside eating at the reception It ended in time for Darrell and Cindy to get in their going-away clothes and have those pictures done and to drive away.

A couple of funnies from the weekend:

1) At the rehearsal, Darrell was standing at the front, along with the pastor who was walking them through the process, and Cindy and her dad came up to the front. As they were all standing there listening to the pastor's instructions, Harris turned to me and said, "Mommy, which one is she gonna marry?"

2) At the reception, the boys found some other kids to play with and took off. I wasn't too concerned because it was a small place. However, we couldn't find David. Someone said he was with Uncle Darrell who was changing clothes getting ready to leave. Preston and I went to the van to start putting things away and get ready to leave ourselves. Suddenly David comes running up as fast as he can go and said, "Mommy, Daddy! I knew where our car was! I found it, 'cause I was lost, you know." He said it so calmly that I thought he was just pretending or that someone had told him to find us before he got lost. However, the more he talked about it, the more I realized he really had been lost. After telling us all about it he said, "Being lost is no fun. I don't think I'll do that ever again."

Harris and David hanging out at the rehearsal

Cindy's neice, Annaka, who was the flower girl.

Annaka loved my boys. Harris was very sweet to her right away. It took David a little bit to warm up to her. Here they are all holding hands at the prayer bench.

Harris sitting in Aunt Cindy's lap. He LOVES her, so much so that he chose to sit by her instead of beside Grandma at the rehearsal dinner. That has never happened before.

My mom with my 3 children. They were just hanging out, but the colors were so pretty that I had to take a picture. Amy Beth thought the bow on her dress was very tasty.

Darrell, Harris and David are waiting for Cindy. Darrell is such a good uncle, I can't wait to see the kind of father he will be one day.

This is just one of the times that Harris looked back at me to make sure he was doing the right thing - and that I was paying attention to him. He was so proud of himself.

I love this picture of David. All dressed up in his little man suit, but just a-swinging those legs like the little boy that he is. At this point he was getting tired of having his picture taken.

Mother and daughter. Before I know it, it will be her wedding I am attending. **tear**