At the beginning of the summer, we sat down to go through our planned trips, and we included in that discussion travel back to central Illinois to visit our families. For the first time in a long time, we were headed there just to visit, no major event taking place. Well...since then, my younger brother got engaged. So, the very same weekend we'd hoped to make it to Illinois for no particular reason, this happened:
The happy couple sent off with sparklers!
Zach, married. Wow, it's hard to believe! But wonderful too! Amelia is great, and I'm excited to see what God does in them and through them over the next years of their life, now to be spent together!
What a happy reason to be back in central Illinois! Maybe next time we'll go "just to visit". Who knows?
Anyway, this trip began with a long night. A long night of flying! The red eye flight we found was the right price, not necessarily the shortest route between two points--LAX to Cincinnati, Cincinnati to Atlanta, Atlanta to Bloomington! Eddie did great, sleeping every flight, only to be woken up as we jostled him through yet another airport. It was only to be the beginning of his not-so-restful week. He hung in there though and was amazingly happy most of the time. Maybe the spoiling had to do with it?
He did manage to squeeze in a few naps between all the attention and fun.
Snoozing with Aunt Hannah.
Falling asleep while playing with Grammy.
He slept on Grandma the entire wedding!
Grandma was sweeping up the lavender we tossed on the bride and groom.
Who wouldn't fall asleep to that rhythm?
We did more than sleep! Eddie was in his element: there were dogs--which he loves, Grandma's fire truck, a bike ride with Grandpa and Grandma, swimming at Gramps and Grammy's, lots of peek-a-boo with Gramps and Aunt Rachel, pianos--and plenty of audience, and grass!
He loved sitting in the grass!
Here he's sporting a nice face scratch from Zach and Amelia's new puppy, Elsa.
He'd pull himself up (yeah, he does that) on the fire truck and ring the bell.
As for the wedding itself! Well, it was a memorable one! My parents had an integral part in the set up and preparation for the wedding and reception. Many hours were spent getting ready for the outdoor reception even though the forecast kept calling for rain. But hey, we were optimistic, it's Illinois; they say, "If you don't like the weather, stick around, it'll change in five minutes." Everything looked great until an hour before when thunder clouds loomed. Amelia said the word, and they were off! A team including my parents, the pastor marrying them, his wife, my parents' potluck group, and I'm sure many more raced to the reception site got most of the decor before it started pouring and moved it to the fellowship hall where the wedding was to be. There's a great picture of my mom and the bride 15 minutes before the wedding was supposed to start; my mom is soaking wet from head to toe, thankfully not in her wedding clothes! All in all, after all that racing around, the wedding ceremony was very sweet, the makeshift reception looked every bit as charming as it would have (well...close anyway!), and people who very much love Zach and Amelia gave them a big send off into their new life together!
Liv and I in our wedding finery.
Can you tell my eyes were puffy and watery, the nose was drippy, and I could barely contain my cough? Yeah, unfortunately both me and my dad got a cold right over the height of wedding activities, and then I had to go and pass it on to Jonathan as we headed home.
Some of my favorite groomsmen and the groom himself.
Since being back in California, we've hit the ground running! Jonathan is trying to get caught up after missing a week of work (by the way, I thoroughly enjoyed having him around all day every day) and I've been busy with my moms-of-preschoolers group starting up soon and my weekly bible study back in session. I'm excited to be taking on some leadership roles in both of those, and meanwhile Eddie gets to be with other kiddos in nursery while I'm busy at those functions. I think he will love it. As of now, it's a little too early to tell.
And he's been busy since we've been back--stroller rides, waking up at 6 am, eating more table foods, crawling all over the house, pulling himself up on anything and everything--the coffee table, my leg, a chair, the wall, a laundry basket (yeah, that didn't end well), even the bath tub!
Paying close attention at story hour.
I'm supposed to eat this squishy thing?
What a monkey!
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