Congratulations, Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark!
I know they’re technically my cousins, but I’ve really been
looking forward to having an ‘Uncle’ Mark.
It’s time to confirm that I also officially have a boyfriend
too. I’ll get to the details of that
later in the update.
Mom, Dad, and I had Aunt Leanne with us this morning for Tai
Chi, and then we jumped straight from the calm of our exercising into the
breakfast and morning routine. Having
Aunt Grace and Aunt Leanne with us for breakfast was fun – especially watching
Aunt Grace and Uncle Blaine together.
The banter was entertaining, and the love was palpable and touching.
There wasn’t actually all that much time available for
having breakfast, and while almost all of the women in our house had to make
visits to the salon and other things to do around the house before getting
ready for the wedding, Dawn and I had to juggle keeping our cousins and the
other kids entertained with helping out with the car wash and pavilion
decorating going on at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s. Uncle Adam had lots of help for both jobs,
and though Dawn and I had extra girls with us while we were decorating, there
was parental support for the rest of the kids; with most of the jobs meant to
keep us busy and out of trouble until lunchtime.
That meal was at our house, and Grandpa led the grilling;
offering hotdogs and burgers from eleven-thirty until one o’clock to go along
with the rest of the buffet options that were available with everyone eating
whenever they could make the time to do that.
I ate early, and then helped some of my cousins to get ready for the
wedding while waiting for my turn to grab a shower. My bedroom and lounge was where Mom and Aunt
Melissa had set up hair and make-up stations, so my bathroom was just being
used for showers – as were the guest bathrooms on the second and third floor
while Mom and Dad’s bathroom was exclusively for the bride, matron of honor,
and the bridesmaids – though only Aunt Alison got ready for the wedding here while
Mark’s sister and sister-in-law did that in their rooms at the Inn instead.
It seems funny now as I write this that the most time I
spent talking with Mom today was when she helped me with my hair before I got
dressed. We went with some small braiding
accents, a small, fancy hair clip that matched my dress; and some curls that
looked amazing when she was done with it.
The dress, and the necklace and earrings from Mom and Dad’s wedding,
looked as great as I’d hoped; and by a quarter to two, I had joined the other
girls in the living room who were ready to go; but waiting for the men to clear
out of Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house so that we could walk over there with
Aunt Grace for the bridal party photos.
The second-best compliment I was given today came from Dad
when he joked about either having me stay home sick or wear a full-length dress
coat the entire time I was at the wedding and reception; and I’ll get to the
best compliment in a minute; but it’s funny that he didn’t have the same reaction
to Mom – and she looked way hotter than I did.
I’m sure perspective has everything to do with that.
We got the all-clear call at five-to-two, so the non-wedding
party parents gathered up the cousins, nieces, and nephews for the walk over to
the back yard of Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace’s new house. The ‘kid’ pictures were being done first so
that most of us could then be rounded up and driven over to the church while
the rest of the photos were being taken; and Ethan, Ehlana, and I were in three
of those first shots with Aunt Grace – one with just the three of us; and two
group photos. The first of those was
with the kids and teens on Aunt Grace’s side of the family and the second
included Mark’s cousins, nieces, and nephews too. Once that last picture was taken, I was set
free to go and pick up my date!
That brings us to the best compliment I got today. Michael opened the door about five seconds
after I rang the doorbell, his beautiful blue eyes lit up and opened wide when
he saw me; and he blurted out “I love you, Cassie” before blushing when he
realized that he had said something completely different from what he’d likely
planned on saying. In case you missed
the actual compliment, it was the complete loss of control over what he wanted
to say – the ‘I love you’ was a nice added bonus. He didn’t look away or show any signs that he
regretted telling me that even if he was a bit embarrassed; so he didn’t miss
seeing my happy reaction to his unintended admission. It really is amazing just how much power
those three little words have, and if Michael was surprised about telling me
that; he was floored when I stepped close for a hug and whispered “I love you
too” before sharing a soft, brief kiss.
That is one of those moments that make me so grateful for my
photographic memory!
We weren’t alone, or that kiss might have been a bit more
serious. One of Michael’s cousins had
been asked to take pictures of us for Miranda before we left, so she took a
couple of them in the living room and then out in the front yard while the guys
had fun teasing Michael. By two-thirty,
we were set free to start walking to the church; and we were both smiling
brightly as we held hands and headed toward Quarry Road.
Michael’s reaction to me had been even better than I’d
expected, but I was impressed too. He
was wearing a new suit that looked great on him, and though it was a very hot
day to be stuck wearing a tie; he should think about wearing them more often
than he does. His hair looked good too,
and while he hasn’t been into the gel and other things that some of the guys
use, he must’ve added something today to keep it from getting messed up in the
breeze – though it still looked as soft and thick as always.
There’ s one more thing I’ll add before moving on, and
though it didn’t matter to me at all; I know – and knew – that it was a big
deal for Michael. We’re currently
exactly the same height – five feet, one inch.
He never said a word to me about it from the time I invited him to the
wedding until now, but he had been worried about how much taller I’d look
compared to him if I’d gone with heels and a ‘big’ hair style. Knowing that was the main reason my shoe
choice didn’t have as much of a heel as my cross trainers; and my hair style
was down and pulled back. We didn’t talk
about it today either, but I could sense the relief along with the love and
happiness while we were walking together.
What we did talk about was what we’d each been doing for the
last day and a half. I gave him the
condensed version of the action that had been going on around my family; and
then he had time to tell me about a few things that had happened at the Inn and
what he’d been doing with his visiting family in between work. We were getting some attention from the
neighbors and friends we passed along the way; and we found out from Stephanie
later that we were a big hit – according to the reports delivered to Miranda at
the Inn by some of those witnesses.
We made an impression when we walked into the sanctuary too;
and I loved walking down the aisle holding Uncle Adam’s arm while he quietly
teased me about quite possibly being the second-prettiest girl at the wedding
today. That was sweet, but he probably
changed his mind about that the moment he saw Aunt Leanne walk down the aisle –
even if Michael agreed with him.
Mom and Dad were there with Ethan and Ehlana by then, so we
were seated with them in the third row – behind Grandma, Grandpa, and about
half of the Rice family. Grandpa Duncan
and Grandma Mercy would be in the front row ahead of us when they arrived, but
Jaimie and Jayden were already there; and sitting with Grandpa Richard, Grandma
Carrie, and Dawn. I would’ve preferred
having Dawn in front of us instead of Chris and Martin; but only because it
would have been more fun to talk with her.
Aunt Melissa made sure that my cousins didn’t tease me much; and they
didn’t really have much time to do that before the mothers of the bride and
groom were seated just before Pastor Lewis led Uncle Mark and the other men in
the wedding party to the front of the sanctuary while Pastor Martha closed the
main doors – a sure sign that the bridal party had arrived.
Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace were having a reception that was a
bit larger than the one for Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne, but the sanctuary was
less than half full. That seemed
strange, but wasn’t really surprising since Aunt Grace didn’t grow up here; and
Uncle Mark didn’t yet know all that many people yet – though he would soon
enough once he begins working at the clinic.
The advantage that smaller crowd had for me was that I could see more of
the processional than I would have been able to if the sanctuary had been full.
When the doors were opened again, Kaitlyn and Kellum led the
way down the aisle; and they really were adorable. There was a lot to take in right then, but
now that I have time to replay the scene, I really love seeing things like
Uncle Blaine’s reaction to seeing his younger daughter that was so much like
how Dad looked when Dawn and I were doing that at Mom and Dad’s wedding. The reactions of the men to their respective
wives was wonderful too, and going back to Uncle Blaine again, there was
definitely a feeling of déjà vu for me comparing his reactions to both his wife
and his sister that was exactly how Dad looked at Aunt Leanne’s wedding. Well, this time around Aunt Leanne is the
pregnant woman in the bridal party, instead of the wife of the bride’s brother;
but then Uncle Adam’s reaction to seeing his wife was awesome too.
Getting back to the processional, Uncle Mark’s
sister-in-law, Candice, was next in line; followed by Aunt Alison, his sister,
Maria, and Aunt Leanne. There was some
more déjà vu when I first saw Aunt Grace with Grandpa Duncan. I guess I’ll probably feel that way at every
wedding, but I hadn’t gone to any weddings before Mom and Dad’s; and they’ll
always feel magical to me.
Of course I was also holding hands with the boy who had just
told me for the first time that he loves me; so there was already a little
Witch Falls magic in the air – and more than enough warm fuzzies to share with
everyone.
There were lots of warm fuzzy moments over the next twenty
minutes or so. Some members of Uncle
Mark’s family may still think he’s nuts to be moving to our little town, but
there couldn’t possibly be anyone in the sanctuary today with any doubt at all
about whether he and Aunt Grace were in love.
My favorite moments included the little things – like Grandpa Duncan
having Kaitlyn climb up into his lap and wiping away tears before hugging him
after he’d placed Aunt Grace’s hand into Uncle Mark’s. I didn’t get specifically mentioned when they
exchanged vows, but the word ‘matchmakers’ did come up once; and I’m sure that
nearly everyone knew that Aunt Leanne and I were the primary members of that
little group. That seemed even funnier
today while I was holding hands with Michael; though I still have a very
different opinion about being an eleven and twelve-year old target of a
matchmaking conspiracy.
Before you say anything after reading that, Rowen, don’t
forget that you are a willing client in our matchmaking mission this summer.
Even on replay, the actual wedding ceremony is practically a
blink in time compared to the months – and thousands of hours – of work that go
into creating that perfect moment. A
longer ceremony might be okay in the Fall or Spring, but it was very hot in the
sanctuary at three o’clock today; so everyone was happy to get Uncle Mark and
Aunt Grace married quickly and then get outside again where there was at least
a breeze to help out with the heat. If
it’s this hot tomorrow, I’ll guess that we’ll have one of those short Sunday
services too.
While most of the parents and youngest kids had rides back
to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house, there were also a lot of pedestrians too
who were either going on to do something else until the social hour before
dinner started at five; or were walking back so that we didn’t use vehicles and
drivers that weren’t really needed.
Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace had been whisked away in their limousine for a
little ‘victory lap’ around town, so they probably didn’t get to the house much
ahead of us. Michael and I walked there
with Dawn, Rowen, and some of the other kids and teens. We had time to grab cold bottles of water in
the pavilion, but then we needed to be at the next photo shoot – where the kids
and teens pictures with the bride, groom, and wedding party were again being
taken first before the younger kids – and some of the teens – were too restless
to keep under control.
I wasn’t surprised when Michael was included in most of the
pictures I was part of the group for – except for two ‘girls only’ shots with
the bride and groom. We both expected to
be helping out with the younger kids today, and we started doing that as soon
as we were finished with the photo shoot.
At first, all we needed to do was keep an eye on Ethan, Ehlana, and a
bunch of the younger cousins and friends while they all had drinks and a snack
break, but then we needed to work a bit at keeping them entertained while still
mostly staying clean and out of mischief.
Playing with a bunch of kids probably isn’t something that
most tweens and teens would consider fun for first – or any – dates, and I
won’t tell you it was the best part of our day; but we did have fun. None of us were dressed for sports, but
tossing a Frisbee around or playing croquet wasn’t too tough – even for those
of us who were wearing dresses. Aunt
Leanne also had activity books and crayons available in the pavilion; so Dawn
had a small group of kids doing that for a while too while Michael, Rowen, and
I were busy with the rest of the kids.
The social hour before dinner started at five o’clock, and
we soon had more inbound kids joining us.
We had some help, and only had about another forty-five minutes of play
time left before parents started rounding up their kids and going to find
tables to sit at in the pavilion. Most
of the seating was unassigned, but Michael, Rowen, Dawn, and I were at a family
‘kids’ table with Ethan, Ehlana, Jaimie, and Kaitlyn. Again, not a romantic, candlelit dinner for
two kind of date; but Ethan and Ehlana especially made up for that with their
amazing ‘normal toddler’ act.
Since we’re pretty much to the dinner part of the night, I
wanted to mention that Violet and Dillon were both juggling being wedding
guests with trying to help Jake and Stephanie with their catering job. Even doing a buffet set-up was a lot of work;
So Violet and Dillon helped out right up until the members of the wedding party
were invited to get up and begin filling their plates; and then they went back
to work again once it was time to start clearing the tables after dessert. Michael felt a bit guilty about not helping
too, but Stephanie and Violet in particular had refused to let him do that
while we were on our first date. Their
excuse for why being on a date wasn’t a problem for Violet and Dillon too was
explained away by advising us that making money for college superseded date
rules when you were down to just weeks left to add cash to the college fund.
As for the meal that Jacob and Jake put together for us, it
was just as spectacular as the one they did last year for Uncle Nick and Aunt
Deborah. Whether you were at one of the
first tables to be called up for the buffet or the last there was some waiting
around time – either before or after dinner.
For us, it was after we’d eaten, and though there were the usual
speeches and reception entertainment; we also took some of the kids outside to
play again once they started getting too restless from sitting around so
much. It was eight-thirty by the time
the last groups of guests were finished dessert and the clean-up kicked into
high gear; and that was also when Mom decided that Michael and I – and Rowen
and Dawn – needed to be set free from helping out with the younger kids for the
rest of the night.
While I’m in that interlude between dinner and the start of
the dance; let’s get the tweeird for the night mentioned – and then ignore
it. First up: Patrick was not a happy
camper tonight, and while he still talked to me the few times I spoke to him
first, he wouldn’t talk to Michael at all.
I’ve seen ‘the icy glare’ often enough recently to know why Michael was
on the receiving end of it, and while I can empathize; Patrick is going to have
to get over his crush on me. That did
have me looking around at the younger girls, but if Michael has any younger
girls crushing on him too; they weren’t at the reception tonight.
He does have Vanessa, though, which brings me to the other
tweeirdness of the night. I didn’t get
the details, and I guess they don’t actually matter, but Vanessa was at the
reception with Martin from shortly before the dance started until after it
ended. I tried not to let that bug me,
but it was annoying to have her watching us a lot to see how our date was going
while she also seemed to be trying to make Michael jealous by getting close and
personal with my older, handsome, high-school bound cousin.
Thankfully, none of that really made an impact on Michael
and me; and I’m not going to write anything else about those ongoing moments of
tweeird. When Mom and some of the other
parents took over entertaining the younger kids, we sat down and had cold
drinks with Rowen and Dawn for a few minutes, and then went for a walk by
ourselves for the bit of time we had before Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace were
invited to share their first husband and wife dance. We were sharing our first
‘boyfriend-girlfriend’ dance about ten minutes later, and I’m again glad that
I’ll be able to remember that dance forever.
We spent most of the next four hours together, though we
both needed to dance with other people too; and we sat with Rowen, Dawn, and a
rotating group of tweens and teens when we weren’t dancing or visiting with
people at other tables. My favorite
parts of the dance included everything Michael and I did together; having Aunt
Leanne, Violet, and Ehlana all cut in on me at different times; and the little
bits of time we got to spend with Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace.
I had absolutely no involvement with most of the action
going on around the bride and groom.
They were especially busy trying to spend time with Mark’s family, and
with friends that they wouldn’t see regularly anymore now that they were both
moving here. Trying to fit all of that,
and a few dances, into just three hours was impossible; but they did try their
best. Aunt Grace made the change out of
her wedding gown into the dress she’d picked for travel comfort in only about
twenty minutes; and by a quarter to twelve; she and Uncle Mark were both ready
for the last round of dances with their parents, best man, and matron of honor.
When they left in the limousine, Michael, Rowen, Dawn, and I
wandered out front to watch them go; but we didn’t join the group seeing them
off because they already had a big enough group around them with the wedding
party, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews. Since we were over by Rowen’s house, we did
get to exchange waves with them as they passed us; and then we went back to the
pavilion for the rest of the dance.
There’s a lot that I’ve skipped over and wasn’t involved in
either – like bedtime for most of the younger kids – but there are some things
that I should include. While the dinner
was invitation only, we had lots of extra, casual guests stopping in during the
dance; and Vanessa wasn’t the only person to get invited for that part of the
evening. I’ll take a wild guess that
Stephanie and Violet may have been involved in Josiah Palmer’s invite, but he
and Chrissy seemed very happy to hang out with their friends and go dancing
together. ‘Tommy’ was there for about an
hour with his parents and girlfriend; and I know for sure that he had a tough
time trying not to be obvious while watching Rowen. I didn’t get a chance to talk to her about
it, but she smiled a lot while he was there; and I’m sure she noticed his
attention too.
I don’t think we’re going to need until the Labor Day
weekend to succeed in our little summer challenge!
Getting back to the wedding report, but still skipping over
lots of details – like the babysitting support that Mom and Aunt Leanne had set
up for the kids that ran out of steam early; Michael and I spent most of that
last hour dancing together, including during the last set of ballads that the
band ended the night with. While working
with Jake and Stephanie hadn’t been allowed, I was on the pavilion clean-up
crew. Michael wouldn’t let me walk him
home first and come back to help out; so we both spent more than a half hour
doing that while the remaining members of the wedding party and the parents of
the bride and groom saw the rest of their guests on their way home or to the
Inn. The tables, chairs, and pavilion
wouldn’t be taken down until Monday sometime, but we had everything else
cleaned up by two o’clock.
Dawn had gone back to our house by then, but Michael and I
walked next door with Rowen before going on to his house. I’ll find out tomorrow, but won’t be
surprised if she was one of the witnesses to the goodnight kiss Michael and I
shared on his front porch.
She won’t know that it wasn’t the last one until we get a
chance to talk tomorrow. ;^)
That’s because I mentioned to Michael that I was going to
get changed and jump into the river to cool off before going to bed; and he
offered to go for the swim with me.
He’s really great about making the little sacrifices like
that for me!
We met out on the dock at my house ten minutes later, and
though we were left alone, Jake, Stephanie, Violet, and Dillon all thought that
going for a dip in the river was such a good idea that they did the same thing
over at the Stone’s house. That meant
that Michael and I got whistled at during our last goodnight kiss, but then one
of those whistles came from Miranda; and it sounded like she and Jacob had
decided to wind down on the back porch before going to bed.
I suppose that Michael and I better just get used to those
whistles and jokes, because I definitely plan on sharing goodnight kisses with
him on a regular basis from now on!
Anyway, we only swam for about fifteen or twenty minutes;
the goodnight hug, kiss, and whistles didn’t take long; and then I went up to
bed after sharing some more goodnight hugs and kisses with the members of my
family that were still awake, in the kitchen, and grinning at me when I joined
them there. I had Dawn, Jaimie, Kaitlyn,
and Kara all in my room and the lounge tonight; and they were all sleeping by
the time I took a change of clothes with me into the bathroom and got ready for
bed.
That’s where I’m going to be heading now, but I’ve been sitting
in the window alcove again while doing my nightly computing, writing this
journal update, and enjoying the memory replays of the highlights from
today. It is after three o’clock now,
though, and we’re one of the host houses doing breakfast for everyone who is
staying at the Inn. I’m on the cooking crew for that, and while
Mom, Dad, and I agreed to skip Tai Chi; that still means we need to be up in less
than three hours – especially since we will also be juggling bathroom time for
twenty to get ready for church.
I can’t put this wedding ahead of Mom and Dad’s, or Uncle
Adam and Aunt Leanne’s, but it does rate fairly high on the
best-day-ever-so-far list. Michael and I
will probably get teased about having our first date at Uncle Mark and Aunt
Grace’s wedding, but the good news for him is that it will make remembering our
dating anniversary very easy to remember.
What I’m going to remember right now as I go off to sleep is
that Michael Stone told me that he loves me for the first time today. There’s no better ending to this report than
that, so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out!
