Congratulations, Cassie and Michael Stone!
***RESTRICTED JOURNAL UPDATE***
We’ll keep this short, since the big news
of the day isn’t something that most Magi will find out about anytime soon –
and there will be other sources for more-detailed information about what
happened elsewhere for anyone that does have access to the most-restricted
sections of the archives.
Cassie and Michael waited until they were
at their hotel near the airport before taking their wedding vows to the Magi
level in a private ‘ceremony’ that was similar to what Magi Masters do for
their baptisms. In this case, something
amazing happened to them – and especially to Michael. As far as we know; there is no reference in
the archives to this happening before; so it may be a first too – if not
unprecedented in other ways.
Michael is now a Magi Master!
We’ll have to wait to get the details,
since that just happened a little while ago, but even from here, and with
Cassie using her wards; we sensed what happened while they were on the higher
plane of existence and making their marriage commitments in a much
more-intensive communion with God. Mom
sensed it too, and we sent our congratulations to them with text messages, but
didn’t talk with them directly; and won’t be interrupting their honeymoon or
wedding night to do that either.
There’s no doubt about what we sensed from
Michael, though, and while this really is amazing and on a bigger level than
anything else we know about; his ‘promotion’ to Magi Master is also only
different from what happened to Violet and other latent Magi that have had
their abilities become active because of the magnitude of the change. If Violet upgraded from walking to a fast car
when she became a Magi; Michael’s just gone from a race car to an interstellar
spaceship. ;^)
Ehlana and I can also now report that we’ve
had some foresight about this that we haven’t told anyone about; and there are
reasons for what has just happened.
Cassie and Michael are being prepared for their future as leaders of the
Ascension of the Light; and this is one rather important step for them.
We’ll add more sometime in the coming
weeks; but that’s all for this bonus news flash.
***END OF RESTRICTED UPDATE***
Ethan and Ehlana:
It is really, really late; and this update
is coming to you as a joint venture because we’re multi-tasking our bedtime
chat and wedding recap before splitting up to have our naps before we’ll need
to be awake and going again.
The girls’ side of the news through until
the wedding includes Tai Chi by the river by sunrise. Dad was the only guy allowed; but then he was
sent off to the Inn after that while the girls had a gourmet breakfast that was
catered by Jake and Stephanie. Naomi and
I had our ballgame this morning after that; we won big because I was very
motivated; and then we got cleaned up and eventually had our appointments at
the salon. While we were busy with
baseball; Cassie had some pampering time in my Jacuzzi; eventually got her hair
done; and then there was more to do back at home before the luncheon for the
girls that was hosted by Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace so that Cassie wouldn’t be
anywhere near to Michael and the boys as they washed and decorated cars at his
house and then had their lunch too. We
were back at home after the lunch; got dressed up; and then there were bridal
party pictures by the river before it was time to take the limo to the church.
The guys’ day started out earlier, but
Michael and I were on our own for Tai Chi; and we did that at the side of his
house to make sure that we didn’t see Cassie if they ended up doing their
workout earlier than expected. We – and Tim
– headed for the Inn with Jacob and Miranda, but while we were early for the
breakfast being hosted there for the guys; Michael wasn’t allowed to work in
the kitchen – or do anything involving sharp knives or anything else he might
get hurt using. The jokes were fun, but
Michael wasn’t nervous today. We didn’t
really talk about that very much, but then Ehlana and I could sense how Michael
– and Cassie – was feeling; and their bond helped Michael to avoid having any
problems with nerves. Our breakfast at
the Inn was awesome; the chores were all about keeping Michael busy and
distracted – and we had a lot of fun too; and then we had lunch before getting
ready for the wedding. There were some
photos for us too, if not as many as for the girls, but then we also needed to
be at the church early for our ushering duties; and that kept us busy again for
the final hour before the girls arrived.
I’ll continue the guys’ story with my
perspective and wedding ceremony highlights.
The first, for me, is escorting Naomi to her seat. My date for the wedding is amazing;
beautiful; and I am a very lucky guy! I
helped out with escorting many of my favorite girls to their seats; there were
a lot of funny moments; and I’ll skip over all of the first-date advice I was
offered. Thanks to everyone that participated
in those cameo moments of entertainment, but we’re eight; and too-young for
pretty much every bit of advice we were given today! My first experience with standing at the
front of the sanctuary with the groom and the other guys was amazing; and the
bridal party processional is a memory that I’m glad will stay with me
forever. Brianna and Faith were
adorable; Ehlana was breathtaking; and I’ll try to stay out of trouble by
skipping the rest of the bridesmaids and Maid of Honor on my way to declaring
that Cassie is the most-beautiful bride I’ve seen so far in my life!
Yes, I am totally biased, and Mom was
likely just as stunning when she married Dad, but I wasn’t there for that
wedding! ;^)
The ceremony was a happy blur for me; there
wasn’t anything for me to do while the Pastors took turns helping to get Cassie
and Michael married; and then there was a bit of a break while we took turns
signing the official marriage documents and having a private little celebration
while the wedding guests were entertained by some of our favorite teens –
including Jessica and Patrick. Cassie
and Michael Stone were presented; there was a meet-and-greet outside of the
church after that; and then wedding photos at the park. I’ll take a break and turn this update over
to Ehlana for the girls’ perspective.
If we’re starting with news about our
dates; I didn’t get to do more than share a few glances with Aiden during that
processional, but I was happy with his reaction; and it might have been for the
best that he had time to recover before we got together after the
ceremony. My highlights from the church
included the prayer for happiness with Pastor Lewis before the processional; I
thought that Brianna and Faith were adorable too; and then I loved getting to watch
all of the guys as the waited for us to meet up with them at the front of the
sanctuary. I’ll give Stefan the award
for most-amazed by his girlfriend, but then Tim was probably dazed all day
after getting engaged last night; and Michael always looks at Cassie the way he
did when he saw her for the first time in her wedding dress – and with her hair
done up exactly the same as Mom’s had been for her wedding thanks to Vicky’s
efforts this morning. Cassie took a
moment with Mom and Dad before being handed off to Michael that was special
too, and then, while Ethan might pretend that the ceremony was a blur; we were
both aware of everything going on around us; I especially loved the personal
vows that Cassie and Michael shared that included just the right touches of
humor along with all of the love; and then we had a whole series of cameo
moments as we moved on to start the celebration!
The photo session at the park took a while,
since Cassie and Michael do have a large family and lots of friends; Ethan and
I know that some of our friends were around to watch the show – and try to get
in on some of the pictures for the usual two pranksters. There was some of that from Zack too, but he
mostly played nice this afternoon. We
eventually headed for the Inn; had a break so that we could freshen up in one
of the two rooms that were being used for that – and for when Cassie and
Michael got changed near the end of the night.
We didn’t have a lot of time for that; the reception line followed – and
had a time limit too ahead of dinner; so that didn’t end up being as bad as we
thought it might be.
Then again, getting to keep Aiden and Naomi
with us made that more fun too!
We got to have our dates with us for the
dinner as well; we – the ‘kids’ – were put at one end of the head table so that
we could take care of Brianna and Faith; and Rowen had made sure that we had
entertainment options that included activity packs for all of the kids. As Best Man, Tim was also Master of Ceremony;
he led things off with some fun and games that were sometimes at Cassie’s and
Michael’s expense; and then we eventually all sat down to dinner – after filling
our plates at the buffet tables. That
did take a while with a full main dining room, but the head table did go first;
so we just took our time; and then the after-dinner speeches and entertainment
started while most of the reception guests were just getting started on their
desserts and after-dinner drinks. The
food was, as always, amazing; and included several of the gourmet dishes that
were favorites of Cassie’s or Michael’s – and specialties from Jacob or Jake.
Roasting Cassie and Michael included some
videos and multi-media shows; speeches, stank-up comedy-worthy jokes; and other
fun; and then it was time for some dancing.
The highlight of that part of our night was the parents of the bride and
groom dance because Cassie and Michael were drafted to sing and play one of
their duets for the parents; they had most of the girls in the room crying by
the time they were done; and reminded some of us of how much we’ll miss those
duets while they’re away at college. I
should probably give Ethan a turn again; and then we’ll wrap up this update
together.
Ehlana skipped over the dinnertime kisses
that were required of the bride, groom, members of the wedding party, parents,
and grandparents. The rest of my night
was probably a blur because Naomi took advantage of the opportunity for the
kiss she shared with me when it was our turn.
I’ve never doubted that she’ll make my life as interesting as Cassie
will do for Michael, but some of our friends were at the reception; and I am
not going to live that kiss down anytime soon.
I’ll also try not to wish too much that we
were a bit older right now either! ;^)
Moving along, that song from Cassie and
Michael was awesome, but I’ll pick all of the dancing I did with Naomi for my
highlight of the dance part of our night – and we got to play most of the time
because Cassie and Michael didn’t need us for anything else after dinner. Rowen, Tim, Madelana, and Stefan were with
them a lot; while Jake, Stephanie, Rebecca, and Lucas did more of their work in
the background – including keeping things going in the kitchen. We weren’t there to help with the quick
change near the end of the night, but we did help out a bit while Cassie and
Michael went around handing out the gift baskets – though that was only helping
to get those baskets unboxed and ready for them to give to their guests as they
worked their way around the room. That
took about an hour; there was a final round of dances that included cameo moments
for the bride and groom with their parents; and then we did a last round of
goodbyes next to the limo before sending them on their way toward their hotel
and honeymoon.
The highlight for those last goodbyes was
when Cassie and Michael ‘found’ Brianna wrapped up in Uncle Adam’s suit jacket
and asleep in the back seat of the limo, but while Brianna hadn’t actually been
trying to go along on the honeymoon; she was woken for the goodbye hugs and
kisses with her favorite cousin because she’d extracted that promise from her
parents before agreeing to the late-night nap time once she’d gotten tired out
at the dance. Ethan and I were put to
work after Cassie and Michael left, and Naomi and Aiden helped us, but we had
fun while the party wound down over the next hour or so; and then it was time
to either help with the clean-up or seeing the guests out and on the way home. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a big deal, but
when you add in the need to get the Inn ready for the usual Sunday lunch
business; taking care of designated driving duties for more than one hundred
guests; and all of the rest of the work; it’s no surprise that we got home at
about the same time that Cassie and Michael got to their hotel.
We also needed to say goodnight to our
dates along the way; and I’ll cover that news because if Ethan had recovered
from the dinnertime kiss; he lost it again after Naomi kissed him goodnight and
thanked him for a best-ever-so-far kind of first date. That’s a bit funny, since she has no
intention of ever having a first date with any other guy, but we have had an
amazing day; so her claim is still true anyway – even for a bunch of kids. Our late return home wasn’t quite the end of
the night for us; we had a little bedtime visit with our weekend guests; there
was a text message exchange with Cassie and Michael after they were safely at
their hotel; and we are definitely too-young to comment on wedding night plans
that they are certainly having fun with by now!
This has been a best-ever, remember-forever
kind of day, and we will only have time for a nap now; so we’d better wrap this
up and get started on that sleep time while we can. I – Ehlana – haven’t covered the news from
yesterday from my perspective too, but let’s save that up; and maybe I’ll do my
next report with all of the details we haven’t covered for today too – like some
of the other dating stories from the wedding that includes May’s date with Cody
Carter. ;^)
For now, that really is it; so we’ll just,
one more time, offer our congratulations to Cassie and Michael – and add that
we are really happy and blessed to have such an amazing brother-in-law join our
family!
This is Ethan and Ehlana Proctor; coming to
you live from what is now our past – and we’re out!
