May 25, 2004--Wedding

We remembered right before bedtime that we had forgotten to bring the invitation to the wedding, which had a map and directions. We thought about calling his parents and getting directions, but then remembered they had left for Indianapolis already and wouldn't be home. We weren't sure how we were going to find it, but then found out that Erick's brother, Daniel, had left a message with my mom that we needed to stop by his house for directions before we went to the wedding.
I was relieved, and quite impressed with my mother-in-law. Of course, she would know that we would forget our directions and would need to know how to get there. How thoughtful of her to think of arranging it so we would get directions from Daniel. She had already sewed jumpers for all my girls in the last week before the wedding. Is there anything she can't do? I admired her foresight until we got to Daniel's house and Daniel asked us how to get there. He thought we were going to give him directions! It all worked out, though, because I asked him if he still had the invitation, and he did. It turned out that he hadn't even read it, and didn't realize it was in there all along.

Rachel fell asleep on the way to the wedding while the rest of us were eating lunch. I didn't want to wake her, because I knew she wasn't going to get a nap any other time that day, so I saved her some. About a half hour before it started I asked Erick if he could watch the rest while I went out and fed Rachel. It took longer than I had anticipated, and when I got back he and Daniel were already seating people. I asked him where the kids were, and he said, "I don't know. I put them in the pew and told them to sit. I don't know where they went." Fortunately (for him!) they were still where he had placed them, and Daniel's wife was watching them. I thanked her and we were treated to the Longest Wedding in the World. Fifteen minutes into it, two of my children said they needed to go potty. They had involved three different pastors in the ceremony that were close to them, and each one wanted to have their say, and plenty of it. They gave testimonies. The bride sang to the groom. They went through more vows than I knew existed. My kids kept asking me if it was almost over. I felt like it never was going to be. My son put pencils in his mouth and pretended he was a vampire. My 3-year old crawled under the pew and then my son dragged her out by her feet and turned her nearly upside down. The baby was trying to unzip her grandmother's dress in front of her.

I was a server at the reception, but after that we left. The kids were so tired from no naps that we thought we'd better hurry up and get back. It was already after five when we left and the wedding had started at 1:30.