Woo-hoo!

Yep, it's Saturday and we made it.  No dropped plates ;D  I'm sitting in my chair, ignoring the chaos in my office, babbling away (incoherently? you be the judge...), and have promised Gunnar - who is not used to being the Only Boy At Home - a DQ blizzard this afternoon, so there will be chocolate.  :D

We all had a lot of nervous energy coming into this wedding, probably compounded by other events - like my mom wrapping up her radiation treatments - feeling GREAT! Thanks for your prayers!  And I have to confess that I am not a big city kind of girl.  Given a choice between formal dress/fancy dinner and a casual BBQ?  Well, pass the Sweet Baby Ray's, sister.  So I felt a bit out of my element, going in.

I know my folks were a bit (nervous? eager? it's all good, but stressed a bit) about the rehearsal dinner going well - that being their responsibility, though the bride chose the venue.  (And just an aside... what is the deal with hip, trendy places being located in totally revolting neighborhoods?  We paid ten bucks to park on a side street, in front of an alcove that was obviously - by the aroma - being lived in.  And the sidewalk was strewn with 'party favors', new and used - ewwwww, and broken car-window glass.)  But the evening went off well.  My dad had prepared a short speech/blessing/prayer that had nearly all of us in tears, and everybody socialized well :D

Then Friday dawned... the boys worked very diligently to finish all their schoolwork.  Wyatt and Tate in particular, so they could go on the SAREX.  I've never seen Wyatt so motivated!  Awesome.  We just had time for schoolwork, gathering and packing all their gear, lunch, showers and jumping in the van to head back, two more hours on the road (the heat! the traffic!) to Seattle.

And it was all gorgeous and - I hope - just exactly what they wanted :D  The groomsman coming from Pentiction made it in time, border crossing and all (whew!), my Japanese sister (former exchange student, totally absorbed into the family) was able to come, and other friends and relatives came from far and wide to celebrate.

I'll tell you a little secret I learned from my former-wedding-coordinator-mom:

When the bride makes her grand entrance

watch the groom.

Watch his face.

Happy, happy, joy.

Yah.  I want to remember that look on my brother's face.  And wow - when have I seen him looking so dapper?!  I know, I know, you're supposed to rave about the ladies and the dresses, and they were lovely, but I think I was more taken with what a handsome, studly bunch of men were at my table :D  I hope to have pictures soon.

And just a word about the boys...  in the "About Me" blurb, in the sidebar, I jokingly refer to myself as Zena, Queen of the Testosterzone, and sometimes it truly feels like that.  There have been moments - heck, there have been years - I never thought we'd get to this point, but what handsome young gentlemen I've got!  In spite of the hours in the van, the arriving hours early to be available for brief moments of photos, the very adult-oriented ambiance of the whole evening, they were excellent.

We did not, however, stay to the very end.  We headed for the barn after most of the formalities were done and the dancing was picking up, and got home and boys rolled into bed just before midnight.

Which was a good thing since Wyatt, Tate and I had a 4:30 AM wake-up time.  (Kerry offered to drive home last night if I'd transport this morning and I think I got the better end of that deal!)  After a moment or two of total (and rather comical) disorientation they were up and raring to go.

So now I'm off on an errand or two with my littlest man.

Chocolate is calling :D