It isn't finished, it isn't just beginning...it is something else entirely

A chapter has ended, but another has begun...and one of many with these same characters.  SGG did a great job pulling this all together.  She had some fantastic help from our friends Carol and Andrea.  The wedding was about as perfect as anyone could hope for.  The boys did their part, I didn't do too badly, and SGG was perfect.  The weather was fantastic, the minister was awesome, and the catering was incredible.

Our wedding was Saturday afternoon, about the time most of the back yard would be in the shade of the trees (it was a lucky guess).  The boys did an affirmation, and two of them read scripture (Old and New testaments).  The ceremony was short and amazing.  Everyone seemed to have a great time!  The kids especially.  :-)  You can see in pictures and video below.

Some funny conversations with the boys:

Friday night before the wedding, we were talking with the boys at the table.  SGG's oldest son, Michael the soon to be 12 yr old, asked "Mom, are you going to cry at the wedding?"  SGG responded with "Maybe, are you?"  Michael said, "Am I supposed to?"

Saturday night, after being admonished by me for taking 2 liter soda bottle to throw and explode on the street, my son says his uncle, my brother, "If you don't want to get me in serious trouble, you might want to hide the video!"  My brother, unperturbed, said "The question is still, did he or did he not have a mentos?"  :-)  Some of those videos are below....

As for this chapter, it is just beginning, but I learned early Monday morning that for a fellow blogger, his book had ended.  Jim Everson, Depot Dad, fellow single dad, courageous soul, and inspiration to those that knew him or read his blog, lost his battle with cancer.  Keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.  You can read a little more here and here.

My new brother-in-law sent SGG and I these thoughts:

FAITH….

Is not being able to see the Ocean at the end of a small stream…

But believing in your heart that it is there …waiting to embrace.

Our Real Journey…

Begins midstream…having navigated the hazards and falls and currents

Which life and former love threw at us…

Only to prepare us for our one Matched Soul.

The List

The list.  The list of things that need to be done for this or that.  The list of things for the wedding.  The list of things to buy for school supplies.  The list of things that need to be done for the boys to go to school.  The list of things that need to be put away.  The list of things that need to be fixed.  The list of groceries that need to be bought to replace that which the boys eat.  There is at least 1 gallon of milk everyday that gets added to that list.

You could put it all into one monster list.  A list that is alive.  It grows.  It changes.  It cannot be completed.  So we add things to the list like, "Have fun", "see a movie", "get sushi", "go hiking", "go kayaking", "go bike riding", "write in your damn blog."

This morning it is very cool outside.  Not exactly crisp, but very comfortable.  Waking up, I started toward the kitchen to make some coffee.  There are three boys strewn about the living room.  One is mine, one is SGG's, the other is not ours.  They were up late watching a movie.  I am hoping they weren't up all night.  There is popcorn all around, and cushions for various incarnations of forts.  There is a fourth boy, SGG's youngest, somewhere else in the house.  I quickly read through email, news, and computer news, then grab a cup of coffee and head outside.

The temperature is around 70 or so, very little humidity.  I call it perfect.  The sun is rising.  I walk around front, through the wet grass to get the paper.  The grass and dew feel amazing to my feet.  There are crickets and other bugs chirping.  There are blue jays screeching and flying about catching chirping bugs.  We can hear other smaller birds in the hedges.  A pair of cardinals has taken up residence in the hedges too.  Occasionally there are some gigantic crows cawing, and we have an Osprey that seems to lose it's way, or get really excited from time to time.  The cat loves to join us on the back porch to investigate all these sights and sounds too.  The tree rats, otherwise known as squirrels, are running all around.  They are cute, but the pine cone chips they chew up are annoying.  I am pretty sure they are throwing pine cones at the cat.  I don't blame them for that last part, but I pick the cat over them.  The mess the squirrels make is horrendous.

We are a little low on creamer today, so I experimented.  NOT worth repeating.

I think a boy on a bike just passed by pulling his little sister on something that looked like a scooter with a string.

The wedding list is nearly complete.  The boys are ready for school.  The chores lists have been posted.  The rules lists have been made.  The lawnmower will be fixed today.  The list of things SGG is no longer allowed to do is growing so that things like the lawnmower don't keep breaking.  The washing machine is next to be rectified, and SGG didn't have anything to do with it breaking.  The ice maker on the refrigerator needs to be investigated, ducting into the the computer room needs to be re-sized, various small problems with my computer network continually plague me.  We are splitting up the nights for cooking and I need to get some groceries for those nights.  Right now, breakfast needs to be made.  :-)

My son's great grandparents celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last night.  You just think about that for a little while.

We went to Busch Gardens yesterday.  We really had the best time.  It wasn't very crowded.  The youngest boy didn't want to ride the roller coasters, so after we road the Lochness Monster and the Griffon, SGG and her son John went to watch the animal shows.  I took her oldest, Michael, and my son Brandon to ride the rest of the roller coasters.  The lines were very short every where.  The Alpengeist was closed.  We rode in the front of Apollo's Chariot.  The boys loved that.  Their hair was blown almost completely backwards from the wind.  We then went back to ride the Griffon in the front row.  By that time we had to meet SGG and John back at Big Ben.  On the way back we went through some of the animal exhibits.  The boys got to "pet" a boa constrictor.  We also saw a wallaroo.  They had pictures of a two toed sloth up and I asked about it.  They said they do have one, but it is in training that day.  That really puzzles me.  What do you train something that rarely moves and just hangs around to do?  We saw an Owl on the way back too.  The weather was so nice, and while there were a lot of people, it really wasn't very crowded.  It really was a great time.