The Church

We headed back home in hopes that Holly would take a nap. We didn't sleep so well the first night. NY is very hot and very humid. Also we were in a guest room with a single bed, so it was hard for both Holly and I to fit side by side. There was a crib, but she doesn't sleep in her crib and falls asleep next to Mommy, so it wasn't easy to get her to fall asleep. Once I did, I tried to transfer her but she woke up. This happened several times, for about 2 hour she was ok and in the crib asleep, but then hit her head on the bars, rather then Mommy's pillow and that woke her. She was also off schedule and in a strange environment, so back to the bed she came. In the end She took the top half, I had my arm above me so I could rub her back as needed, and my legs hung off the bed. I got only a few hours, I was so tired. I checked to see if my parents were up, so we could maybe use there bed but they weren't. Around 7:00 my mom came and helped move a papisan chair near the bed which i was able to sit on and sleep comfortably while Holly was in the single. I was afraid though that she would roll off so I couldn't leave her, since it was so small I didn't want her to fall. The second night was much better though. First we discovered that Elise and Jim set up a window air conditioning unit for us, so it was amazingly cool in our room, it was heaven sent. Next I decided to simply not transfer Holly. I put pillows up against the two corner walls and the crib so she had a padded sleeping area at the top 1/3 of the mattress, and then I laid on the bottom, it worked good enough that once I got her asleep, she was able to stay that way, and though stiff, I did at least get several hours. Well I digress, back to the wedding morning. We came back to the house from our Pizza lunch and everyone was running around getting ready. We didn't have to be there until two hours after the rest of the group so we had time to help them. Holly refused to nap and in the end we decided to head to the church early. I knew driving in the car would knock her out, she was tired, so we all got dressed into our fancy cloths and headed over. She was out within minutes, and she napped in the car until I woke her just before the ceremony.When we arrived at the church and parked my dad got out and headed down the street to Stephanie's house to check on everyone. She lived a block away and was walking to the church. Stephanie had just recently converted completely to Catholicism to get married to Lee in this church. She is half Catholic and half Jewish but growing up they always attended synagogue and celebrated both Holidays. Its funny because when we lived in NY we were attending the same religious instruction classes at the local Church in Port Washington, and Kat and i had our first communions and confirmation;s there, but at the time, all the kids we knew were Jewish, and we were the odd ones out. We were always so curious and Kat would always ask to go to Synagogue with Steph. While Holly napped, I sat and checked email and then started to watch the crowd and guests. It was fun seeing people arrive from a distance, who chatted with whom, and seeing what people were wearing and who they were talking too. In some of the pictures above you can see Ed and Alice arriving, they are the parent's of Dara and Pam, and lived two house down from where we did in NY, the opposite side of Stephanie. We were all friends.In another picture you can see my dad talking to Scot and some of the other groomsmen. I waited a total of maybe 30-40 minutes before waking up Holly. I didn't want her to be too cranky from having immediately just woken up, but I also wanted to let her sleep as long as I could. Once she was up she was cranky but I had a bottle ready for her and we walked around outside for a few minutes and then I let her explore the church so she would be more familiar with the environment. She was a little fussy and clingy but enjoyed looking at all of the people and eating snacks. It was finally time for the bride to arrive. My mom was running around helping her, the Mother, and the bridesmaids. She stopped in to drop of some stuff they would need after the ceremony. Holly and I sat in the last isle so we would be close to the door and could make a break for it if need be.We went outside to see Stephanie approach and take pictures. Both my mom and dad had photos to take from different vantage points, and her entrance was beautiful. I have a little video of her Wedding March. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRNdRCJPqoIScot her brother was a groomsman and his wife a bridesmaid and there son was the ring bearer. There were three little girls who were around 10 who were the flower girls, they were adorable in there dresses.The ceremony itself was about 70 minutes long, it was very long. They were little booklets you could use to follow along. The priest was Indian, and it was in a Catholic Church, so for a moment a few people thought he might be speaking in Latin, he had a thick accent, but then after a while you could understand him. During the quiet times Holly felt like she should babble and talk to everyone, so I brought her out to the back of the church to play were she would not be loud. I could hear the Ceremony from there, and see it though the back door windows.Many beautiful verses and passages were read. There were a few hymns sung, and a lighting of a candle and an exchange of the rings, and before we knew it, it was over and my little Stephanie was married. I was actually in the Church about 70% of the time, but right before the actual vows I stepped out because I didn't want to risk Holly making a peep and ruining anything, but I heard it all sitting by our little stained glass window.I think Holly's favorite part was the procession out of the church first the bride and then her bridal party, and then the guests. At the back of the church My dad, mom, and I were handing out bubbles to every guest to blow on the bride and the groom as they exit the church instead of rice. Holly liked this part, she met almost everyone who was there, handed many bubbles out and was very Happy to babble and be sociable.Once the church was empty we went outside and waited for the bride and groom to descend. Here they set up several pictures with everyone and it was nice to see the happy couple and Stephanie in her gorgeous gown. Her beautiful veil, the amazing flowers, it was a lovely ceremony.Holly was happy to be outside and run around the grounds, look at the Flowers, and explore. Here is a picture of Lorraine and her mum Sabina. Our cousin's from Liverpool and Manchester England. When I was about 11 Lorraine and her Mum started coming to NY during the summer breaks to visit for Holiday. They of course also became friends with Jim, Elise, and Stephanie. When we moved to Florida and were older Lorraine would spend the summer with me, and when they were in NY on Holiday they would stay in touch with the Lemonda's. So here they are for the wedding.It has actually been a bit since we have talked, a few years back my mom and Sabina had a misunderstanding and were not talking, but they rectified at the wedding, which lifted my mom's heart!Here is my mom with Holly. I was happy to have a mini break and my mom chased her around. Once the family pictures were done, and the bridal party was set up in there Limo's my dad split off to drive the Brides Grandmother over to the Reception and my mom took me and Holly.

That was the ceremony. More pictures of the reception to follow.