My sister-in-law and her longtime boyfriend, Michael, got married almost a month ago on Thursday night, the last day of swim lessons. I made sure the boys both got a nap in, because swim lessons made them so tired the rest of the day. Gabriel was the official Ring Bearer, and JoJo Ring Bearer Junior. Here they are trying on their wedding finery, one picture right after I started taking them, and one picture when they were FED UP with pictures!
The ceremony was at 6 pm at Weston Gardens, a beautiful place that touts itself as, "English Gardens, Texas-Style". They had picked the smallest garden which was almost like a grotto with trees growing over. There was a harpist playing. There were butterflies flitting about. It would have been idyllic, indeed, if not for the 100 degree humid-like-a-rain-forest heat.
But the ceremony went off without any major hitches. The boys did great, at least from my point of view from the seats. Jav said that Joel was refusing to hold Gabriel's hand, but some coaxing by the Matron of Honor, Suzanne, and his brother finally did the trick. Gabriel was a bit thrown off when the photographer, whom no one warned him about, kept jumping in front of them snapping away and he didn't know whether to stop or keep going. Gabriel oldest buddy, Lenah, was chief Flower Girl and did a beautiful job. Her little sister, Mila, walked behind barefoot, picking up the flower petals and putting them back in the basket. So stinkin' cute! Sandra looked radiant, and walked down the aisle on Jav's arm to Etta James's, "At Last", which was very different but so cool. The non-denominational minister was from South Africa, and was very personable and witty. Michael's oldest sister, Dianne, read the 1st Corinthians passage about Love, and Jav read a beautiful poem in Spanish. Gabriel walked up to deposit the rings after some confusion when the minister changed the order of the ceremony. Michael and Sandra and Michael's two daughters, Lizzie and Grace, did a Sand Ceremony, which I had never seen before, mixing their separate sand (and families) into one big bowl. It all would have seemed to breeze by if not for Joel yelling out every 20 seconds or so, "I'm hot, and I want some more water!".
Even though it was a joyful event, there were a few sad things to mention. Jav was walking his sister down the aisle because, sadly, their dad just couldn't do it. He has been in poor health and recently was moved from the physical therapy wing to the nursing care area in a facility in Hurst. The family had to get permission to bring him to the wedding, and poor Jav was in charge of getting him dressed and getting him there, along with getting him back and making sure he had some dinner. Along with everything else going on! Their dad has Alzheimer's, and it was impossible to tell if he really understood what was going on. He knew it was something big, with all of us dressed up and seeing family from Monterrey that he hadn't seen in a long time. But he didn't really talk through the whole thing. The only time you KNOW he is cognizant of what's going on, is when he sees Gabriel. His whole face changes and lights up, and he looks like his old self.
And we were also upset that their dad's sister, Tina, and their mom's brother and sister, Arturo and Licha, all from Monterrey, could not make the wedding. Tia Tina and Tio Arturo are in poor health, and poor Tia Licha's visa application had a glitch and she was not able to come. That last part really took a toll on my mother-in-law. But we had four people that did come up, their cousin David and his wife, Erica, and their two cousins, Lupana and Maque, who are unmarried sisters in their 60's and two of the hippest women I've ever met. We spent the entire five days with them, taking them to Grapevine Mills Mall to shop, having them over for Sunday brunch (along with the Bride and Groom), and taking them to downtown Cowtown to see the sights and eat dinner their last night here.
So this picture has a back story. I was determined for the professional photographer to get a pic of just our family since we do not dress up often (ok - ever). We started pictures, with the Best Man handing out paper towels to everyone to dry off in between shots. But then Gabriel had what we'll call a "Bathroom Incident", that kept us away from the picture taking for about 20 minutes. I guess they finally gave up on us and were done by the time we came out. So as we were walking to the car, I asked our friend Christine if she'd take a shot of us and just see if it came out. We walked out into a field, and had sweat through our clothes about 10 times by now. It came out so great! I love, love, love it. Look how Joel has his little hands clasped in front of him, Gabriel looks so grown up, and how dashing Jav looks in his all-black tux.
I am hoping to have more pictures, from this night and from the BBQ reception that happened a few nights later, once the professional ones are shared with everyone. But this is one of my favorites, taken just before heading home. What a happy, happy evening! And how good it felt to finally take a cold shower at 12:30 am!!!
As Jav was driving his dad home, I drove us back to our house to drop Joel off so my mom could watch him as we went onto the dinner. It was on the roof of Reata restaurant downtown. Gabriel was so excited I thought his head would explode. It was a fantastically romantic setting, with two long tables and the backdrop of Fort Worth buildings all around. Everyone ate first since it was 8:30 or so. The food and service were wonderful, I have to say. Jav got there pretty late when they were cutting and serving the cake, poor guy. But at least he didn't miss the wedding toasts, including giving one that may have been the sweetest toast I've ever heard. I was so proud of him that night with all he had to do. He really rose above and beyond the call of duty as brother, son, cousin, father and husband.
All of the toasts were wonderful, funny mixed in with sweet and poignant. Michael's mom read an Irish Wedding blessing in Spanish, which she had been practicing for months. Sandra's best friend, Gilbert, stepped in for her dad and gave the old, "You better be good to her because she is the best person in the whole world", as part of his toast. We have all waited for a long, long, time for this very sweet and special person to find the right person who would make her this happy. There were many tears of joy being shed everywhere you looked.
And finally a few more photo opportunities. Lenah and Gabriel, in 2007 and 2013. Wow is all I can say!!!!
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