"Mawage. Mawage is what brings us together today."

Well hello there! I would now like to announce that we are officially finished with all our summer "to-dos" and our schedule is a bit slower - for now. We are now back to just our usual, weekly routine, for which I am SO thankful. We knew we were going to have a very busy summer, but never anticipated just how busy it was going to turn out to be! But praise the Lord, He got us through it fairly "unharmed." Our last "thing" to do was to go to Moncton, New Brunswick for Matt's cousin, Rachel's, wedding. She had asked Matt to perform the ceremony, so he was able to do his first wedding.

We weren't really sure what to expect, seeing as how pretty much 90% of that side of the family is Catholic (well, at least in name.) Matt's cousin Rachel really wanted a Christian wedding, so that is what she got, but I do believe it was the first Christian wedding most of them had been to! They are used to the catholic ceremony where they do all the traditions and things like everyone taking communion and such. So this was definitely an experience for them, as well as us. There are some pretty devout catholics in the group, including the bride's great aunt, who is a nun. We were not sure what all she and the others would say, but amazingly they all said it was the best ceremony they had ever been to. The aunt was impressed how Matt said right at the beginning that marriage is instituted by God. That got her approval so she really seemed to like Matt and how he did it all from that point on.

The ceremony took place in a really old building, one that used to be a monestary! It has been several things since then, but now has been converted into a resort type thing that is used for conferences and weddings and the like. The actual ceremony was held in the old sanctuary, which looks just like an old catholic church, if you have ever seen or been in one. It was huge - very high ceilings with very ornate, hand carved wood, the beautiful windows, the nice wood flooring, and large stage that was up pretty high - and was long and narrow. Liam asked me if it was a castle! Definitely can think why he thought it was one! It was really a very picturesque place for a wedding! The ceremony was at 6 p.m., getting close to sunset, and the light shinning through the stained glass at the front was just so romantic!

There were somewhere between 150-200 guests there. The funny thing was, was that most of them are predominately French speaking - but can speak some English too. But there were quite a few who do not speak English, and I do not speak French, so that did not work too well. One lady, a friend of Matt's aunt, was sitting next to me before the ceremony. Matt was with the groom and the groomsmen, and my mother-in-law was taking Liam to the washroom, so it was just me, Leila, and the friend sitting there. We both were trying to make conversation, but we had to laugh. We did not understand each other at all, so we just stopped trying. Boy - I really should have taken French in college. I took Greek instead, thinking I would NEVER use French in my life! Sometimes I think God has a great sense of humor! :-)

Well, the ceremony was beautiful, and Matt really did do a great job. When Liam saw the bride, he said she was a princess and was quite interested in all that was going on. The ceremony was short and sweet, and before we knew it, the bride and groom were pronounced husband and wife and they were walking back down the aisle to the music from none else than the theme to Star Wars. Haha - it was funny!

One little thing I had to share was something that happened shortly before the ceremony. No one was in the sanctuary yet except Matt, me, the kids, my mother-in-law and the DJ. There was very pretty music playing over the speakers - a mixture of love songs and other pretty instrumental music that makes you all sentimental and emotional at a wedding. Well, I was up front on stage with Matt, looking at all the amazing detail work on the wood and such when the song El Shaddai (just music - so beautiful) came on. Then, at the same time Matt and I both looked up to see our precious little Leila, all cute in her pretty dress and hair bow, walking up the aisle all by herself to come see us. She had the biggest, cutest smile on her face! Matt and I both immediately got tears in our eyes and went to her, telling her she was way to young to be walking the aisle! :-)

Now, I know what you are thinking - Emily, she is only 1 year old! But let me tell you. It was like we went in a super speed flash forward to the day that our little girl will walk down the aisle in a beautiful dress, ready to pledge her life and love to some guy. And we know all too well how quickly that day will come. I know it was the mixture of the music, the romantic setting of where we were, and seeing her walking up the aisle that got to us. It was a sweet, then funny moment, but a reminder to us to treasure this time we have with our children while they are still young and we can still hold them as much as we want.

Being a parent it not always easy. Any of you who have a child know that there are times you just want to scream in frustration. But those times are truly outweighed by the precious, sweet times when you are snuggling your baby, or praying with them, or hearing them pray or even just playing around being silly. Those are the times we need to treasure because all too soon, they will be grown up and moving on to live their lives apart from you. We should never wish away the time for them to be older. That will come before we are ever ready.

So anyways, enough of that emotional stuff! That was what we have been up to these last couple days. Now, we are getting ready for Grammy and Papa (my parents) to come visit for a week starting on Wednesday! Yay!

I hope everyone reading this is having a good week. Until next time...