Wow – you couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day for a wedding! Not too hot (I was comfortable in my cardigan) and not too cold (the kids were fine in their short sleeves) and beautifully sunny. Perfect. Jessica was beautiful, my kids were adorable, and everything was too fairyland perfect to believe 
Going in, we had our doubts – an outdoor wedding in October? All five of our kids participating? But the kids performed beyond all expectations, and even Josiah did his part perfectly (even if his part was just to sit in a wagon as Hannah pulled him up the aisle – but we half expected him to climb out halfway, or at least be screaming the whole time. But he sat perfectly still and silent for the whole ride.) Elaina was the flower girl, and did her part just “wrong” enough for cuteness’ sake (she scattered all of the rose petals in one spot, instead of all the way up the aisle) but not enough to be a problem.
Peter and I were in charge of lighting the unity candle (which was promptly blown out by the breeze) and a joint scripture reading (parts of 1 Corinthians 13 – out of context, but whatever! We’re not going to raise a theological discussion on their wedding day!) So we actually had already been ushered in and were sitting down when the kids walked down the aisle, so we were thankful that Peter’s mom and sister came up to help out (Hooray for Grandma and Aunt Meg!!!) We had Grandma set them up in the back, and Mom lure them forward from the front – it worked out great!
The little white wagon was definitely a stroke of genius (if I do say so myself). 
Josiah is a strong walker, but it’s usually in the wrong direction! Judging by his proclivities the rest of the day, this would have been true for walking down the aisle as well. So our little red wagon, with its new coat of white spraypaint (that was my job on Thursday) saved the day. Plus the kids had fun playing with it while they waited for the dinner to start.
Oh, and while I’m tooting my own horn the dresses turned out great. We kept getting comments on how the girls looked just like little dolls (although for a good bit of the afternoon they looked more like action figures) 
They LOVED the dance – Uncle Kent, Uncle Trevor, and Peter were the DJs, so the kids felt free to start out the dancing with some very winsome frolicking (well, perhaps it was more running around in circles giggling, but I think I am allowed a little poetic license on my own blog)
All in all, it was a wonderful day. Even Sam, who was sceptical of all this dressing up stuff, declared that it was really pretty fun.
So, Congratulations Jessica! May God bless your marriage, and may you soon have cute little ones that we can babysit!
