California Wedding Part I

We arrived in California last Wednesday. We forgot it was even New Years Day! Dar had snacks and fun food waiting for us at her house. Denise and Dave were there too. The guys watched football and the girls made 200 tags for the small champagne bottles we were giving away as favors at the wedding. We had a great conversation after the girls went to bed and then we headed for bed fairly early ourselves, knowing the next few days were going to be pretty hectic.

The next morning we drove across LA County to my mom's house in The Valley. During Thanksgiving week she was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer. She has been receiving chemotherapy and her tumors have shrunk! We are all grateful. But due to the chemo, her immune system is not working well and so she couldn't attend the wedding. We missed her. My father could also not attend as he had a major blackout while driving right before Christmas and none of us felt it would be safe for him to drive from Texas. His wife cannot fly due to Stage III emphysema and he cannot leave her alone for that reason also. They could find nothing wrong with him at the hospital. So, again we are grateful. My parents have always been very healthy so this whole series of events was quite a shock to all of us.

My mom's doctor said she absolutely cannot be around children so Dan dropped me off for a couple of hours and I had lunch with her and talked and played cards. He took the girls to lunch and to play at the park. By the way, the weather was awesome most of the time we were in California! After picking me up, we headed to another edge of LA County, Long Beach. Arek and Becky picked the Queen Mary for their reception. But our room was not ready! So I took the girls to the bathroom and pretty much blocked everyone's way as I tried to find our outfits for the rehearsal somewhere in my giant suitcase. I am pretty neat most of the time, packing would be an exception.

It took some time to get the girls dressed as they were a little wild after being in the car so much. And Mia decided, of all times, that she did not want to get dressed in front of everyone. Really? Just a few weeks ago she was running around the house naked. Of course Dan could not help me in the woman's bathroom. Besides, he was busy trying to get someone to give us a room since he had to take a shower. We did get a room about 30 minutes before it was time to leave and he was able to get ready too. Then it was time to drive back across LA County to North Orange County where the church was!

The rehearsal went really well and then we all got to have a delicious meal from the Polish food truck!

Father of the Groom and Father of the Bride:

We were all excited that there would be no driving the next day!