I've really enjoyed the Harryisms and the descriptions about the wedding. I'm sorry to hear Harry is having some kind of reaction to something. Hope you find out soon what it is!
Tomorrow will be Emma's birthday party. Got the gift from Tommy and folks along with some hand me ups. Thanks, Lisa. I made my 2nd computer card attempt using a photo. I'm definitely not up to Sheryl standards!
Last weekend I hosted 2 girls (10 and 11) and their chaperone from Uganda. They were part of a choir of kids who lost one or both parents to Aids or to war who now live in a church sponsored "village"with 8 kids to a "mother" or "father". The village has schools, a clinic, a church, and basics. They performed at MVPC and then stayed 2 nights with members. I had thought to take them to DC or Mt Vernon and invite SMEE for dinner or desert, but the chaperone was sick, so we simply washed clothes, did homework, and watched one of my few movies. Guess what they chose: Lilli. It was fun to see it again. ( we were not to do anything without the chaperone being present.) Lisa, the website is www.watoto.com.
The Kennedy Center is putting on a fascinating group of programs, ARABESQUE, featuring various arab groups from around the world. We plan to go to the art exhibits and one of the Millenium Stage productions with Hermitage residents mid March.
Elinor and I are planning a 17 day trip to Australia with OAT on the 6th of August. Barbara probably won't go this year. She and Bob are planning two trips and she's just overwhelmed by work. Juan from Peru is living there and also the family of Vickie's son that died. Hope to visit them as well as hop around with the kangaroos. I will possibly join the church work trip to Guatemala in mid June and for sure will be going to Colorado in October for my college 50th reunion. Salazar is a CC grad, by the way. When he first came to the senate he spoke at a CC gathering.
Please let me know when any of you might be coming this way or if there is another time we might connect at the cabin or wherever.
Samuel is still trying to get me into this century. He showed me his myspace and facebook and we listened to some selections from CDs. Where do you all go to do that? Can anyone tell me what twitter is? Samuel and those at work I've asked don't know.
Love from Mom, GrandmaK and Gheema
Friday, February 20, 2009
More parental giggles
We have a Sandra Boynton book called, "Blue Hat, Green Hat" which shows several animals wearing pieces of clothing correctly, and a turkey with the clothing on the wrong body parts. We always say, "silly turkey."
One day Harry didn't want to put his socks on, so John asked if he could put the socks on Harry's ears. Then he put them on Harry's hands... and Harry grinned and said, "silly turkey!"
*****
Harry likes for us to tell him the storyline of his favorite movies while we're driving. One of his favorites lately has been "Shrek II." I was telling him, "Fiona's parents invited Fiona and Shrek to a royal ball."
Harry said, "It's yarn."
Me: "A ball of yarn?"
Harry: "Yes."
*****
John was changing Harry's diaper, and when he helped Harry to his feet, he said, "Ups-a-daisy!"
Harry said, "Papa, I'm not a daisy!"
One day Harry didn't want to put his socks on, so John asked if he could put the socks on Harry's ears. Then he put them on Harry's hands... and Harry grinned and said, "silly turkey!"
*****
Harry likes for us to tell him the storyline of his favorite movies while we're driving. One of his favorites lately has been "Shrek II." I was telling him, "Fiona's parents invited Fiona and Shrek to a royal ball."
Harry said, "It's yarn."
Me: "A ball of yarn?"
Harry: "Yes."
*****
John was changing Harry's diaper, and when he helped Harry to his feet, he said, "Ups-a-daisy!"
Harry said, "Papa, I'm not a daisy!"
Allergy tests for Harry
Harry has unfortunately been throwing up on a semi-regular basis: on three out of the past four weekends, he threw up one time each weekend... except for the three-day weekend, when he threw up twice. (He didn't get sick on our wedding weekend, but he did have something that looked like a mild allergic reaction to something, so we're hoping he'll look okay in the photos.) However, he isn't getting sick during the week when he's at school, so we've been trying to isolate what it is at home that might be making him sick. The doc agreed with us that it COULD just be a series of viruses, but we're all skeptical.
We thought it might be soy - he drinks much more of it on weekends than he does on weekdays, and when we took him off soymilk for the week of the wedding, he didn't get sick. When we put him back on his normal weekend dose, he got sick again. Then we took him back off it and he got sick after eating a burger that we later found out was made with soybeans. So we thought we had a smoking gun for a soy allergy, but took him in to the doctor to see what they suggested.
They took blood to run some tests. The results for Celiac's disease won't come back until next week, but the doc said she doesn't think it's very likely that Harry has that. But the good news is that the general bloodwork (hemoglobin, white blood cells, electrolytes, liver function, etc.) all looks fine, and Harry's test results didn't show any allergies to any of the following (the normal battery of allergy tests for toddlers):
dogs
cats
cockroaches
house mites
egg whites
codfish
peanuts
soybeans
wheat
shrimp
walnuts
milk
and a few other environmental things like cladosporium, which we think is a kind of mold.
So we're thrilled that he isn't testing positive for any allergies, but still confused about what could be making him sick! Now we're keeping a food journal for him over the next few weeks and look for any patterns if he gets sick again - any foods that might be triggers, or any associated symptoms. Hopefully, any pattern will show up there... or even better, maybe it will just not reoccur.
We're going to keep him on ricemilk for the next several weeks and then try to slowly transition him to cow's milk (he doesn't like the taste of cow's milk, or we'd just have him start drinking that right now, but we're hoping we can get him accustomed to the taste if we mix it with ricemilk). If for some reason, his system isn't happy with the soymilk even though he's not showing an actual allergic reaction, we hope that getting him off of it will let his system calm down enough that it can deal with the normal amount of soy we all get in our normal diets.
We thought it might be soy - he drinks much more of it on weekends than he does on weekdays, and when we took him off soymilk for the week of the wedding, he didn't get sick. When we put him back on his normal weekend dose, he got sick again. Then we took him back off it and he got sick after eating a burger that we later found out was made with soybeans. So we thought we had a smoking gun for a soy allergy, but took him in to the doctor to see what they suggested.
They took blood to run some tests. The results for Celiac's disease won't come back until next week, but the doc said she doesn't think it's very likely that Harry has that. But the good news is that the general bloodwork (hemoglobin, white blood cells, electrolytes, liver function, etc.) all looks fine, and Harry's test results didn't show any allergies to any of the following (the normal battery of allergy tests for toddlers):
dogs
cats
cockroaches
house mites
egg whites
codfish
peanuts
soybeans
wheat
shrimp
walnuts
milk
and a few other environmental things like cladosporium, which we think is a kind of mold.
So we're thrilled that he isn't testing positive for any allergies, but still confused about what could be making him sick! Now we're keeping a food journal for him over the next few weeks and look for any patterns if he gets sick again - any foods that might be triggers, or any associated symptoms. Hopefully, any pattern will show up there... or even better, maybe it will just not reoccur.
We're going to keep him on ricemilk for the next several weeks and then try to slowly transition him to cow's milk (he doesn't like the taste of cow's milk, or we'd just have him start drinking that right now, but we're hoping we can get him accustomed to the taste if we mix it with ricemilk). If for some reason, his system isn't happy with the soymilk even though he's not showing an actual allergic reaction, we hope that getting him off of it will let his system calm down enough that it can deal with the normal amount of soy we all get in our normal diets.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Other Wedding Details... ad nauseum
When John said he wanted to get married, I said that I didn't care how we accomplished it - the only things I definitely wanted to have were: a nice dress, a good picture, and real flowers. So when we moved the wedding up to February, I took a few long lunch hours and went dress shopping! I should have asked the shopgirls for help getting in and out of the dresses, but since I didn't have a friend along and since I wasn't trying on actual wedding gowns, I thought I could do it on my own. But I really wanted a full-length dress, and some of those dresses were pretty heavy... so I actually slightly injured my shoulder from trying to get into and zip up a bunch of wedding dresses!!! Not exactly sure what that injury would be called... ;D
But I ended up with a cream-colored silk suit - long-sleeved with French cuffs, and a straight skirt cut just below the knee. Very Jackie Kennedy, especially with the fab shoes I bought! I had really wanted something long and flowing, but I kept coming back to this suit - it was much more flattering on me than most of the other dresses I tried on, and it just felt right. I wasn't planning on a veil, but the owner of the dress shop put a smallish veil on me and we decided to dispose of one of the two layers of tulle, and then it felt right.
Actually, the funny thing is that I went to the Colorado Mills mall (the local version of Potomac Mills) and just thought I'd kind of get an idea of what kind of dresses looked good on me... and the first shop I went into ended up being the place where I bought my dress, veil, and shoes, and found someone to do wedding flowers (a friend of the owner). They even steamed Bailey's dress for free.
We bought John's suit (charcoal-gray pinstriped) the week after I got my suit, and we managed to find suits for both Oliver and Harry that looked fairly similar to John's. They all wore white shirts with ties in shades of cream and gold and yellow - which sounds kind of weird but looked great.
I realized that turning Bailey loose on a mall the day before the wedding was a really bad idea - she's a total clotheshorse, so it would have taken all day for her to decide on one dress. So I dragged John and Harry around the weekend before and got a dress and matching sweater in several different sizes (so we could find the best fit) - she wore a sleeveless sage-green dress with flowers, leaves, and vines embroidered all over it, with a cream-colored dressy sweater over it. John described it to her over the phone about a week before the wedding, and she said, "Oh, it sounds beautiful!" John said, "Do you know what embroidery is?" She said, "No, but it still sounds beautiful!" :D
Harry was sick (pneumonia) two weeks before the wedding, then John was sick the weekend before (fever), then Harry was sick again a few days before the wedding (fever and throwing up... usually on me). So we tried to get as much done prior to the week of, but unfortunately were a bit behind.
Mom sent the cake on Wednesday and I got it on Thursday, so it had time to thaw before the wedding. John went to pick up Oliver and Bailey on Thursday, so they arrived late Thursday afternoon. Then we all had dinner and basically went straight to bed.
On Friday, Harry went to school, and I split the day between working and running wedding errands. We had bought most of Harry's outfit but needed the last few things (shirt and tie); we had a dress and sweater for Bailey but needed shoes and tights and a hair clip; and we needed to dress Oliver from the ground up (I didn't know his sizes so couldn't pre-shop for him the way I had for Harry and Bailey). So John and O and B spent pretty much all day shopping and getting a haircut for Oliver, and I met them for a few hours to help with the shopping details.
Then I went off to deal with the wedding flowers. The woman who did the flowers had created a beautiful little flower arrangement in a basket for Bailey and had made two nice boutonnieres for John and Oliver... but she had apparently forgotten the boutonniere for Harry and my flowers were just... nice. They were perfectly pretty but just looked like she had clumped together some cream roses, some pink spray roses, some cream/pink lisianthus, and some lilac asters and wrapped a pink ribbon around them... which I could have done myself. I'd been hoping for something with a little more oomph, so I decided I'd go to a flower shop and buy some statice or waxflower and just shove little pieces of it among the flowers to give it a little excitement. But I went to a florist and the wedding consultant offered to redo the bouquet for free... so for the price of a few stems of flowers, she turned the bouquet from nice to absolutely gorgeous in about 20 minutes. I was SO happy with the redone bouquet! I actually have it on my desk now and it still looks nice, and I'm planning to hang it to dry and see how well that works. If not - oh well - I'll have had a beautiful bouquet for a week!
Friday night we had our usual pizza-and-movie night... Papa John's was running a valentine special with heart-shaped pizzas :) and we couldn't resist, and we watched about half of the first Harry Potter movie - we're all fans, even our Harry! Then a bath for each of the kids and off to bed. John and I stayed up a bit later, getting all the clothing staged to put in the car the next morning, and trying to find a nice place to go to lunch - John's brother Jim had offered to take the kids after the wedding so they could spend some play time with their uncle, aunt, and cousin while John and I had a quiet lunch. So we decided to go a bit upscale and looked for a really nice restaurant... but two of the four places we investigated had gone out of business, and two were not open for Saturday lunch! So we finally gave up and went to bed. Neither one of us slept really well the night before the wedding - a little bit of cold feet plus hoping we wouldn't forget anything important.
The next morning was crazy - getting John and me showered and ready plus getting the kids ready plus packing the car, etc. - at one point, John couldn't find the license, and we had to make sure the kids had toys for their stay at their Uncle Jim's house, etc. Finally we all got on our way!
We got up to the church a bit late, so we had planned to start the wedding around 10:30am but it actually started closer to 11am. Everyone looked gorgeous and we pinned a little pink spray rose onto Harry's jacket for a boutonniere... but he wanted to carry one, too (since Bailey and I were carrying flowers!) So I broke off another pink rose and he carried it in and held it for at least half of the service. I actually don't remember how we all processed in - I'll have to check the photos! I think Bailey and Oliver went in front and then John and Harry and I went in together? Or maybe the three kids went in together and then John and I walked behind them.
We were supposed to process in to "This Is My Father's World" (a beautiful hymn plus great words) but the organist was having so much fun with Bach that we got to the front before he switched gears, so Vic just started the service and then announced "This Is My Father's World" as a musical interlude, which was fine.
Then we had the ceremony, which was beautiful - John got a bit teary during the vows, which of course got me choked up, but we managed all the necessary words. :) Harry filled his diaper somewhere in the first five minutes and lost patience with standing after a little while, so he climbed the two stairs at the altar and jumped back down several times, sat on one of the stairs, rolled around on the floor, kicked off a shoe (and then put it back on), patted the minister, ran off down the aisle, etc. We had hired the minister's granddaughter to look after Harry but said that we wanted him with us as much as possible, so we just let him do his thing and didn't worry about it.
Then after the ceremony, we signed the license and took pictures, then Uncle Jim came and got the kids changed and drove off with them. We took lots more pictures (the photographer kept saying, "Okay, I think we're done - no, wait - do that thing again, that was really cute!" so it took a bit longer than we had anticipated).
Then we ended up eating at the Vietnamese restaurant in Evergreen - we've been there before, but the food is great and the atmosphere is nice... and the service is incredibly slow, which was perfect for this occasion since we didn't need to worry about Harry's appetite/patience. Several people did a doubletake as they saw my veil and John's boutonniere and we got some congratulations. Fun! And it was really nice to have a little time on our own to get used to being married. :)
Then we changed and picked up the kids - offered them a choice of going to a movie or eating at Red Robin, and they chose Red Robin (which we didn't expect). So we all had dinner and got balloons and went home. We cut pieces of wedding cake (which survived the shipping beautifully - looked like we'd picked it up at the bakery ourselves) and since the tradition of the bride and groom feeding each other cake is to symbolize that they will nurture and feed each other, we decided that John and I would feed cake to each other and then each of us would feed cake to each of the kids. :) Unfortunately, Harry was exhausted from playing so hard all day, so he fell asleep on John's lap while we were getting the cake cut, so we had to postpone feeding him cake for another day!
Then the kids all went off to bed and John and I had a little time to breathe a sigh of relief that it was all over and had gone so well... but we didn't stay up long because we were pretty tired, ourselves!
The next day, John had to drive Oliver and Bailey home and Harry and I just stayed home and had a quiet day.
In some ways, I wish you all could have been there... but in other ways, I really enjoyed the quiet, intimate nature of it all. It was a beautiful way to start our married life together.
My friends at work tease me by asking periodically, "So, how's married life?" And I have to say... so far, so good!
But I ended up with a cream-colored silk suit - long-sleeved with French cuffs, and a straight skirt cut just below the knee. Very Jackie Kennedy, especially with the fab shoes I bought! I had really wanted something long and flowing, but I kept coming back to this suit - it was much more flattering on me than most of the other dresses I tried on, and it just felt right. I wasn't planning on a veil, but the owner of the dress shop put a smallish veil on me and we decided to dispose of one of the two layers of tulle, and then it felt right.
Actually, the funny thing is that I went to the Colorado Mills mall (the local version of Potomac Mills) and just thought I'd kind of get an idea of what kind of dresses looked good on me... and the first shop I went into ended up being the place where I bought my dress, veil, and shoes, and found someone to do wedding flowers (a friend of the owner). They even steamed Bailey's dress for free.
We bought John's suit (charcoal-gray pinstriped) the week after I got my suit, and we managed to find suits for both Oliver and Harry that looked fairly similar to John's. They all wore white shirts with ties in shades of cream and gold and yellow - which sounds kind of weird but looked great.
I realized that turning Bailey loose on a mall the day before the wedding was a really bad idea - she's a total clotheshorse, so it would have taken all day for her to decide on one dress. So I dragged John and Harry around the weekend before and got a dress and matching sweater in several different sizes (so we could find the best fit) - she wore a sleeveless sage-green dress with flowers, leaves, and vines embroidered all over it, with a cream-colored dressy sweater over it. John described it to her over the phone about a week before the wedding, and she said, "Oh, it sounds beautiful!" John said, "Do you know what embroidery is?" She said, "No, but it still sounds beautiful!" :D
Harry was sick (pneumonia) two weeks before the wedding, then John was sick the weekend before (fever), then Harry was sick again a few days before the wedding (fever and throwing up... usually on me). So we tried to get as much done prior to the week of, but unfortunately were a bit behind.
Mom sent the cake on Wednesday and I got it on Thursday, so it had time to thaw before the wedding. John went to pick up Oliver and Bailey on Thursday, so they arrived late Thursday afternoon. Then we all had dinner and basically went straight to bed.
On Friday, Harry went to school, and I split the day between working and running wedding errands. We had bought most of Harry's outfit but needed the last few things (shirt and tie); we had a dress and sweater for Bailey but needed shoes and tights and a hair clip; and we needed to dress Oliver from the ground up (I didn't know his sizes so couldn't pre-shop for him the way I had for Harry and Bailey). So John and O and B spent pretty much all day shopping and getting a haircut for Oliver, and I met them for a few hours to help with the shopping details.
Then I went off to deal with the wedding flowers. The woman who did the flowers had created a beautiful little flower arrangement in a basket for Bailey and had made two nice boutonnieres for John and Oliver... but she had apparently forgotten the boutonniere for Harry and my flowers were just... nice. They were perfectly pretty but just looked like she had clumped together some cream roses, some pink spray roses, some cream/pink lisianthus, and some lilac asters and wrapped a pink ribbon around them... which I could have done myself. I'd been hoping for something with a little more oomph, so I decided I'd go to a flower shop and buy some statice or waxflower and just shove little pieces of it among the flowers to give it a little excitement. But I went to a florist and the wedding consultant offered to redo the bouquet for free... so for the price of a few stems of flowers, she turned the bouquet from nice to absolutely gorgeous in about 20 minutes. I was SO happy with the redone bouquet! I actually have it on my desk now and it still looks nice, and I'm planning to hang it to dry and see how well that works. If not - oh well - I'll have had a beautiful bouquet for a week!
Friday night we had our usual pizza-and-movie night... Papa John's was running a valentine special with heart-shaped pizzas :) and we couldn't resist, and we watched about half of the first Harry Potter movie - we're all fans, even our Harry! Then a bath for each of the kids and off to bed. John and I stayed up a bit later, getting all the clothing staged to put in the car the next morning, and trying to find a nice place to go to lunch - John's brother Jim had offered to take the kids after the wedding so they could spend some play time with their uncle, aunt, and cousin while John and I had a quiet lunch. So we decided to go a bit upscale and looked for a really nice restaurant... but two of the four places we investigated had gone out of business, and two were not open for Saturday lunch! So we finally gave up and went to bed. Neither one of us slept really well the night before the wedding - a little bit of cold feet plus hoping we wouldn't forget anything important.
The next morning was crazy - getting John and me showered and ready plus getting the kids ready plus packing the car, etc. - at one point, John couldn't find the license, and we had to make sure the kids had toys for their stay at their Uncle Jim's house, etc. Finally we all got on our way!
We got up to the church a bit late, so we had planned to start the wedding around 10:30am but it actually started closer to 11am. Everyone looked gorgeous and we pinned a little pink spray rose onto Harry's jacket for a boutonniere... but he wanted to carry one, too (since Bailey and I were carrying flowers!) So I broke off another pink rose and he carried it in and held it for at least half of the service. I actually don't remember how we all processed in - I'll have to check the photos! I think Bailey and Oliver went in front and then John and Harry and I went in together? Or maybe the three kids went in together and then John and I walked behind them.
We were supposed to process in to "This Is My Father's World" (a beautiful hymn plus great words) but the organist was having so much fun with Bach that we got to the front before he switched gears, so Vic just started the service and then announced "This Is My Father's World" as a musical interlude, which was fine.
Then we had the ceremony, which was beautiful - John got a bit teary during the vows, which of course got me choked up, but we managed all the necessary words. :) Harry filled his diaper somewhere in the first five minutes and lost patience with standing after a little while, so he climbed the two stairs at the altar and jumped back down several times, sat on one of the stairs, rolled around on the floor, kicked off a shoe (and then put it back on), patted the minister, ran off down the aisle, etc. We had hired the minister's granddaughter to look after Harry but said that we wanted him with us as much as possible, so we just let him do his thing and didn't worry about it.
Then after the ceremony, we signed the license and took pictures, then Uncle Jim came and got the kids changed and drove off with them. We took lots more pictures (the photographer kept saying, "Okay, I think we're done - no, wait - do that thing again, that was really cute!" so it took a bit longer than we had anticipated).
Then we ended up eating at the Vietnamese restaurant in Evergreen - we've been there before, but the food is great and the atmosphere is nice... and the service is incredibly slow, which was perfect for this occasion since we didn't need to worry about Harry's appetite/patience. Several people did a doubletake as they saw my veil and John's boutonniere and we got some congratulations. Fun! And it was really nice to have a little time on our own to get used to being married. :)
Then we changed and picked up the kids - offered them a choice of going to a movie or eating at Red Robin, and they chose Red Robin (which we didn't expect). So we all had dinner and got balloons and went home. We cut pieces of wedding cake (which survived the shipping beautifully - looked like we'd picked it up at the bakery ourselves) and since the tradition of the bride and groom feeding each other cake is to symbolize that they will nurture and feed each other, we decided that John and I would feed cake to each other and then each of us would feed cake to each of the kids. :) Unfortunately, Harry was exhausted from playing so hard all day, so he fell asleep on John's lap while we were getting the cake cut, so we had to postpone feeding him cake for another day!
Then the kids all went off to bed and John and I had a little time to breathe a sigh of relief that it was all over and had gone so well... but we didn't stay up long because we were pretty tired, ourselves!
The next day, John had to drive Oliver and Bailey home and Harry and I just stayed home and had a quiet day.
In some ways, I wish you all could have been there... but in other ways, I really enjoyed the quiet, intimate nature of it all. It was a beautiful way to start our married life together.
My friends at work tease me by asking periodically, "So, how's married life?" And I have to say... so far, so good!
Transcription of J and K's wedding service
The Wedding of John Juhl and Kaylin Wood
MUSICAL PRELUDE: "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and "Sheep May Safely Graze"
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
We have come together today to witness the marriage of John Juhl and Kaylin Wood, to ask God’s blessing on you, and to share in your joy and commitment. In the ebb and flow of life we are given ritual and symbol by which and with which to mark the meaningful and the significant in the passing of our days. We are given feast days and fast days. This is a feast day, a day of celebration. I am happy for you. I am happy that Harry and Bailey and Oliver are here with you. I am happy for the blending of the old and the new on this special day in your life journey.
The Apostle John wrote that "God is love and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them."
Let us pray: Holy God, we thank you for John and Kaylin and for the love they share. That you should give us life is grace, but that you should give us someone special with whom to share life and love is grace upon grace. For this grace and for these two who love one another, and for their children, we offer a special prayer of blessing on them today and everyday as they make their journey together.
MUSICAL INTERLUDE: "This Is My Father's World"
THE RABBINIC TALE… (Vic, the minister, didn't write this down, but it's a story of two brothers who share a field. They grow the wheat together and harvest it together, then divide it in half and then each stores his own wheat in his own granary. At some point, one brother thinks, "I'm single but my brother is married and has several children. He needs more grain than I do." So, at night, he smuggles some of his own grain into his brother's granary. Around the same time, the other brother thinks, "I have several children who will take care of me in my old age, but my brother doesn't. He needs more grain than I do." So, at night, he smuggles some of his own grain into his brother's granary. This goes on until one night they run into each other... at which point, an angel appears and tells them that they have been such a good example of love, that God will build his temple there.)
Bring from the granary of your lives, from the rich storehouse of your gifts and talents, and from the treasury of your love that which you have received--from the fields of you common labors, from the rich and beautiful traditions of your faith, and from the nurture and nature of your families--and place them before each other in the home of hospitality and grace which you are building together. For if you bring what you have and who you are into this covenant journey you begin today in a special way, God will smile and build his temple within your lives.
READING: From 1 Corinthians 13
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends... And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
REFLECTIONS
John and Kaylin, your marriage is the establishment of a covenant, the making of a holiness in the common and ordinary things of life. And as with any covenant, there is profound risk and deep courage, there is steadfast faith and generous love, and there is a great sharing in all that life brings. Life will bring both joys and sorrows. So the marriage covenant turns out to be not only the sharing of ecstasy but also the sharing of tragedy. And we must say this if we are to say the truth and not turn the marriage ceremony into a damaging and ludicrous fantasy. Marriage turns out to be a life long education in forgiveness and sacrifice and suffering as well as joy and celebration and fulfillment. This is so because life is so. Strangely, as with all great risks in life, marriage offers both comfort and terror, suffering and pleasure, a mixture of great foible and profound depth.
But at the heart of your lives now is the making of this covenant, this holiness. It is the holiness of companionship and friendship. It is the holiness of commitment. It is the holiness of love and loving. It is the holiness of watching and waiting and hoping and being and doing and growing and sharing in the covenant of love.
John and Kaylin, receive this covenant today as a gift for your nourishment and fulfillment, undergirding your life together with forgiveness and grace. And may this gift of covenant love enable you to look back with gratitude, inward with understanding and acceptance, outward with compassion and conviction, and forward with expectation and hope. May your marriage bed be one of mutual fulfillment and respect. May your family table be one of open welcome and generosity, and may your common home be one of refuge, hidden in the sovereign love of the very heart of God.
THE CONSENT TO MARRIAGE
John, will you take Kaylin to be your wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and protect her, and forsaking all others be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?
Kaylin, will you take John to be your husband? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and protect him, and forsaking all others be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?
THE WEDDING VOWS
I, John, take you, Kaylin, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy law. This is my solemn vow.
I, Kaylin, take you, John, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy law. This is my solemn vow.
THE EXCHANGE OF RINGS
Wedding rings are exchanged as symbols of unending love and faithfulness, to remind us of the vow and the covenant which we make with our beloved.
Let us pray: Holy God, bless Kaylin and John as they exchange rings this day and declare their love and their intentions for life together.
Both will now say in turn, starting with John, then Kaylin:
I give you a ring as a sign of our marriage. With my body I honor you, all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you, within the love of God.
THE WEDDING PRAYER (John, Kaylin, Oliver, Bailey, and Harry joined hands; Vic wrapped his stole around John and Kaylin's joined hands to symbolize God's love surrounding us)
Holy God, we praise you for all the ways love comes into our lives. We pray especially for John and Kaylin as they share their lives together. We thank you for bringing them together. We thank you for their growth in love and trust. We thank you for the families from which they come and for the family which they make together. Give them strength, loyalty, faithfulness, joy, fulfillment, honesty, patience and an abiding respect and love. Amen.
PRONOUNCEMENT OF MARRIAGE
In the presence of God and before all of us, John and Kaylin have given their consent and made their marriage vows to each other. They have declared their marriage by the joining of hands and the giving and receiving of rings. I therefore pronounce that they are husband and wife.
KISS
POSTLUDE: "Ode to Joy"
MUSICAL PRELUDE: "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and "Sheep May Safely Graze"
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
We have come together today to witness the marriage of John Juhl and Kaylin Wood, to ask God’s blessing on you, and to share in your joy and commitment. In the ebb and flow of life we are given ritual and symbol by which and with which to mark the meaningful and the significant in the passing of our days. We are given feast days and fast days. This is a feast day, a day of celebration. I am happy for you. I am happy that Harry and Bailey and Oliver are here with you. I am happy for the blending of the old and the new on this special day in your life journey.
The Apostle John wrote that "God is love and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them."
Let us pray: Holy God, we thank you for John and Kaylin and for the love they share. That you should give us life is grace, but that you should give us someone special with whom to share life and love is grace upon grace. For this grace and for these two who love one another, and for their children, we offer a special prayer of blessing on them today and everyday as they make their journey together.
MUSICAL INTERLUDE: "This Is My Father's World"
THE RABBINIC TALE… (Vic, the minister, didn't write this down, but it's a story of two brothers who share a field. They grow the wheat together and harvest it together, then divide it in half and then each stores his own wheat in his own granary. At some point, one brother thinks, "I'm single but my brother is married and has several children. He needs more grain than I do." So, at night, he smuggles some of his own grain into his brother's granary. Around the same time, the other brother thinks, "I have several children who will take care of me in my old age, but my brother doesn't. He needs more grain than I do." So, at night, he smuggles some of his own grain into his brother's granary. This goes on until one night they run into each other... at which point, an angel appears and tells them that they have been such a good example of love, that God will build his temple there.)
Bring from the granary of your lives, from the rich storehouse of your gifts and talents, and from the treasury of your love that which you have received--from the fields of you common labors, from the rich and beautiful traditions of your faith, and from the nurture and nature of your families--and place them before each other in the home of hospitality and grace which you are building together. For if you bring what you have and who you are into this covenant journey you begin today in a special way, God will smile and build his temple within your lives.
READING: From 1 Corinthians 13
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends... And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
REFLECTIONS
John and Kaylin, your marriage is the establishment of a covenant, the making of a holiness in the common and ordinary things of life. And as with any covenant, there is profound risk and deep courage, there is steadfast faith and generous love, and there is a great sharing in all that life brings. Life will bring both joys and sorrows. So the marriage covenant turns out to be not only the sharing of ecstasy but also the sharing of tragedy. And we must say this if we are to say the truth and not turn the marriage ceremony into a damaging and ludicrous fantasy. Marriage turns out to be a life long education in forgiveness and sacrifice and suffering as well as joy and celebration and fulfillment. This is so because life is so. Strangely, as with all great risks in life, marriage offers both comfort and terror, suffering and pleasure, a mixture of great foible and profound depth.
But at the heart of your lives now is the making of this covenant, this holiness. It is the holiness of companionship and friendship. It is the holiness of commitment. It is the holiness of love and loving. It is the holiness of watching and waiting and hoping and being and doing and growing and sharing in the covenant of love.
John and Kaylin, receive this covenant today as a gift for your nourishment and fulfillment, undergirding your life together with forgiveness and grace. And may this gift of covenant love enable you to look back with gratitude, inward with understanding and acceptance, outward with compassion and conviction, and forward with expectation and hope. May your marriage bed be one of mutual fulfillment and respect. May your family table be one of open welcome and generosity, and may your common home be one of refuge, hidden in the sovereign love of the very heart of God.
THE CONSENT TO MARRIAGE
John, will you take Kaylin to be your wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and protect her, and forsaking all others be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?
Kaylin, will you take John to be your husband? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and protect him, and forsaking all others be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?
THE WEDDING VOWS
I, John, take you, Kaylin, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy law. This is my solemn vow.
I, Kaylin, take you, John, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy law. This is my solemn vow.
THE EXCHANGE OF RINGS
Wedding rings are exchanged as symbols of unending love and faithfulness, to remind us of the vow and the covenant which we make with our beloved.
Let us pray: Holy God, bless Kaylin and John as they exchange rings this day and declare their love and their intentions for life together.
Both will now say in turn, starting with John, then Kaylin:
I give you a ring as a sign of our marriage. With my body I honor you, all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you, within the love of God.
THE WEDDING PRAYER (John, Kaylin, Oliver, Bailey, and Harry joined hands; Vic wrapped his stole around John and Kaylin's joined hands to symbolize God's love surrounding us)
Holy God, we praise you for all the ways love comes into our lives. We pray especially for John and Kaylin as they share their lives together. We thank you for bringing them together. We thank you for their growth in love and trust. We thank you for the families from which they come and for the family which they make together. Give them strength, loyalty, faithfulness, joy, fulfillment, honesty, patience and an abiding respect and love. Amen.
PRONOUNCEMENT OF MARRIAGE
In the presence of God and before all of us, John and Kaylin have given their consent and made their marriage vows to each other. They have declared their marriage by the joining of hands and the giving and receiving of rings. I therefore pronounce that they are husband and wife.
KISS
POSTLUDE: "Ode to Joy"
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