This is going to be long…it can't be helped. I have tried to use FB more, but
still feel drawn to this blog. This post
is more of a memoir for a few of us.
Some of you may remember the post I did about Joanna.
It may help some understand this great
“only God can orchestrate” connection we now have with her and her new husband,
André. On March 29, 2012, Joanna married André
Abrantes…so the story goes…
Back in September, 2011, we were Skyping with Joanna and
André and they popped the question…could Caleb be the ring bearer in their
wedding! We immediately said yes. We prepared him for the day he would see her
again (he had not seen her in person since November 2010) and the day he would
walk down the aisle for Joanna and André.
They also sent him a book called When
I was a Ring Bearer. They are so thoughtful. This helped him understand what he was going
to do, but also is a memory book of the wedding.
We left for Costa Mesa, California on Thursday, March 29th. The flights were uneventful and Caleb did
exceptionally well. When we landed at
John Wayne Airport we found the escalator down to where we needed to call for
the hotel cab AND there they were, both Joanna and André!!! This was such a special gift. You see, Joanna offered and asked if we
needed a ride and I told her that we were going to just call the hotel services
to get us, which is free for those that stay at the hotel. It is not that we did not want them to pick
us up; it is that they had A LOT of out of town family and we did not want to
pull them away from them. It was so cute
to see them together…holding hands…Joanna carrying him, his arms around her and
smiling like all the photos we had been seeing while waiting for Caleb to come
home. It was a short trip to the hotel
and we decided we wanted to unpack and get dinner and that we would see them
the next day for the rehearsal.
We arrived at Mariner’s Chapel in Irvine with the help of
Joanna’s good friend, Amanda, picking us up and bringing us there. It was the most beautiful church campus I
have ever seen. The chapel, which we
learned is only used for funerals and weddings, was absolutely beautiful.
We knew Joanna had a lot going on, but when Caleb saw her
come in he could not resist. He needed
to be by her, but my instinct was to tell him to stay by us. At one point I could not help it, I had to
let him go, he just wanted a hug and here it is…
After the rehearsal we went to Jim and Lisa’s home (Joanna’s
Mom and Dad). It was so awesome being
there and engaging in conversation with her family as well as André’s. They all made us feel so welcome. We also had the greatest Armenian
meal. Lisa made most of the food and
many of Joanna’s family members helped and were at the house for when we all
arrived. I could see the closeness of this
family and seeing that made it even more special. We spent some hours there then Amanda was
able to bring us back to our hotel.
(Thank you, Amanda, for your kindness).
We got to the end (to where the ferry takes you over to the
coast) and we did not think we had time to go across. We spoke to a local and he said it will take
two minutes, so we jumped on! We had to
walk about 5 minutes to get to the ocean. We can say we were there. We saw Ruby’s Diner on Balboa Pier. It was windy and overcast there, but I didn’t
care. I just wanted to be there and
Caleb did too, until….I was shooting photos and Tim and Caleb were heading to
the water. Mind you, we did not bring
suits or towels or anything we just rolled up our pants….they kept walking
toward the water as it was receding and all of the sudden a wave came in toward
them, Tim starts running back toward me and Caleb too, but Caleb falls and the
wave covers him along with all the sand his body could hold. I freak out because Tim is running away and
all I can think of is Caleb being swept away out to sea! Keep in mind I do not see the ocean but once
every 15 years or so. The sound is
awesome, but can also be a little eerie when a situation arises like this!
I pick him up and he is a little whiny about what just
happened. We get him to dry land and
start wiping him off. We had to take his
shirt off and make him wear his coat. He
is shivering. We have no extra
clothes. We have a 45 minute walk back
to the place the van will pick us up.
At this point I am laughing at Tim, wishing I could have
gotten that on video—Tim running away, while I am running toward him and our
son is being swallowed by a wave. We
joke about it now, but it was a scary moment for me and Caleb.
We walk back, get back to our hotel and it is just enough
time to get Caleb in the shower and dressed.
We get dressed and off we go to the wedding!
We get there for photos and Caleb is off with the guys and
Joanna most of the time (they had separate rooms for the wedding party). I felt somewhat guilty that I could not watch
my child at times and kept asking the guys and Joanna if he was being good and
letting them know if he was too much, that we are here and will take him. It was one of those overprotective,
not-wanting others to think we are pawning our kid off on them, motherly
things. They always said he was being
good and that they were fine with him around.
Then the wedding time came around.
Tim and I were seated in the front row of André’s side of the family, just
in case Caleb was restless. Tim was
asked to film the wedding with André’s Ipad so that all the people they know
that could not be at the wedding, especially from Portugal, could see the
wedding in live time.
The wedding started at 5pm and was just beautiful. The wedding lasted 70 minutes and was
completely God-filled. Caleb lasted the
whole time up on stage, now don’t get me wrong, he was restless, but those
moments were precious. Greg, Joanna’s
brother, was an awesome guide for Caleb.
He would help pull Caleb back when he would stray too close Joanna and
André. He would hold his shoulders in
front of him to try and keep him still.
I thank him so much for that.
During the service there were a few moments that were just so cute. The pastor at one point says something about
China and Caleb talks out loud, looking at me “China, I was in China!” It was the cutest thing. Another part was when the pastor asks for the
rings and Greg is getting out the ring while Caleb walks toward the pastor to
give him the pillow (of course it has the rings on it!). That was very cute too and to think he was
paying attention! He stayed up on stage
the whole time! He walked out with the
whole wedding party and could not wait to be hanging around Joanna. J
Here is the link to the video of the wedding: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/onetruth-agfa
Then it was off to the reception…. and I had better start another post for that….
Here is the link to the video of the wedding: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/onetruth-agfa
Then it was off to the reception…. and I had better start another post for that….
Shaanxi Time
