“There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.”

This is one of the truest quotations that I could find about Christmas.
Now, don't take me wrong, Christmas is lovely. Amidst the chaos, the family drama and the fact that for several days we are plucked from our routines and expected to get along with one another, it's always possible to find some joy.
Some of my joy came today when my brother Chris sent a picture of my newest niece - Abbie, in the scarf that I knit for her (my first scarf, ever!)I think that she looks as if she's being consumed by some pink and purple monster - hopefully she'll grow into it!

So, Christmas was. And the 10 days on PEI were filled with some good get togethers with good friends, and (despite the yelling) loving family.
It was all summed up with a scrumptious feast - complete with 19 guests and 2 big dogs.


Lunch out with "the girls" - complete with great food and glorious laughter!
The Tree. 14 Feet. Need I say more?


Now you all know where Santa comes after he's delivered his presents - Morrison's Beach!

Some present opening...

Dinner with our very own Motley Crew!!!

So, there was chaos. And there were tears (sad and happy). There was frustration, and yelling and a couple restless nights. But there was also uncontrollable laughter, visits with old friends, town visits, warmth, comfort, good food and general good cheer.
And it was Christmas.
Perhaps the reason we're so out of control at Christmas is because we don't quite know how to put our love into words.

Merry Christmas!

Keep Me In Touch with My Dreams...

From a friend...

Guerrillas of Grace
Prayers for the Battle by Ted Loder

O Lord,
In the turbulence
And the loneliness of my living from day to day
And night to night,
Keep me in touch with my roots,
So I will remember where I came from and with whom;
Keep me in touch with my feelings,
So I will be more aware of who I really am
And what it costs;
Keep me in touch with my mind
So I will know who I am not
And what that means;
And keep me in touch with my dreams,
So I will grow toward where I want to go
And for whom.

O Lord,
Deliver me
From the arrogance of assuming I know enough to judge others;
Deliver me
From the timidity of presuming
I don’t know enough to help others;
Deliver me
From the illusion of claiming I have changed enough
When I have only risked little,
That, so liberated,
I will make some of the days to come different.

O Lord,
I ask not to be delivered
From the tensions that wind me tight,
But I do ask for
A sense of direction in which to move once wound,
A sense of humor about my disappointments,
A sense of respect for the elegant puzzlement of being human,
And a sense of gladness for your kingdom
Which comes in spite of my fretful pulling and tugging.

O Lord,
Nurture in me
The song of a lover,
The vision of a poet,
The questions of a child,
The boldness of a prophet,
The courage of a disciple.

O Lord,
It is said you created people
Because you love stories.Be with me as I live out my story.

A Toast

Here's to your coffin.
May your head rest on a pillow of the finest silk.
Here's to your coffin.
May your name be written on a plaque of solid gold.
Here's to your coffin.
May it be made from the wood of a hundred year old oak tree.
I will plant the seed for that tree tomorrow.

"Home is not where you live, but where they understand you..."

Today I arrived home.
Now lately, home has been a fairly vague word. Is it where we grew up? Is it where our parents live? Is it where our stuff is? Is it where the people we love are?
Right now, home is simply where I need to be.
I didn't plan to be in PEI for Christmas this year, but some unfortunate circumstances have lead to my arrival. I made the decision that for my first Christmas away from home, this was not to be the one.
So, last night, after a delicious pre-Christmas Christmas dinner, gifts from the L'Arche community and my Christmas angel (who just happened to be Maggie Sutherland!) I packed my bags. This morning I caught a shuttle to Truro, met my sister Alana and we made the trek to the Island.
We erected our 14 foot Christmas tree, which may now be a little shorter as the result of its run in with a chainsaw and my father, decorated and enjoyed the view.
As soon as the camera is charged, I'll take some pictures to share.

For now, I'll leave you with a quotation from our friend Oliver Wendell Holmes on what he considered home - what is home to you?

"Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts."

"We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness"

The power went out last night.
It was the perfect kind of storm - pouring rain, howling wind and then complete darkness.
It made helping everyone to bed a little difficult, but we managed (although I broke a flashlight in the process!) and we were able to retire to the livingroom and enjoy the peace of no power and only candles for light.

There's something about the quiet of a power outage that makes you yearn for a simpler life. I had my hearing tested this summer and the audiologist told me that the only thing wrong with my hearing was that " we live in a noisy world." The loss of power eliminates all of the humming and whirring that comes from kitchen appliances, and makes it necessary for us to rely on each other for entertainment. When the power would go off at my parents' house they would get me to play the piano. Last night, Ben made me play Beatles' tunes on my guitar. Perhaps having a weekly power outage would be good for us - keep us more closely knit and allow us to really enjoy each others' company.

So that was it. I loved the darkness. When the lights came back on it felt like a movie had ended, or that it was 3am at a club and they had turned on the lights - kind of disappointing.

Most quotations talk about the need for light in the darkness, but I suppose sometimes we should also look for some darkness in the midst of all the light.

Oh. And if you're listening to CBC tomorrow - I'm going to be on around 16:30 est :)

"I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars."

The days are getting shorter, and in more ways than the simple fact that the sun is setting earlier.

Life in Cape Breton has been filled with loneliness - happiness - worry - laughter - busy days - short nights - confusion - hope - understanding and all of the things that make life interesting and worth sticking around for.

There have been pictures and stories and adventures, but I'll leave them for now and go for a walk in the rain.

"First we make our habits, then our habits make us."

As per Lilly's request...

5 of my Weird Habits/Quirks

1. I count my fingers when I'm lying in bed in the morning. Perhaps it's paranoia - I want to make sure that they're still attached.

2. I hate putting my face underwater without a mask. Even after living near water for my entire life it freaks me out. I almost failed "orange" in Red Cross swimming lessons becaue I refused to put my face in the water when doing the front crawl.

3. Not being able to see open water for an extended period of time makes me incredibly anxious.

4. I can't get into a car at night without checking the backseat. I then spend the next 20 minutes checking the rearview mirror waiting for someone to appear and try to murder me.

5. I have over-active tear ducts. This means that I cry about everything - happy things, sad things, television commercials or slightly heartwarming stories. It's a family trait.

O Great Spirit whose voice we hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to all the world,
Hear Us, We are small and weak.
We come to you in mind to find strength and wisdom.
Let us walk in beauty and make our eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make our hands respect the things you have made and our ears sharp to hear you voice.
Make us wise so that we may understand the things you have taught our relatives.
Let us learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
We seek strength, not to be greater than our brothers and sisters,
but to fight our greatest enemy-ourselves.
Make us always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset, our spirit may come to you without shame.

"A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us" - Nietzsche

Well, there are lots of thoughts on my mind this evening.
I've just about finished another "day-away" at L'Arche Cape Breton, and I've finally had the chance to sit down and read the news.
Things are not good my friends.
But they also haven't changed.
There are still people dying in Kenya and Niger.
People are still being killed in Iraq (a conflict that was supposed to end, what - 2 years ago?)
Natural disasters continue to strike, and governments still aren't prepared for them.
People continue to die on the Gaza strip.
The Roman Catholic church continues to forget its Christian ideals of inclusion and focus more on keeping the "immoral" people out.
There are fears of terrorism, worries about oil and famous people receiving more publicity because they've used drugs.

Some changes?
Well, the IRA finally seems to be serious about disarmament. That's a start at least.

Some incredibly great news for the week:
The newest addition to the Batchilder family has arrived : Abigail Juliette
Proud Parents: Chris and Chantal
Proud Brother: Oliver
And everyone else is just beaming. She's beautiful - of course, what did you expect from a Batchilder woman?


Life at L'Arche Cape Breton continues to be wonderful.
Hopefully (for at least a little while) Abby will only have to see the "L'Arche Cape Breton" side of the world.

Square Dancing, Mabou Style

Last Saturday night, several folks from L'Arche hit the boards at the West Mabou Square Dance.
That's right - the West Mabou Square Dance.
Now, I always thought that square dancing was something done in country dance halls with big skirts and cowboy boots. Turns out that they do it in Mabou as well, but the dress code isn't as strict.
I sat the first few sets out, taking everything in and attempting to figure out just what was going on. My first dance partner was a "senior" dancer from Whycocomagh who walked me through every step. Luckily, I was well trained in the "Melissa Batchilder School of Step Dancing" and I was thoroughly prepared to show off some of my fancy footwork.
My next partner was not as skilled in the fine art of the square dance however - Cathy, my house leader and I stepped into the circle hoping that we could figure things out on our own. Square dancing is much easier if you have a male partner as it's then much easier to know who to follow when you start splitting up. [For those of you not familiar with square dancing, the third set involves the couples splitting up and following a grandiose arc of people, forming lines of men and women and then meeting up with your partner.] Unfortunately, when the splitting up occured, I was put in charge of leading Cathy Brady (one of the core members - a very tiny woman with Downs Syndrome) and this lead to me grabbing her and pulling her to one side, then running to the other side, meeting up with my partner, and laughing so hysterically that I could barely breathe.
Some of the other dancers were not particularly impressed, but they slipped in to better humour as we gradually figured out how the formation thing worked!

And of course, the West Mabou Square Dance would not be complete without the classic pick-up line that I encountered as we were leaving; As I crossed the floor, one of the only gentlemen my age in the entire place (and a very good step dancer to boot) approached me, asked if we were leaving and then insisted that I looked familiar. "You're Erin McDougall from Iona - right?" I laughed, and shook my head... and he finished by telling me that I had a beautiful smile and that he hoped he'd see me back at the West Mabou Square Dance.

So, I may be the Woman from Mabou yet - we'll just have to wait and see!

"When the music changes, so does the dance"

Finally, a "day-away".
These happen once a week. I've been enjoying some down time, which included a run/walk (who am I kidding?) this morning and a bike ride into the village of Whycocomagh this afternoon.
My visit should only technically last until this Wednesday, and after that I'll be able to get into the full swing of things - learning routines and taking part in day programs!

Some things I've learned after being here for only 4 days...

- "Home" isn't a place that has to develop. Sometimes is just exists. Sometimes it just means that you're in the right place at the right time.
- 18 year old German boys are stubborn. This is not a generalization, this is fact.
- 18 year old German boys that are only children and grow up with their parents in an apartment in Berlin don't know how to do laundry, or cook, or clean.
- Love doesn't have a time limit.
- Love at first sight doesn't have to necessarily have anything to do with romance
- We all have a lot of things to learn.

For some lovely pictures from PEI - check out my sister's blog Keep the Faith on the side bar.

Love
Haley.

Starting to understand...

"My grandfather was a painter ... was looking at me and he said "Harry, there are two kinds of tired, there's good-tired, and there's bad-tired. Ironically enough, bad-tired can be a day that you won. But you won other people's battles, you lived other people's days, other peoples agendas, other people's dreams - and when it was all over there was very little "you" in there, and when you hit the hay at night, somehow you toss and turn, you don't settle easy. Good-tired, ironically enough, can be a day that you lost. But you don't have to tell yourself, because you knew you fought your battles, you chased your dreams, you lived your days, and when you hit the hay at night, you settle easy - you sleep the sleep of the just, and you can say "take me away". Now, Harry, all my life I've painted... God I would've loved to be more successful, but I have painted and I have painted, and I am good-tired, and they can take me away."
--from Harry Chapin's Gold Medal collection

Finding My Way Home...

Well, it's been an eventful couple of weeks.
The schedule has included:
- an East Indian cooking class (with some of my favourite people)
- several going-away dinners
- THE Sketchy Pub Crawl (complete with a naked lady spinning in a basin of water)
- packing up my house (100 million thank-you's to Sarah for her ruthlessness)- packing my car (100 million thank-you's to Danielle and eventually Nuala for cramming my entire life into a Toyota Tercel)
- visiting my brother and family in the booming metropolis of Chesterville and adoring Baby Oliver
- driving for almost 17 hours straight, sleeping at a rest stop and a gas station and arriving home bright and early Tuesday morning. I should mention that the drive home encompassed everything that I have ever known about the trip between PEI and Ontario - complete with very few stops, Mille Feuilles, cheese curds and country music.
- bike riding with my sister
- sailing with my brother and his family and my nephew Daniel. This turned into an adventure on the high seas as my brother (a sailor by profession) grounded the boat on a sandstone shoal just around the other side of Boughton Island. For many this would be solved by an immediate call for assistance, however, in an attempt to save his dignity my brother made us get into the water and attempt to push the 7, 000 pound sailboat off of the rocks. Despite our efforts we eventually had to call my father who sprung into action and dispatched the Coast Guard Auxiliary who towed us off. We set sail and arrived home 10 HOURS later!
- singing at a local ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) complete with a huge cheering section from Georgetown Royalty and my niece Drew who insisted on shouting "That's my Aunt! That's my Aunt!" when I walked on to the stage
- buying a brand new silver bicycle!

The past couple of nights have been late ones, filled with attendance at a not-so-bad concert series called "Close to the Coast" and the company of good friends.

Tomorrow we set sail for the Iles de Madeleine (check out our B&B at www.ausalange.com) for a couple of days and then I *might* think about packing for the next leg of my journey.

So there you go, a nice superficial summary of the last couple weeks.

And there's a mouse running across the floor.

"The city's got the right name-New York. Nothing ever gets old around here."

We went to New York last weekend - as per some requests, here's a brief travel log :)

The journey began (as most journeys do) with a lot of excitement, a white Ford Cobalt (that's right - white!) and 4 really beautiful young women! We went to seek our fortune in the big city - or at least partake in a weekend of joy and laughter!

The drive went off without a hitch and we arrived at my sister's house in Jersey shortly after midnight. We rose early in the morning and bused it into NYC to continue the adventure! Our explorations took us to Battery Park, where highlight was some incredible "Pigeon Interpretive Dance" - that's right - 4 women and one man dancing in pigeon outfits in the park in the middle of pigeons.
At Danielle's request we enjoyed a light lunch with sandwiches and sangria at the "Teany" tea shop, owned by Moby. It was wonderful and we felt hip.
Luckily, next door we found Toys in Babeland and had a lovely little browse... only 2 out of the 4 of us made purchases ;)
We continued on to the Feminist bookstore that was on Sarah's list of things "to do" - also very hip!
Nuala then guided us to our near demise on Canal Street, where we were ushered into back room and up long deserted staircases all for the sake of designer knock offs. Never again Nuala, never again... It was scary. And sketchy.
However, Canal Street soon led us to SoHo, where we felt much safer and more hip.

[Beautiful Girls in SoHo!]
We carried on an met my sister for dinner (Zuni as usual!)

Sunday saw us go for manicures and pedicures (100 million thank-you's to Melissa such a lovely treat!) We had a lovely visit with Melissa's friend Brian and meandered back into New York.
Sunday afternoon in Central Park was lovely, but was made even lovelier because we spent it at the zoo!!!!!! Highlights include the monkeys and the polar bear. And the giraffe.

[Ok, it wasn't real]

We walked to Rockefeller Centre to meet some of Nuala's for lunch - sadly Pret A Manger (our desired lunch location) was closed - forcing us to find a greasy pizza place to fill our empty bellies. We soon returned back to Jersey (albeit about 3 hours later than expected) and after disassembling a bike (thanks to the MD Bike Doctors) we, as it were, "busted a move" back to the True North Strong and Free.
[You may note that the gang traveling back to Canada includes an extra body - final travel roster - Nuala, Karen, Sarah, Me and Danielle]

I know that I say it every time, but it was truly one of the best trips yet! We crammed ridiculous amounts of fun into two days, laughed until our sides hurt and made the bonds of our friendships even tighter. It certainly didn't hurt that I have one of the coolest sisters in the world that my friends adore!
In truth, it didn't really matter where we went, but rather who we were with. In the end it was the good company that made the journey such a joy!
"Good company on the road is the shortest cut."

Although - who couldn't love a city that loves me?

"We find a delight in the beauty and happiness of children, that makes the heart too big for the body"

Laura is my summer piano student.
I've been meaning to write about her for a while now, but I always get distracted after our lessons.
Laura makes me remember the importance of bringing music to the lives of small children. She is 5 and 1/2 (a fact that she will quickly correct you on if you estimate her age at 5) - she'll be 6 in December.
Laura reminds me to find joy in everything. She runs up the aisle to the piano where we have our lessons, and always has a million stories from the week that has just passed.
We've spent the summer learning finger control, and dancing around the church to different "beats". This is a phenomenal thing to see if you've never experienced the joy expressed on the face of a 5 and 1/2 year old as she figures out exactly why it is she's tapping her feet, or why we move quickly to some music and slowly to other music.
Laura also expresses incredible excitement in remembering terms like "double bar", or "quarter note" and remembering what side of the note to draw the stem.
And she loves music. And she's allowed me to have a part in creating that love.
And that is where I'm finding my joy these days.

No Smiles

Tears are sometimes an inappropriate response to death. When a life has been lived completely honestly, completely successfully, or just completely, the correct response to death's perfect punctuation mark is a smile.- - - - Julie Burchill

Unfortunately, tears are well warranted considering the gruesome events that have occurred in several African countries over the past few days.
If you haven't been obsessing over the news, you may have missed the events including those in DR Congo http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4673609.stm and
Kenya http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4678211.stm
In fact, just read the entire BBC Africa index.
10 years after Srebrenica http://web.amnesty.org/pages/bih-040705-action-eng, apparently we've barely evolved.
Why aren't these events public knowledge? Why is there not some sort of intervention taking place?
Perhaps Colonel Oliver in Hotel Rwanda best summed up the stance of the world: [explaining why the world will not intervene] You're black. You're not even a nigger. You're an African.
And there you go, we'll say to each other "That's terrible" and then we'll turn the channel on the television and return to our supper.

So. Let's start by changing how we approach the world.
A little list for you (many thanks to various websites and a great poster from 10 Thousand Villages):

How To Build A Global Community
Think of no one as "them"
Don't confuse your comfort with your safety
Talk to strangers
Imagine other cultures through their poetry and novels
Listen to music you don't understand
Dance to it
Act locally
Notice the workings of power and privilege in your culture
Question consumption
Know how your lettuce and coffee are grown: wake up and smell the exploitation
Look for fair trade and union labels
Help build economies from the bottom up
Acquire few needs
Learn a second (or third) language
Visit people, places and cultures -- not tourist attractions
Learn people's history
Re-define progress
Know physical and political geography
Play games from other cultures
Watch films with subtitles
Know your heritage
Honor everyone's holidays
Look at the moon and imagine someone else, somewhere else, looking at it too
Read the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Understand the global economy in terms of people, land and water
Know where your bank banks
Never believe you have a right to anyone else's resources
Refuse to wear corporate logos: defy corporate domination
Question military/corporate connections
Don't confuse money with wealth, or time with money
Have a pen/email pal
Honor indigenous cultures
Judge governance by how well it meets all people's needs
Be sceptical about what you read
Eat adventurously
Enjoy vegetables, beans and grains in your diet
Choose curiosity over certainty
Know where your water comes from and where your wastes go
Pledge allegiance to the earth: question nationalism
Think South, Central and North -- there are many Americans
Assume that many others share your dreams
Know that no one is silent though many are not heard.
Work to change this.

Life's truest happiness is found in friendships we make along the way.

A Weekend in Toronto

Life just continues to be incredible - seriously.

I spent Friday night in Scarborough with my lovely friend Shannon. Our conversation lasted into the wee hours, and, per usual, we broached all of the important topics - love, life, happiness, religion, politics and men!

On Saturday morning we made our way to Chris' house, (after a little bit of a mapquest detour), met up with Chris, Rob and Graham, and from there headed into the big city!

I've never really been a fan of Toronto. As far as cities go, it's a little too big, usually dirty and never quite sure of its identity. However, on Saturday it was alive! The Street Festival was on on Yonge Street and there was music, street performers including Paolo that unintentionally threw glass balls and fire into the crowd, he may not be invited back!
There were also some comedians from Second City that were doing live improv. The boys suggested that they would do a much better job - and for the remainder of the day they proved this hypothesis!

Despite missing the beginning of the Weezer concert, including "Say It Ain't So" (possibly the only song that I could sing along with) the concert was great. I think that we would have felt a better vibe if we had been on the grass, but after walking all day, the seats that we had were mighty comfortable!
The Pixies were really good, although I wish that the female member of the band had had the opportunity to sing more - she was incredible.
The evening ended with fireworks from Lake Ontario Place that were absolutely beautiful!!!!

We finished off the entire evening (after the longest 2 block walk ever - thank-you Graham) at a nice little pub!

Quotes of the weekend include (and please forgive me for lack of explanation, some are better left up to your own interpretation):
"20 women, bam, bam, bam..."
"Phenomenal.."
"You'd have to move pretty quickly..."

Anymore that you can remember gentlemen??

Oh, and yes, Sunday morning included a delicious buffet breakfast.

To sum up - incredible weekend, incredible people, lots of laughter!

London, thou art the flower of cities all!

On my first of, hopefully many, trips abroad, I spent a great deal of time in London, and developed quite an affection for it. London for me is a city of parks, wild nights, beautiful days, adventure, indulgence and meaningful friendships.
Today, it was attacked.

After the September 11th bombings I remember feeling as if I were in a movie. Everything moved slower and I just couldn't comprehend what was going on.
Going back to New York and seeing the aftermath (we went in November for the Canada Loves New York celebrations) was scary and eerie. It changed things. I suppose that's the purpose of terrorism.

So now, in solidarity with the Londoners that lost family or friends, were injured or simply had to walk home from work - I'm angry. I'm angry that people can infringe on our security and make us nervous to travel, or walk outside or talk to our neighbours.
I'm angry that this type of action causes us to hate - when the only solution is the very opposite - to love.
I'm angry that my nieces and nephews will grow up in a world where terrorism is common and where security alert levels rise and fall based on daily events.
I'm angry that I don't know what to do about the situation, how to solve it or even how to make it better.

So perhaps a little prayer tonight - a prayer to whatever God you believe in -
that we will rise above terrorism, that we will love our brothers and sisters and continue to work towards a global community, one day at a time.

"A baby is God's opinion that life should go on."

Today began with an Oliver visit.
That means that I met Chantal and Oliver downtown and we strolled around, fed some ducks and took some pictures!
I love Oliver visits.

I must admit that I love my nieces and nephews more than anything in the world. It's difficult to imagine loving anything or anyone more than I love them. Little children just kind of help you figure out what unconditional love is all about.

Chantal and Oliver looking at the toys!

Oliver and the flowers

It took Chantal almost two weeks to teach Oliver that we should smell the flowers and not step on them!

Chantal and Oliver at the lake

Oliver!

We wish nothing more, but we will accept nothing less. Masters in our own house we must be, but our house is the whole of Canada. -Trudeau

It was truly a grand time on The Hill for the birthday of Canada!
Alison treated me like royalty, and decorated my shirt in true Canadian spirit!

We enjoyed the sights and sounds of Ottawa including the concerts on the Hill (although the talking head was a bit much), walks through the market, Aboriginal drum circles and a great bbq "hosted" by Alison's brother!

Although the trip was a little rushed there was still time to unwind and enjoy delicious cake (Alison did the baking, I did the decoration)!

We had an absolutely perfect time at the fireworks

We revelled in the atmosphere that exuded from the celebratory crowd, and joined in several renditions of O Canada throughout the day!

What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance!

The weather is dominating my thoughts.
To put a spin on one of my brother's favourite quotations - "It's hotter than a camel's instep 3 days out of Cairo".
And it's not normal hot. It's muggy, damp hot. It's "I-can't-get-to-sleep-without-throwing-myself-in-a-cold-shower" kind of hot.
But.
Hot weather means that we have excuses for sitting on patios drinking cold drinks.
And I love patios and cold drinks.
So the weather isn't so bad!
My friend Stephanie and I celebrated the evening by having a Spanish-themed meal - complete with quesadillas, and sangria! What a perfect way to spend a summer evening!

The only thing missing from this beautiful summer is the red sand. So, for your viewing pleasure - a picture of the red sand from home. And one of my niece and nephew, just because they're so cute!


The Two Creatures that I Love More than Anything (Drew and Allister)


Rainbow at Morrison's Beach

Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other...

It was beautiful!
A gorgeous bridal party, handsome groom and the most beautiful bride I've ever seen!!
Saturday (the 25th of June) was Judy's wedding!! We celebrated for almost 3 days straight with tonnes of laughter, tears and a little bit of wine thrown into the mix!
The day was hot, and in true Judy-organized fashion we were dressed and ready for the wedding almost 2 hours early! Time was occupied by playing cards, eating and just wandering around.
The day was hot (over 100 degress Farenheit!) but most of the places we had to be were air conditioned. We celebrated and danced like fools until the wee hours of the morning, and woke just in time for brunch and the gift opening and the Williamson's house!
When Andrew came to our house 2 years ago at 11 o'clock at night and sat in our livingroom to protect us from the scary man that kept calling the house (I may or may not have struck up a conversation with a "wrong number" and then he became scary) I would have never guessed that I would eventually have the honour of being part of such a special day!
Congratulations Judy and Andrew - may your lives together continue to be filled with love, laughter and happiness!!

Apache Wedding Blessing
Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years,
May happiness be your companion and your days together be good and long upon the earth.

"Waiting it out" before the walk down the aisle! 

The bridal party and our lovely hair! 

The blushing bride and me! 

Team Solar Death Ray Week 2!