Katey & Jeb Wed

Well it was quite the momentous if not death defying hot weekend. Although the temperatures were not any better than being in L.A. at least we had a pool at our disposal and all the air conditioning our little hearts desired up in St. Helena. Rhys was so enamored of the pool that he asked about it every second of our visit.

We drove up early Friday morning and arrived about 2:30 giving us a little time to rest (me) and a dip in the pool (the boys). After a few hours we headed to Taylor's Refresher to meet up with the rest of the family, some who live locally and some who have travelled all across the country (Chicago, Virginia, Nevada) and some from out of the country (France) and this was just the bride's side. We got to meet Aiden for the first time and boy is he cute!






Henry, Christopher and Rhys scampered all around catching up with each other. Rhys ran around making tons of friends mostly of the female variety. He's been quite the flirt. That night at one point he got a hold of my camera and started snapping some pretty good shots of anyone and everyone, and the second he spotted a cute little blonde by the fence he readily handed the camera back to me so he could join her!

Here he is in action! Thanks to Charlene for sending me this priceless picture.


Here is his last shot


And here he is with little Miss Cutie Pie.


Saturday arrived and we spent the early part of it checking out Main Street and grabbing some lunch before heading back to our rooms and the pool! The boys lounged around poolside before eventually going up to change for the wedding. Luckily for us the temperatures dipped a little and there was a pleasant breeze all across the valley.




The grounds were transformed into another magical wonderland. The ceremony was held outdoors not too far from the house in the shade of a collection of old tall oak trees. The bride walked down the aisle much to my astonished delight to Crash by the Dave Matthews Band. Katey was so lovely and the vows she and Jeb had written each other were so beautiful and touching there was not a dry eye around. Every single person could be seen wiping tears from their eyes.

I completely forgot until Charlene sent it to me, that on several occasions during the wedding my little monkey tried sneaking up to the cake to take a swipe at the frosting! Luckily many were on the lookout to prevent disaster! Charlene told me when she caught him, (I think this was attempt No. 2 or 3) Rhys looked up at her and told her to "Smell it!" Mmmmm. Thanks to Nancy, Charlene, Michele for guarding the cake!


Here's Rhys trying to sneak another dip in a pool.


We left mid morning yesterday and spent much of our anniversary taking turns driving home. We stopped off along the way at a place called Murray Family Farms. Its basically a roadside store selling fresh picked fruit and pies. We got there just as they were about to close picking out a fresh apple pie and a box of cherries. While we perused the little market Rhys scurried around the room and somehow found his way into the large refrigerated room. Once inside he began to jump up and down, so excited to finally be cool again. We got him out of there as soon as we could, but not long afterwards he decided to help the lady out by picking up the mop and dragging it around. We were fortunate that she found this hilarious, mentioning to us that he reminded her of her own son Brian, who is the same age.

PS I stumbled on this blog entry today that made my heart smile:

It never fails, when I am up to my elbows in nonsense something profound rings a bell and brings me back to where things matter so much more than settling scores and hard feelings. When our neighbors went to Saratoga this past weekend to see Dave Matthews Band, one of their son Luke's favorite bands, Luke's aunt wrote to the band to ask if they could possibly dedicate Luke's favorite song to him. Instead Dave Matthews himself contacted the family saying he'd feel better if he could meet them in person and spend some time with them before the concert. It happens Dave Matthews own sister met a tragic death which reshaped his views on life. He was very interested in meeting Bierls and helping in whatever way he could. So in the 20 minutes or so before the show her signed t-shirts, baseball hats, posed for pictures and hugged people when they seemed to be getting caught up and overwhelmed in the emotion of the moment. Just a great guy who really wanted to make time for people he'd never met before but knew the importance of caring for others. So did they dedicate the song to Luke ? Hard to say Jim tells me, since DM himself moved it up to their opening song it was hard to hear much of anything with the crowd roaring the way they were. I guess my question tonight is do I care enough and do I do enough for the people who need it when they really need it ? I'm glad an internationally renown South African musician cared enough about a family from Hamburg grieving the sudden loss of their oldest son to go the extra mile for them. Wow - A feel good story about a famous person with every excuse in the world to be a self- absorbed jerk who instead chooses to be a fellow traveler on the same journey as the rest of us. How can DM's humanity and character and humility be anything but a pleasant thought to end one week and begin the new one. And if ever a family could use a few feel good moments in the middle of the storm it's the them. It would seem Kinkos is going to have to resupply their toner cartridges before the girls finish printing up their pictures, posters, wall hangings, banners and so on from the concert ! Peace.
Posted by Justice4Claire at 10:05 PM