a big huge thank you for the wedding...

i just wanted to post a public THANKS to all the people who were involved in putting together rana's wedding!

to debbie and laurie for the decorating
to annie, liz, and pastor ferdie for the music
to ron for the videography
to jeff and jackie for the sound
to jessica for being the flower girl
to brittany for carrying rana's train
to trevon for being the ring bearer
to bonnie and roy for allowing their daughters to pinch-hit
to pastor dean for the officiating
and to lisa for EVERYTHING.

i don't know what i'd have done without all of you! and if i missed anyone, please accept my apologies as well as my heartfelt gratitude! (and mark's too!) and i should add, rana was thrilled with everything.

it was a praise-worthy event, that's for sure... rana having a church wedding is something i never would have expected, since she's so anti-church. but not just that, she was there twice in one day! they came to the potluck dinner and stayed through the talent show, and (now get this, this was the real kicker), she didn't want to leave! she was enjoying it so much, she wanted to stay for the rest of the festivities, but she was out-numbered by her husband and father-in-law who wanted to experience a little more of vegas before returning home.

it was a day to remember, that's for sure!

and so was today... this is mine and mark's anniversary, but there were more surprises to come. well, i guess it wasn't really a surprise to us, but it was to the newlyweds. rana thought she was going through delayed puberty. she knew she wasn't pregnant because she'd just had a blood test to confirm she wasn't a couple of weeks ago. i guess she should have waited a little longer for the bloodwork.

this morning she woke up and took a home pregnancy test, and kept looking for the word "not" in front of the word "pregnant", but the word "not" just wasn't there. i do wish i'd had a camera to capture the look of sheer panic on her face when it sunk in that she really is having a baby!

as for me, i'm really glad she and walter were married before finding out that news. i'm not sure why, since it doesn't change the fact that she already was, but it's kinda nice that they didn't know. but they're going to need a lot of prayer in the coming year, because unless something unexpected happens, rana will be doing this alone, since walter is scheduled to re-deploy to iraq next month. well, not alone... she's already informed mark that she's going to be borrowing me for a good deal of the summer!

oh, and here's a few highlights... i'll add more later!