John's best friend's wedding

On October 12th John and I flew to Omaha to attend Josh & Katie's wedding. John was the best man which proved to be lots of fun because we were invited to all the fun stuff that's only for the wedding party and close relatives (rehearsal dinner, breakfast, etc). The wedding was beautiful... and fun. So many great people. When I say "great" I mean "GREAT!" Ever single person I met was genuine, honest, and caring. I think it speaks volumes to the kind of people Josh and Katie are. Birds of a feather flock together - and clearly this wedding party was no exception.

Although I feel as though I've known Josh and Katie for years, it was actually the first time that I'd had the chance to meet them in person. I've heard so many "Josh" stories that at times I forget that he wasn't at my college. LOL The night we arrived was Katie's bachelorette party, so we invited Josh to have dinner with us and John's parents. It was a nice, little, Italian restaurant called Vivace (www.vivaceomaha.com). Being that it was two days before his wedding, I assumed that he'd be a little nervous - but he was not the nervous groom. He was clearly completely confident in his decision to marry Katie.

I met Katie the next night at the wedding rehearsal. I had seen pictures of her from their college years, and John has always described her as beautiful, but she was truly stunning. Again, I guess I assumed that like most brides to be that I've known she'd be running around the church like a mad woman... clearly frazzled and and the verge of a nervous break down. Well, not Katie. She was dressed wonderfully, completely poised, and although she clearly had a check list of things she need to accomplish, she went from task to task with a smile on her face and appeared to do it all without the standard panicked sense of urgency you might expect. As you might imagine we didn't get a lot of time to talk until the rehearsal dinner. They had the reception dinner at another great Italian restaurant called Lo Sole Mio (www.losolemio.com). The food was very good. Although I can't remember what it was called, I had a chicken and pasta dish that was very good... and the portions we're huge. My plate alone could have served at least three people! Anyway, during the rehearsal dinner I had the chance to talk to Katie - as I expected she was an intelligent, thoughtful person.

It was abundantly clear that Josh and Katie were perfect together. Which is a good thing since they have been dating for something like 15 years. Essentially, every speech had some sort of crack at how they had been together for a "long, long, long" time. When you think about it, they have actually dated almost twice as long as the average marriage lasts these days. I think many people would be envious of a relationship that has so much love and passion that 15 years into it they still have the want to celebrate their love for eachother.

The wedding went off without a hitch (or at least if there were any issues I couldn't tell). John had been a little nervous about the speech he had to give, but he proved to be a great orator as his speech was received very well. He didn't trip over any of his words - and most importantly, people laughed when they were supposed to!

The rest of the weekend involved us meeting up with what ended up being essentially all of his Omaha family and friends. Among others we got the chance to see his cousin Matt run, and qualify for state. I was very impressed. On Sunday, before we returned to Atlanta his parents had his grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and second cousins over. There must have been twenty people. I think everyone had a blast. Two of John's cousins Max & Scout had everyone playing this timed game where you have to try and put as many plastic shapes into their respective holes as possible before the time runs out. It was great to see almost everyone participating and competing. Scout (the youngest person playing the game) holds the record at 14 pieces placed within the given time. Yet another example of how age doesn't always hold an advantage!

As you might imagine, through out the weekend there was lots of discussion about our want to adopt and our respective search for a birthmother. John's parents are doing a good job networking. I think every member of the family asked us how our search is going and offered to continue to help. I was also surprised by how many of the people at the wedding asked us about adoption. Word really does spread quickly (plus, we always bring it up if people don't ask - LOL). It's great to know that we have so much support in John's home town. The number of babies and toddlers that were present at the wedding was really amazing. Of course, John and I had to make sure that we introduced ourselves to all of them!!! So much fun!

~W