Our family has experienced a lot of pain, a lot of brokeness, so to have a day to celebrate and rejoice in a wonderful union was such a gift!
Both Dan and Yami were widowed. Now they have each other to spend life with.
What is so unique about the situation is that there is really no blood relationship between us and Dan & Yami, but they are fully our family in every sense.
One person even looked at us and said, "what an awkward situation for you family this is, without Fran around." I actually have never thought of it as awkward, not once. Here Dan was getting married, with 2 of his step children and their families, and from an outsiders few that might be awkward, or weird, or even hard to understand, but somehow, for us it all makes sense.
They are just our family, and Yami has embraced us like her own. Yami has become a grandma to 9 grand kids in an instant and loves it! Yami has even known Sarah since she was born, and truly has a special place in her heart.
Oh and Brett has another step brother now, which just adds to the confusion
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| Welcome to the Family Elliot! |
Maya, Norah and Sarah got to be flower girls along with their cousins, Chloe and Ella. To everyone watching they all seemed like sisters.
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| sisters/cousins/sisters |
And I wasn't about to tell Yami's whole family about how Norah entered
our family, they were already confused about who was sisters vs.
cousins....Norah is our daughter and that is how they all saw her.
When the girls started to walk down the aisle my eyes welled up with tears (along with my sister-law Shanna). There was just a simple sweetness to the whole situation. Everything about that moment was sad, happy, and beautiful all at once.
and this is what the girls did during the ceremony
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| my favorite |
The flower girls (oldest to youngest)
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| Ella: Age 6 |
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| Maya: Age 4 |
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| Chloe: Age 3 |
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| Norah: Age 3 |
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| Sarah: Age 8 months |
The wedding Party
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| The same man (on the far left) who did Fran's funeral married Dan & Yami |
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Yami's Favorite Youngest Granddaughter |
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| My baby |
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| The girls had to make sure the golf course was maintained |
The reception was such a blast, and nothing like I expected. Yami's family loves to dance and we love that too. Plus they made up a kids table with all sorts of stuff for the kids to do, bubbles, crayons, pinwheels, scissors, markers, lollipops, play dough, bouncy flashing balls and candy!
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| Add caption |
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| yeah, pretty sure Norah didn't have much for dinner besides that |
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| my husband is so handsome! |
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| the lovely brother and sis in law |
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| We Danced all night, until the wedding was over! |
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| the aftermath at our table |
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We miss Fran like Crazy, but are so happy Yami is a party of this unique family!
Sometimes there is redemption in the midst of our brokenness.
What a special post. Thanks for sharing. Your life is a testimony to God's amazing grace.
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