July 2nd, 1995 -
13 Years ago in Lake Forest, Illinois - just North of Chicago - I married my BEST FRIEND! We had the most wonderful weekend with approx. 300 of our family & friends all gathering from all over the US & Canada to celebrate our wedding day! I still remember that day and how incredibly calm I felt and so sure of the choices I made for my life-long mate! I remember feeling so happy and so ready to walk down that aisle - and become Dale's wife! I'm a planner (or so I think I am) and I had rehearsed the timeline and what to expect of the weekend all in my mind... of course, it came out better than I ever imagined it to! It was better because of the people that were there and the family & friends that took the time to be with us. It was exciting because not only were we getting married... but we were going to be moving to Sicily, Italy for 3 years and begin a life of adventure together!
My most memorable moment of that day was when I took my dad's arm to walk down the aisle... my two little cousins opened the church doors & I saw all my family & friends staring and looking back at me. Everyone we loved was in one room... and waiting for me up front - standing in a beam of light (literally, the sun from the church's big picture window was shining on Dale like a spotlight) was DALE! It was a pretty amazing site!
My favorite DETAIL of our wedding day has 2 parts. It was when my childhood friend - Jocelyn was reading a letter written to our parents as we stood up front... our parents then lit our Unity Candle (you'll see it in the foreground of our "prayer photo"). This candle was awesome because it was one big pillar split in half, each half having it's own wick. As our parents lit each half - that symbolized them giving each of us life... and right before Dale & I walked up to the top of the stage - we pushed the two halves together. By the time our Wedding Ceremony was over... the two halves bonded & became ONE!
Arch of Swords... welcoming me into the Navy Family...
the RITE OF PASSAGE is a Kiss! And right after this photo
another rite of passage was a swift swat on my rear w/ the sword!
Cutting the cake with Dale's Sword
Our entire Wedding Entourage!
Ladies in white/black - Kim Medina Knowlton, Caryn Brion Wooster, Esther Cho Anunciado, Jocelyn Santos, Gladys Tortal Griggs & Deborah Pacheco Trevino
Flower girl: Sydney Pendleton & Bible Boy: Joshua Hack
Photo Below:
* Ladies from L to R: Danielle DiMemmo Emde, Dora Taitague, Imee Frias Smith, Helen Kim (Matron of Honor), Evelyn Ramirez & Shannon Kanavy
* Men from L to R: Tommy Sanpakit, Josue Najera, Walter Marcos (Best Man), Lennard Pan, Rodney Miguel & Eric Bautista
... fast forward - 13 years later - July 2nd, 2008
Look at our 4 little blessings -
If I could go back in time... I would do it all over again - I'd marry Dale, I'd move to Sicily and everywhere else and experience the adventureous Navy life & I'd have 4 kids! I've learned that HOME IS SURELY WHERE THE HEART IS and as long as we're together - we're good to go! God has blessed us tremendously! We thank HIM daily for ALL that He's given us!
our song (we sang to each other at our wedding):
"FOR ALWAYS!" -BeBe & CeCe Winans
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