Weddings and My Trip Home

Let me start this off by saying....holy crap everyone's getting married!! I think I have to stay in Europe now...because at my age, going back to Canada, there will be no unmarried girls left.

So on the 3rd of July I headed home! It had been the longest I had every been away. Over 10 months. I left to France on August the 25th, and returned back to Canada on the 3rd of July. 10 months is too long. I know, as the month of June wore on, I was getting increasingly...homesick. Just missing friends, family and everything Canadian. So it was a much needed two weeks home. And what a busy two weeks it was...

I got in Thursday afternoon. Robbie and Damien picked me up from the Calgary Airport and we drove back to Edmonton. Friday came and the rehearsal for Damien and Lisa's wedding and then decorating of the hall.




Saturday was the big day. Damien, my best friend for 24 years and counting, the friend that is always there, was getting married. It was really a beautiful ceremony! The weather might not have been perfect while taking pictures but it wasn't bad. Just the occasional mini-rain. The reception came and my first trial at being the MC of a wedding..and I think it went alright. A little errors here and there, but everything went pretty smooth. Then the party began...and it was just...fun. Really there is no other word to describe it. To be with my friends, all of whom I've known for so long, to just be with them, be dancing, be having fun. It was really special.

I don't have many pictures from my Camera so I have to try and get pics from the other people, but here is what I got.
http://picasaweb.google.com/logan.jones/200807DamienLisasWedding

And from then on the week only got busier. Monday the relatives started arriving. Grandma and Grandpa, Sherrie and Sam, Lorraine and Armand. Later in the week Dyrk and Kathy arrived and then Wyatt, Ann and Danny. It's been quite a long time since we've had this much family gathered. And why were they gathering....



Well of course it was my little sister Kendra's wedding. That's right. My little sister (see what I mean about everybody getting married). She and Marc Sywenky were tying the knot. Once again, an absolutely beautiful ceremony. Of course tears were shed at the joyous occasion. Afterwards we went for pictures and the weather was terrific. The ceremony went great with a lot of great speeches. I got to give a small speech to the "bestest sister in the world" And then we had a great 'welcome to the family' from my parents to Marc. Which included a couple of scare tactic pictures of all the guns our family owns ;)

Then I got to unveil my weeks project. From the idea of my dad, I put together a little slideshow. I had to search through ..."a couple" hours of old VHS tapes to get the clips I wanted. And my dad had the song that he wanted, Turn Around. It turned out pretty well. I think we got a couple more tears on that one. If you want to see the video, send me an email or a comment and I'll forward you a copy.

The dance was also a ton of fun. With the Schlingman family pulling out all kinds of crazy dance moves. We kept the dance floor going all night. Grandma and Grandpa were out there busting out some moves as well. It is an inspiration to watch those two dance, with I'm sure the same joy and loving looks in their eyes as they had over 50 years ago at their wedding.

Once again, I don't have a ton of pictures, I need to do some collecting from other people. But here is what I have.

http://picasaweb.google.com/logan.jones/20080712KendraAndMarcSWedding

It always so special to attend these weddings. And these two were especially special. My best friend and then my little sisters. It doesn't get any closer then that.

To both couples I wish all the happiness in the world.

And voila...two weeks gone like a flash. I didn't have much time to meet some of my other friends from University and such. I managed to get a dinner in with Di and Cole and Gary. And then a lunch in with Darren. But overall...the time just went far too quick. Such is vacance...and such is vacance with two weddings in two weekends :)

And on a sad note. I sold my car. My beautiful yellow Cavalier. I bought the car on July 19th 2002 and now it was sold on July 15th 2008. Too many memories with that car, we put on a lot of miles and visited a lot of places. But it wasn't doing much good just sitting in the garage collecting dust.

Then back on an airplane and back to France. Hopefully more blogs to come on my work here in France and what the future may hold!