E2 : Esther and Eric
On the 18th of October, 2008, Esther O'Neal became Esther Dale. We didn't lose a daughter, we gained another fantastic son, a reduction in spending, and about 30% of our floorspace back. In the bargain, we got some of the coolest in-laws ever. For now just a few pics; I'll try to add more when I have time.Click on any image to see a larger JPEG (all around 2.5MB - 3MB).
Dads' emotions at weddings are as all over the map as anyone else's. I was fine up until Esther was walking across the bridge over the koi pond to where I waited to walk her down the aisle. I could feel a couple of tears welling up. But when she got to me she looked up into the sky and said, "Vultures. How perfect is that for an O'Neal wedding?" Sentimentality flew off to join the vultures; we laughed and joked the whole way down the aisle.
The basic wedding party: best man Tom Trinkle (the only time we saw him without glasses that day), Eric, Esther, matron of honor Ashley Melber (my niece), Eric's nephew Patrick (son of the Coast Guard personnel in a nearby photo), and Ashley's daughter Kylie. Tom was just happy he didn't have to prove he was the best man in a sword fight so the wedding could go on. Ashley was waiting for Weird Unca Miles to embarass her. The rest of us just had a good time.
The groom's family: Christina (middle child, voted Miss Coordination at rehearsal dinner), Eric's mom Linda, Eric, Esther, Becky (youngest child) and her husband Richard (both Coasties), and their son, Frodo the Ring Bearer (well before he lost that finger to Gollum). Frodo isn't smiling because he has to stand still, and he'd rather be eating cake.
The bride's family: my baby sister Kelly (uses whipped cream hair conditioner), Esther's godmother Darlene (our best friend), Auntie Karen (no relation to Sharon as anyone can tell), Eric, Esther, Sharon (my amazing wife), and some goofy cowboy. We never did get a picture of all the extended family that was there as nobody had a lens big enough!
I just thought this was a great photo of the two families hanging out and cutting up (traditionally this should involve knives). But what it looks like is the confrontation scene in a murder mystery! Despite the fact that some of us don't appear in the mirror, none of us are undead (that would be Esther).
Here we are with some of the closest and dearest of our extended family. Our dopta-son Dmitri is 6'8" as of this photo, and probably not through growing. Our god-daughter Sondra is holding her precious baby, Tatiana. I leave it as an exercise to the reader which of the two big grins on each end belongs to my lovely wife and the goofy cowboy.
We didn't just leave Josiah out of the pictures; he wasn't able to make it home for the wedding, courtesy of the U.S. Army.
I have to give some special thanks to some folk whose photos aren't yet on this page. Ashley's husband Trent was all over the place filling in the gaps, picking up the pieces, covering whatever needed covering. Starr O'Neal was our wedding director; it was her first time, and she did a phenomenal job. Her husband Jeff and their children Megan and Brighton were also a huge help. Les and Jane Best and the crew at the Page House made it much easier to have a nice wedding on two months notice than we believed possible. When John Vasquez, our prime photographer, got a mandate from his day job to leave early to cover something, Tom's girlfriend Jen Medrano stepped in to cover the rest. We love you all and can't thank you enough.
More photos to come!