Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we stayed in Phoenix with our friends, Nick and Sally. Mike had called Nick to see if we could park our trailer on his property and plug into his "shore power". Nick gave us the thumbs up so we drove to the city.
Since we had no plans for Thanksgiving Dinner, we enjoyed dinner out with Nick and Sally at the Deer Valley Airport. Thus began our 30 days in Phoenix. We enjoyed their hospitality, a spare bedroom and our own bathroom. This was pure luxury for us!
Daily schedules were quite different with our hosts. We get up before dawn and they get up around the crack of noon. (Well, maybe not that late!). Mike and I would brew a pot of coffee and sit on their back patio. After all, we had to keep up our morning tradition even if we weren't camping! Kilo would play with Nick's dog, Rosie. She's an amazing eleven year old Chow-Basenji mix. She was motherly toward Kilo, tolerating his playfulness until finally she would bully him across the yard. She did not behave like an eleven year old dog!
Most mornings, after coffee and breakfast, we took Kilo and Rosie to the dog park. Kilo had a blast meeting and playing with a wide variety of dogs. There was Layla, the beautiful brindle Boxer. Penny, the very submissive and "so homely she was cute", German Shepherd. Duke, the bear-like Bouvier and his companion, Matilda, a mixed breed that looked like Rosie. Chuck, the Staffordshire Terrier, going through obedience training. Shelby, the calm alpha female of the park and Perry the freckled Boxer. We met their owners but of course only remember the dogs' names!
Rosie strolled around not really playing with the other dogs, just sniffing and greeting. We imagined a story about her being a real estate agent meeting clients and networking at the dog park. We re-named her Rosie Derrie-Berry after a real estate agent in our old neighborhood. (Yes, there is an actual person named Rosie Derrie-Berry)
During our time in Phoenix we decided to set a date for our wedding. We chose December 26, my father's birthday. Our good friend, The Reverend Bill Kurasz, not only agreed to marry us but offered his lovely home as the venue! Bill encouraged us to invite friends and family to help us celebrate our special day. He also planned a luncheon to be served after the ceremony. Our East Coast family would watch with the help of modern technology a la FaceTime and Google Hangout. Our Phoenix family would attend in person! We decided to write our own vows. It took me a week to do this - it took Mike about an hour one morning.
For the wedding, Mike put together a nice, semi-casual outfit approved by his personal fashion consultant, Yib. I found a knee length cocktail dress at Macy's - just fancy enough to be a wedding dress but I would definitely wear it again!
Christmas Eve morning the plan was a breakfast picnic at Steele Indian School Park with the McBride clan. Christmas Day would be a dinner put on by Mike's cousin, Cathy. Christmas evening would be dessert and games at Nick and Sally's. Then December 26th would be our wedding. We had three days of celebration lined up!
SoJo, Mac and Matt wearing the awesome "Harry" New Year hats obviously printed in China.
The Steele Indian School Park Christmas Eve breakfast included a wonderful coffee cake with fruit salad and coffee. Mike handed out some awesome hats misprinted "Harry New Year" found at the local Dollar Store. The only casualty was our dog Kilo, who met the wrath of Fox. She nipped Kilo as soon as she arrived letting him know she's the boss. Fox is a take charge kind of dog and she is all business when it comes to her new job as The Nanny to baby Charlie. Speaking of baby Charlie, he was celebrating his four month birthday!
Uncle Mac and Charlie. Papa Mike with Charlie and Gramma Waffle
Christmas Day we headed to Cathy's for an early dinner. There we met up with the McBride kids and spouses as well as Mike's Mom, Barbara. We loved seeing cousins as well as Aunt Billie and Uncle Ray. At one point there were five dogs roaming about.
Dinner was delicious, turkey, ham and all the fixings! The weather was perfect at around 70 degrees. For dessert, there was the most amazing red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. Mike's cousin, Nancy, gets many kudos for that scrumptious treat!
Mike's Uncle Ray is especially beloved. A kind, soft spoken man now frail and moving about with the help of a wheelchair or scooter. When he quietly got ready to leave with the help of his grandson many of us followed him outside to say goodbye. It was not a simple ordeal for him going from wheelchair to car seat. Sensing a bit of awkwardness, Uncle Ray blurted out "Haven't you ever seen anyone get in a car before?" which got everyone laughing. We assured him we just wanted to say good bye!
We returned to Nick and Sally's where we played games and continued to eat until late in the evening. It's a hard time of year to watch your weight!
Uncle Ray enjoying Christmas dinner with Kelly and Charlie
We rose the next morning - my Dad's birthday - and our wedding day. In keeping with tradition we had our usual coffee time, of course, a bite to eat and then made our way over to Reverend Bill's house.
In front of family and friends we made our vows and became husband and wife! It was an emotional, loving moment and we felt truly blessed.
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Patrick McBride!
Not ones to waste any time and anxious to start our "honeymoon on the road" we got busy the next day. We certified our marriage license at the courthouse then took that to the Social Security Office so I could change my name. Unfortunately we hit that office at lunch time, a crowd of people waiting and one window open.
We all know how that goes! We did some more running around trying to get my new license but it was too soon and we would have to return at a later date.
The following day we packed up our belongings and prepared to leave Phoenix. Farewell to Nick, Sally and Rosie, what an enjoyable stay we had! It was time to move on and begin married life together.
Our Wedding Vows:
Mike, today I am here to marry you, the man I love, my best friend and partner.
With patient kindness I will be there for you in joy and adversity.
I promise to be "really good, sweet and nice". I promise to love you unconditionally and remain faithful through any storms we may face. I promise to always keep sacred our morning coffee hour. This is our time for reflection and loving communication.
I am so grateful God has brought us together.
Thank you for inspiring me to broaden my horizons and move outside my comfort zone. Thank you for sharing my love of nature and all the beauty around us. Thank you for patiently accepting my daily weather reports and bird sightings. Thank you for loving me with hair and without.
I love you, Mike, and my heart is full! I am honored to be your wife, camping partner and fellow explorer in this new adventure. Let nothing part us until death.
Jeannie, you are my best friend, and today I commit myself to you in marriage for as long as we live. You've proven yourself faithful, kind, patient, and tolerant. It is my deepest conviction that you are a tangible manifestation of God's love for me, and I want to reflect this love back to you.
From this day forward, I promise to love you without condition, to be faithful to you, to trust you and to prove myself trustworthy to you. As God gives me presence of mind and spirit, I vow to transform my intention to honor you with action, to practice restraint when I am angry, worried, or annoyed, to shun sarcasm and negativity, to cherish you, not in word only, but in deed.
Jeannie, I love you. I look forward to a life filled with meaning and joy with you by my side. Each day you grow more beautiful in my eyes, and I want to be all for you that you have been for me. It is my prayer that no thing, in the world of form or of spirit, should ever diminish the bond that exists between us.
I want each person present today to witness and to know that I love this woman and take her to be my wife, for as long as she quotes lines from Fantastic Mr. Fox.
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