Of Mice and Men, and Marriage and Mucus!

I've been away for a long time, I know! We Marshalls have been busy the past month: seeing family in Kansas, attending the wedding of the year, and relocating to Monterey- oh my!

We are FINALLY here in "Steinbeck Country". Monterey, California is, in a word, amazing. It is not hard to picture how Steinbeck was inspired to write such classics as Of Mice and Men, and Cannery Row. (The latter of which I still need to read!) I still half expect to see Lennie lumbering around the fields... The ocean breeze is refreshing, albeit COLD. Coming from Texas, the constant 65 degree weather is a bit chilly. I'm sure we will be acclimated in no time. And if not, I plan on adding to my collection of sweaters and cardigans!

My baby sister is finally a matron! I still can't believe little Katie is married. And boy, did she get married in style. Katie is so fortunate to have many talented friends to help. She affectionately calls these friends her "Mofia." Yes, that's correct: her "MO-fia", as in "homo-fia." And they affectionately call her "the Godfather." I've never seen so many talented men come together to throw the party of the year. Flowers were flown in from around the globe, literally! (Apparently, the "Godfather" demands only the best.) Katie's couture wedding gown was even featured in a recent movie, "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past".

More importantly, it was emotional for me to see how much Katie and her husband (wow, "husband"!) love each other. It was almost palpable. I have no doubt that these two will have a strong marriage, and that makes me so happy!

On another note, Little Megs did not survive the trip to Monterey unscathed. She came down with a nasty bug within 24 hours of arriving. Poor thing looked like a creature from "The Exorcist" with green mucus coming out of her eyes even! After a trip to the ER (since children never seem to get sick during clinic hours), a diagnosis of an eye and ear infection, a course of 2 different antibiotics, Megs is on the mend. The physician's assistant who treated Meghan remarked that, without the obvious symptoms (high fever- "Exorcist"-like visage), he never would have believed Meghan was sick. She is such a happy baby. Most of the time.

I leave you with pictures of the happy couple. I'll post more once I figure out what happened to my camera!