This is a 3,600 word letter that I wrote upon returning from our honeymoon in January, 2001. At this length, I really wonder if anyone read the whole thing, but coming across it again today, I thought it might be an interesting tidbit to add here. In six parts.

To all of our friends and family,

Stephanie and I are glad to be back home from our honeymoon and ready to plunge head-long in to the rest of our lives. This past week has been our first at home together. We just got home last weekend, and this is our first real communication with anyone since the wedding.

And the wedding, by the way, was incredible. It was far better than we could have hoped or planned. “So much better than we could have planned or expected” has been a consistent theme for Stephanie and me, and it has followed us right through to our honeymoon to Indonesia as well. God has richly blessed us this past year.

Stephanie and I were so happy with the wedding. Starting with the rehearsal dinner, we were so happy to see both of our families together, and I think that everyone had a good time. We both felt so loved and encouraged to see our friends and family all around, and to hear the kind words that were said. Of course, so much of the wedding itself was a blur, but needless to say, we couldn’t have been happier with everything.

After the service, Stephanie and I climbed in to the white limousine that whisked us away to Cityplace. Maybe some of you saw our driver, Vito Calzone, the Italian hit-man/limo driver. The reception was short, but we were so glad to see everyone there. Everyone told me before hand that it would all go by in a flash, and man did it ever. At one point Forrest came up to me a said “Remember this moment,” but I only vaguely remember him saying that.

We were very glad to hear so many people make such positive comments about the service, the church, the music during the service, and about Steve Hardin. We were beyond pleased. Stephanie and I both had a horrible case of tunnel-vision during the reception. We were only ever aware of what was happening directly in front of us, and oblivious to everything else happening in the room.

We were so glad that we had an afternoon wedding rather than an evening one. It allowed us to enjoy our time at the wedding and still have a nice evening ahead of us. We had a great suite at the Doubletree at Lincoln Center. We went out that evening for a first class dinner at Palomino’s at the Crescent. The next morning we had brunch there at the Doubletree and headed back to Abilene  

We returned to Abilene for one short day to gather our things before departing for our honeymoon. Some of Stephanie’s family generously sent us to the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali for nearly a month. It proved to be an amazing experience and something we will, of course, remember forever. If we could, we would love to have each one of you over to our home and show you the pictures and fill an evening with tales from our trip (No doubt some of you are glad we are three hours away). But if I could, allow me to share with you just of few of the hundreds of experiences we had and stories we brought back with us.