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after i official became part of mother mary’s favorite religion on saturday night, bear and i had to renew our vows (since we didn’t have a catholic wedding the first time). i wasn’t opposed to the idea, but the very thought of it made me giggle and/or roll my eyes…we took our vows seriously the first time, and weren’t at all concerned about the fact that it wasn’t sanctioned by this particular religion. still, since i was doing this thing (converting. more on the ‘huh?’ and ‘why?’ another time), i was determined to do it correctly, so in addition to the sacraments of reconciliation, confirmation, and communion, i also added “marriage” into my saturday schedule.

emma and i both got dolled up in fluffy white dresses, and we gathered as a family after mass to take our vows.

and you know what? it was really really special. bear and i both cried. and i got that same shaky-voiced surge of sincerity that i did exactly 11.5 years ago when we got married the first time. and i was reminded just how much i love being married to this man, and just how honored i am to have been able to share that experience with our daughters, in this place which has become so important to me. i hadn’t thought much about it in advance, but renewing our vows – getting married again – was pretty sweet.

i highly recommend the experience to any still-in-love-after-all-these-years couples. (catholic conversion optional.)

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these are just some of our family snapshots from the weekend. i was so grateful to have friends around to share the experience with, and appreciate everyone (you know who you are) who took pictures and celebrated with us. more to come…in so many ways.

xoxo

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[thanks for the pretty dress, tita carol! here's a picture of emma's first easter, at exactly the same age.]