Mamma Mia and More of the Wedding

The day after the anniversary.....thank goodness the kids had no class! First off, it was time for the SONA (State of the Nation Address), and because the place where it was going to be held was near the kids' school, no classes. Additionally, there's a storm coming this way, so the Department of Education declared last night that there wasn't going to be any classes from high school down. So yup, the kids had a break because they stayed up pretty late last night! Most especially Raine, in her high heels, too!

So anyway, since a lot of the family stayed at the hotel last night, we met up for breakfast. Like we didn't eat a lot last night! Hhehehe. Hey, any excuse to get together and EAT is always a good one, especially for this family! :) We met up at Circles and ate and ate and ate. And had fun reliving last night's entire celebration, from the mass to the reception and to all the dancing involved. Even Dad's face would light up every time we talked about yesterday! :)

After breakfast, we went upstairs and hung out a bit as Bang and Rondic checked out. Then we invited Mom and Tita Belen to watch Mamma Mia at the mall. Finally! It had been out since the 10th or the 18th, I think, and we were just getting around to watching it! And was it a fun fun FUN movie!!! I LOOOVED every minute of it, including all the songs! Did I tell you I love musicals? Hehehe. After the nth song, Raegan would sigh out loud, look at me, and say, "why do they have to SING it? Why can't they just SAY it?!?" LOL!

Movie Summary: Raised on a Greek island by a formerly rebellious mom who never disclosed the identity of her father, a bride-to-be locates three men who might be her father and invites them to her wedding.

Awesome performances (including singing!) by Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan! I mean, who would have thought that the former Remington Steele and James Bond could pull off a musicale?!?! Wonderful wonderful performances! The movie pretty much stuck to the play's script, but of course, you can just do so much more in a movie. And it was just wonderfully light fare for today! Just perfect!

Another movie poster I saw that was cute was this one on the right. Adorable eh? Lai, you could've used this for the Ruby celebration, too, and put more of our faces on there, hehehehe.

Speaking of the Ruby, here's a continuation of my picture-heave post from yesterday:

I showed you my sisters just bawling it out during the walk down the aisle of Mom and Dad....here's one of Stella which I missed uploading yesterday:


And you think only the GIRLS were crying?!?! Uh-uh. 'Course not! I've got some beauties of the boys too!

Now I *KNOW* there's a pic somewhere of Rondic crying, but I can't find it!!! Anyone know where it is???

As we neared the steps going up to the altar, it was obvious that Dad was tired. So when he reached the end of the aisle where we were all waiting, the boys took his arms and led him up the stairs to his chair. One of the boys escorted Mom to her chair as well.


During the Responsorial Psalm, it was the grandchildren's turn to shine. Rielle delivered an exceptional chorus of On Eagles' Wings, making my hair stand on end. Pure, innocent, totally child-like, it was just a beautiful rendition that moved me to tears. Hence,

Here's Rielle, looking very tiny all by herself up on the podium

And the other grandkids, singing their hearts out, with the choir backing them up on the first chorus only. They did a pretty decent job :)

The Re-Affirmation of Vows

Apparently, Dad had left instructions that he was going to do the vows STANDING up. So Boydee rushed forward to help him. And good thing he did, too, because when Mom and Dad were exchanging rings, one of the rings fell and Boydee caught it in mid-air!

One of the BEST parts of this whole affair was hearing Dad answer Fr. Benny "I do!" in a loud, clear, strong voice which rang throughout the Shrine. Everyone was so surprised to hear him say it in this way, we all applauded him! This was a HUGE thing!!! Dad rarely spoke nowadays, and never ever in a clear, loud voice! He had been practicing for this moment! Go, Dad!

Lighting of the candles
Laying of the Veil
Laying of the Cord

A shot of the 12 concelebrating priests and Bishop Tumulak

They did a splendid entrance, Fr Anton delivered a great sermon (a tad bit long, but meaningful!) and Fr Benny arrived from Tagaytay way ahead of time to make the wedding and be the lead-priest for the re-affirmation of the vows. To all these wonderful priests who are near and dear to Mom and Dad, we THANK YOU for your support and your presence at the 40th wedding anniversary celebration!

And with that, I'm ending pics of the wedding here.....maybe more tomorrow, hehehehe.