Davis Meets His Uncle Kevin (and Attends a Wedding)

Quick review:

1. In March Susan's sister Cassie and her husband Nick had a baby, whom they named Davis.
2. Susan and Cassie's cousin Traci invited us all to her wedding held just last weekend in Fargo.
3. Cassie and Nick planned to travel to Fargo from their home in SC so that they could attend the wedding and let the extended family meet Davis.
4. Because Nick's parents live not far from Fargo (Detroit Lakes, MN), Nick and Cassie arranged to arrive in Fargo a week early and spend that extra time at Nick's parents' lake home before the weekend of the wedding.
5. Cassie, Nick, and Nick's parents invited Cassie's family (Susan and Cassie's brother Jerrett, their dad Roger, and us) to the lake home for the week, too, for some extra time with Davis (and with Cassie and Nick, of course).

You probably knew that already from this, didn't you? You have figured out, then, that although Susan and our daughters spent the week at Detroit Lakes, I stayed behind in Dickinson. I had to work, attending workshops and meetings in preparation for the start of the fall semester at the university. However, as soon as I could leave work on Friday (August 21), I drove myself to Fargo and headed for the hotel where all the relatives were staying for Traci's wedding. So I missed out on time at the lake, but I knew that I would see Cassie, Nick, and Davis in Fargo instead--not to mention all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousins' kids who gathered there for Traci's wedding.

It was very much past Davis' bedtime by the time I arrived in Fargo, so I didn't get to meet him until the next day. Our daughters were swimming Saturday (August 22) morning, and Susan and I were sitting poolside when Nick came in carrying Davis toward me. The moment I had been waiting for had arrived . . . and then Susan's aunt Audrey intercepted him! Dang it! I played with Davis' toes and talked to him as he sat on Audrey's lap, and Nick sat on Audrey's other side realizing that we had both been foiled. Then suddenly Nick got up and, without saying a word, picked Davis up out of Audrey's lap, walked around her, handed him to me, and then walked out of the pool area, leaving me to get to know my new nephew. Yay!

Davis is a great little guy--good-natured, not at all fussy, friendly, quick to smile, comfortable with strangers (or perhaps he could sense that I was his relative when he first came to me), cute as a button, cuddly . . . in short, he's so much like me that it was like looking in a mirror. (Ahem.)

Traci and Tori's wedding was at Gooseberry Mound Park in Moorhead, MN on Saturday afternoon. The weather was just perfect, and the park provided a beautiful setting for the ceremony. In this photo, the ring bearer is coming down the aisle. Nope, neither of the boys is the ring bearer; it's the dog! Not even kidding.

Traci's parents Pat and Kathy escorted her down the aisle. Kathy is Susan's mom Sue's sister.

After the ceremony, we all walked to another area of the park for supper: salads and barbecued meat sandwiches and cupcakes and sodas under a picnic shelter near a pretty fun play area for kids . . . something for everybody! Susan asked the girls and me to pose at one of the statues in the park.

The wedding dance was in the Fargo Civic Center just across the street from our hotel. Here are Tori and Traci having a first dance as a married couple. Awww! Suzanna had a neat opportunity after we returned to the hotel from the dance: she got to babysit Davis and another baby (Susan's cousin Kelli's new baby)! Cassie and Kelli got their babies to sleep and laid them down in Cassie and Nick's room, and Suzanna slept in there with the babes while Cassie and Kelli rejoined the festivities across the street. Suzanna was so honored to be asked to babysit!

The next day (Sunday, August 23) we helped get Cassie, Nick, and Davis to the airport for their return flight to SC. Before we were overcome with tears, we had to have some final photos. I love this one of Davis. We're going to miss you, Davis, until we get to see your cute little face again!

Little guy loves Aunt Susan! (Und ze feelink iz mutual, dahlink!)

Nick, Cassie, Davis, Susan, Hillary, Suzanna, me, and Abigail

At some point between my ladies' departure from Dickinson and my reunion with them in Fargo, they had acquired a large amount of extra cargo that wouldn't all fit in their vehicle (they had gone back-to-school shopping). Good thing I had the Explorer so that we could get all their purchases and their clothes back home! Susan and I both had to be at work the next morning (Monday, August 24), so we all crawled into bed at a pretty reasonable hour and left the unpacked Target bags and baskets full of dirty laundry to be dealt with in the next few days. It was great to see all the relatives at the wedding but most especially wonderful finally to meet Davis! Good job, Cassie and Nick. Keep up the excellent work.

P.S. The hotel where we all stayed for Traci and Tori's wedding just happens to be the same hotel at which Susan and I lived for a few months following The Flood of '97! The bank at which Susan worked back then relocated many of its Grand Forks staff to its Fargo office and housed them in that hotel until they were able to get back into their homes and return to some version of normalcy in Grand Forks. It was while we were living at that hotel, as a matter of fact, that we learned that Susan was pregnant with Suzanna!