Sarah's Toast...

~Since this is a scrapbook of my life (which looks like swiss cheese right now b/c I've been neglecting it), I wanted to remember the toast I gave my cousin, Sarah, at her wedding.  Since I couldn't make it to the real wedding in Chile, I got to give mine at the rewedding in Chicago with our whole family there. As much as I hate having all eyes on me, it was so fun to get up there and talk about my cousin! I'll be doing a full post of all sorts of fun pictures from the wedding and an update on what's going on with life soon...I promise. ~

"For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Sarah’s cousin, Lindsay. Sarah originally asked me to say a few words at the wedding in Chile, but due to a seriously untimely move and even more untimely earthquake, I couldn’t be there for that wedding. So, words cannot describe how thrilled I am to have everyone here to celebrate my amazing cousin and her new husband.

I’m sure most of you know or have met my little brother, Landon. Unfortunately, my parents (along with Sarah’s) didn’t get the memo that the minimum amount of children in the Erwin/Schoenherr clan is 4. So Sarah and I both grew up with one brother each. While brothers are great…they’re not sisters. They don’t like playing dress-up with you, will run and scream when you try to do their make-up and generally, point and laugh when your uncle throws you in the seaweed at camp. However, I don’t feel like I missed out on having a sister at all…because I had Sarah.

Being exactly 7 months apart in age, we did a lot of fun things growing up together. Aside from playing the Barbie game with our aunts, our favorite pastime was playing dress-up. Both of our dress-up closets were quite extensive…full of old bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dresses and random costumes. Out of ALL of those outfits…one always stood out. The famed wedding dress. Sarah and I LOVED to play “bride.” I have vivid memories of us running around my old house having very serious arguments about who was going to marry Maccaulley Culkin or Jordan Knight (the cutest New Kid on the Block, obviously.) For the record, I’m pretty sure that both us, and our parents, are glad that neither of us married MacCaulley Culkin. But now, here we are, years later, and Sarah gets to play “Bride” one last time…and this time it’s for real. Tomorrow, she’ll recommit to Pipe to be his bride forever.

I have to admit that when Sarah initially told me she was dating someone from Chile, I was skeptical. Then, she brought Pipe to the lake. For those of you not in our family, this is the ultimate test of a dating relationship. The time at the lake will tell you everything you need to know about the person in question. Our family is massive, as I’m sure you’ve noticed today. With 26 kids running around at all times, it’s a ton of fun. But it’s also pure chaos. If you haven’t grown up with this, it can be hard to handle. Lesser men and women have crumbled under the serious pressure. Added to this was the fact that Pipe spoke very little English at the time. To all of our amazement, Pipe didn’t flinch the entire weekend. There were kids jumping all over him, people all around speaking a language he didn’t understand, and a “graduation” ceremony for Landon & Sarah done in traditional family style. Pipe did not bat an eye at the entire event... He was even a favorite to throw the little ones around in the water…a huge honor in the Erwin/Schoenherr family. At the end of that weekend, all of my questions were answered…I knew they’d end up getting married. And here we are, three years later. They make it work every day and despite the unique challenges their relationship presents, they make it look easy and effortless.

I’ll wrap up with this: In college, I was having a really hard time with a relationship. Of course, I was talking back and forth with Sarah and she said something that has stayed with me almost 8 years later. You said to me “Lindsay, someday some guy will look at you and say ‘I see Christ in her’ and THAT’S what will attract him to you.” Sarah, I know without a doubt that Pipe looked at you in your first class in Chile and saw Christ in you, because it’s simply impossible not to. You radiate love, acceptance and of course, joy. You are the closest thing to a sister that I will ever have and for that, I am so blessed. You’ve been there for me in all stages of life…in good times and in bad. I absolutely could not be happier for you and Pipe to have found each other and get continue your life together. I pray that you’ll be blessed beyond measure and will always look to each other for love, comfort and laughs. From what I’ve seen of the two of you in the past few years, this will be no problem at all. I wish you all the best, because you both deserve it."

And a look at what's to come....