In Preparation for the Biggest Wedding since August 4, 2001

Well, it's here. Ava and Brookie's wedding will be Saturday at 4:00 PM. I think that they have been very busy working on wedding details. We're so excited for them, and we can't wait to be part of their adventure together. Hopefully, Ava will call on her big sis and big BIL when she and Brookie need some advice. Heaven knows, we've been through alot in 5 years of marriage.



You may recall a little while back, when I introduced Brookie as Ava's new friend on the blog. My how things have changed. Her friend is now soon-to-be our BIL, will be the father of our nieces and nephews, and will be our children's uncle. That sounds more like a friend with benefits!



Now for the seriousness. I wanted to take the time to tell everyone how special Ava is to me.

I am so privileged to be a part of the "Drake" family and one of those honors is that I get to be Ava's BIL. Ava is truly the sister that I never had and over the years, it has been such a fun thing to watch her grow up and become a woman. I have always heard stories of the protective older brother, and I never knew how true that was. It's kind of like "no body can talk about my momma but me." I would never want to see Ava hurt and I think that I have given Brookie a little bit of a hard time. I think that God has lead them to meet and get married, but hey, I had to make sure, right!

I think it's amazing that just a few years ago we were making fun of Ava as she walked around the swimming pool since, "Oops, I did it again." Where has the time gone. There've been driving mishaps, school decisions, LOTS OF MOVING, but each experience has brought me closer to Ava.

I am very proud of her and cannot wait to see what she accomplishes in life. Brookie does have a great catch, and he has got to be one of the luckiest people in world, because he gets to be my BIL and I can only ever have 1 BIL! He is really lucky to have Abbey as a SIL!