Meet the flower girl!

Some of you have already had the pleasure of meeting her, but Lynne and Matt would like to introduce Kalli, who will be starring as the flower girl on The Big Day.
Kalli is Matt's cousin, the daughter of Jim (Diane's brother) and Shelley. She just finished third grade and is one of the brightest students in the class, according to reliable sources.
Kalli loves sewing with her grandma, going to Girl Scouts (where she is a star cookie salesgirl) and hanging out with her cool brother, Jake. She also happens to be the three-time defending Family Picnic Watermelon Eating Contest Champion.
Now, it was pretty hard for Lynne and Matt to tell whether Kalli actually wanted to be the flower girl. Luckily, since Matt has known Kalli since birth, he was able to decipher her secret code, pick up on her subtle clues, read her thoughts.
Like, for instance, there was the time when Kalli asked Matt - before he was engaged and before anyone knew he was going to be engaged - whether she could be the flower girl when he married Lynne. Smart girl!
But, really Lynne and Matt never had a doubt who would be the perfect flower girl, especially since she came highly recommended: Kalli was a beautiful flower girl at Matt's cousin's wedding, which is pictured at left.

Still, Lynne and Matt wanted to have some fun, so after the engagement they pretended like they were still deciding. Then, one day they dropped by Kalli's house unexpectedly, gave her the Best News Ever, and took her to look for dresses. As they searched for the perfect one, Lynne asked Kalli which dress she liked best.
"Whatever one you want," Kalli answered matter-of-factly. "You're the bride so it's your choice." Pretty grown up for a third grader!

Since then, she had been very enthusiastic about her part in The Big Day, peppering Matt with questions about where she'll stand and - most importantly - whether she'll get to drop petals. Tragically, she didn't get to drop petals at the last wedding. You'll just have to wait and see what the answers are. (Gives you incentive to get to the church on time.)
Anyhow, on The Big Day be sure to say hi to Kalli. And don't be surprised if she talks you into buying a box of Thin Mints. Or challenges you to a watermelon eating contest. (You'll lose.)

The Dress has landed

This is one small step for (a) wedding, one giant leap for dress-kind.
On Saturday, Matt got two phone calls and a text message in less than an hour. An emergency?
"Guess what?" Lynne answers the phone.
Last time she said that, Lynne brought home a dog. Thankfully, this time she had something that barked far less often.
That's right. The Dress has been chosen. Is Lynne unbelievable or what?
Of course, the details of The Dress remain top secret. Here's what Matt has been able to uncover during his intense investigation:

- The Dress was purchased after a marathon trying-on session, where 75 other dresses auditioned, but failed.
- When Lynne and her mom saw The Dress, they immediately knew it was the right one. (Not pictured at right.)
- It came from the House of Brides, which sounds like a horror movie or a Russ Meyer film, but it's not.
- And...assumedly, The Dress is white and pretty and has two holes for her arms. Matt forgot to ask about those sorts of things.

The Bride said yes; The Dress is chosen. By the end of the week, a location and date may be selected, too. Although even as Matt types this he's aware it's going to seem incredibly naive nine months from now, it looks like the tough decisions will soon be out of the way.
Of course, Lynne and Matt still have to agonize over whether the wedding's theme should be - "Tarzan: King of the Jungle", "Bring Your Own Chair" or "What would Kent Tekulve Do?"