Church Sunday

First, Eric did REMARKABLY well! It was the first time he'd ever seen the inside of a church besides one short wedding last summer. We were there for about 2 hours (only about 90 minutes of that was during actual service) and he got pretty antsy but he stood most of the time and was very quiet even when he did speak. He even tried to learn how to properly cross himself but after trying with his left hand and then almost poking his eye out he gave up. Apparently we need to work on his fine motor skills. At some point he told Milan and I, "I can't believe" but I don't think it was related to church itself. He did the "rock on" devil horn hand sign a few times and we laughed because there is really no rocking out during an Orthodox service. At some point he asked me, "Who is that guy?" So I tried to quietly explain but gave up and just told Eric his name.

The highlight was at the very end when everyone goes to the front of the church to receive bread. I'm not entirely sure what this is or why it is done, best I can figure, it is done for those who cannot receive communion, everyone is welcome to take part every week. Usually I skip that and just wait in the lobby. Well since we met with Father and I feel a little better as an outsider in the church I decided to do it this Sunday. So you walk up front and kiss an icon (I'm not sure if this varies or if it is always the same or who it is) then you approach the priest and he presents the cross for you to kiss, then you kiss his hand, and then he gives you a piece of bread the size and shape of a crouton only soft. I'd observed this enough times that I knew the process...Eric however did not. So we get to the priest and he puts the cross in front of Eric's face and Eric looked at him like he was insane. I nearly cracked up. Father said, "It's okay, he will learn," and handed him his bread. Which Eric proclaimed was, "Very yummy bread!" as we were walking away.

After wards we milled around a bit outside talking to Milan's sister, nephew and a very small portion of Kumovi. Eric pretended to be shy which I found odd since he met all the same people at Slava and then saw most again at Easter.

I also found out this week that Tata (Milan's dad) got the pictures we sent to him. Milan hasn't talked to him since then but his sister mentioned that he got them and was annoyed that Milan didn't label them. It was mentioned that it is strange how much we look alike. She's not the first to mention it, I hear very often that Eric and Milan really could be father and son based on looks...and Milan and I have noticed some of our features are similar. People say all the time that we look like a family so perhaps it is perfect that we are becoming one. I'm just scared for what happens as we age since couples who are together a very long time start to look alike. By the time we die perhaps we could pass as twins?

A family picture we took when we did our engagement pictures last month.