The Big Day

Time to finish posting about this wedding, don't you think?

(Thank you to my sister-in-law for the photos taken in the sanctuary.)

-Early morning at the church-
The hairdresser blessed us by coming there to save on extra trips into town!

-The girls-

-My two favorite girls and me-

-Filling in some extra time-

-The flower girl fixing a little snack before the ceremony-

-Pastor with B and my mom-

A's mom and I had the privilege of lighting the candles.

-The guys-

-Concentrating on their tasks-

-My dear B, with a serious job to do-

-Bubbles for the newlyweds!-

I just enjoyed the reception, so didn't take any photos of that. The hall was decorated beautifully with navy and bright pink, and included many fresh flowers from B's sister; my brother, P, did a great job of emceeing; everyone liked the photo booth; the food was delicious; and it was a fun, relaxed time with family and friends!

-Time for Mr. and Mrs. to leave the reception-

-But maybe not quite yet-

-At least not without a little help-

Best wishes, K & A, with prayers for a long and happy life together.
We love you!

Preparations, Pedis, Practice, and Posing

There was plenty to do the day before K & A's wedding. Everyone who was available was recruited to help set up and decorate at the reception hall. I didn't get a good shot of it when we were done, but had bright pink material draped across the middle of every other table, and navy in the middle of the others. We had hoped to have flowers from our garden to use, but the timing was wrong. Fortunately B's sister had plenty blooming in her garden, so she was able to add a vase of fresh flowers to each table the day of the wedding.

This is A's mom cooking pasta for one of the salads for the reception.

All the girls, including moms, stopped around noon for a pedicure session!

I don't think either of us had ever had one before.

Now I have! Kept it on for around a month.

In addition to toes, T had only the tips of her fingernails painted bright pink.

Had to send some of the girls out to bring back pizza before everyone was finished.

Later it was time for the rehearsal.

That was followed by a wonderful supper (thanks, L!), then stopping to pose for photos with the yard art scene created by B's sister.

Showers of Sweetness

K was blessed with several showers before the wedding, which of course always included yummy food being served!

That's chocolate cheesecake you see here!

After the shower at A's home church, we spent the afternoon making mints. This does not show the actual brightness of the pink mints, and the center ones were white not yellow, but the blue is pretty accurate. With these we didn't dare go any closer toward navy blue.

This homemade apron was a shower gift.

We made numerous batches of homemade ice cream to serve at the reception.

We also made candy for reception favors.

Each guest received a bag like this.

Yes--it took much time to make the candy, print and cut the cards, and fill and tie the bags, but we had some good help with the final evening of work putting together the programs and fixing the favor bags.




Peanut butter, chocolate cream cheese, and chocolate chip cookie dough centers!
Yummm!

A Wedding!

Did I mention there was a June wedding in our family? I claim that as reason for being AWOL from the blog so much lately. : ) But now, the excuse is no longer valid.

I figured the day would fly by when it actually arrived, and that is just what it did! All of the preparations--planning, deciding, shopping, gathering, cooking, arranging--came together on June 5 when K and A exchanged their lifelong vows before God in a beautiful ceremony in our home church. It was such a joyous time, made all the more special by being surrounded by so many wonderful friends and family members!

I didn't take any pictures during the wedding or reception. Guess that's why you hire someone for that job! (Don't have those back yet.) But I did take them beforehand and once the reception was done. Plus, B's sister graciously shared those she took with us. So.... I'll just use this one photo she took for now, and try to chronicle more in some forthcoming posts.

Turning Twenty

We celebrated T's birthday (which is today) when we were with her on Saturday.

Happy Birthday, T! We love you!

Time goes by in a blur!

It seems like we just made the trip across the state to visit the junior college that T. ultimately chose to attend for her studies. But that was two years ago, and now this past weekend we made the trip again, this time to watch as she crossed the stage to receive her Associate of Arts degree.

We went out to eat after the ceremony, then had a slice of cake to celebrate.

Congratulations, T, we're PROUD of you!

Spring Blooms

I took photos of flowers.
I planned to blog.
It didn't happen.
But when I saw the asparagus was up and ready to eat, there was no doubt that Spring had happened, and I knew I'd better get something posted before it's suddenly Summer!

Related?

Done! Tomorrow morning, even though I may wake up at 6:30 like the alarm has insisted I do these past six week, I will not necessarily get up right away. Probably should just stay in the habit, but we'll see. ;)

Kindergarteners are an interesting age. Their emotions and words to match are always right there, ready to burst out, whether it's joy, anger, goofiness, hurt, pride, or whatever the current mood brings. For the most part they are eager to please, but need oh so much guidance. I hurt for some of them, all of them actually. By the things some of them talk about, it is obvious that they have been exposed to SO much (not necessarily good stuff) early in their lives. It is refreshing to be around the 5-year olds who are just, well, 5-year olds!
These are a few of the "self portraits" I asked the students to draw for me on my last day with them. The artist of the one in the lower right told me, "The second person is you, and we're both wearing high heels."

I have to share an ah-ha! moment one of them had. A little girl was printing her name, when a lightbulb went on for her. She exclaimed, "I'm related to Monday! My name begins with M-o-n, too!" That kind of comment just makes my day!

Another thing that is a definite "day maker" is getting 22 sweet hugs to close out a long-term job!

A Singing Surprise

Did I say snowed under? Yep, that's how it's been, especially the last three weeks. I've spent all of those days, except weekends, with 22 kindergarten students, as I've been filling in for a teacher on maternity leave. Three more weeks to go! They're a good group, and I do have a full-time aide, which is a definite blessing!

On Friday, just as we were starting a lesson with them all gathered around on the carpet, we had visitors in the room. It seems that someone had ordered a singing valentine to be delivered to me at school. (a rose and card, two songs by the barbershop quartet, and a packet of chocolate kisses) Several people commented how special they thought that was, and I do agree. : )

Thank you, B.
I love you too!