The Perfect Wedding....

They are married!! And what a day! It was perfect! In fact, Steve had once told M that there was no such thing as a 'perfect wedding', but after Saturday, he had to take it back and admit that everything had been 'perfect'!

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and well wishes for the day! They meant alot. I now have some pictures to share with you. Honestly, I don't even know where to begin.



I'll start with the rehearsal Friday night. While the wedding party was in the sanctuary, my mom was out in the lobby doing some last minute hemming of the pants for the Father of the Bride! The iron you see there in the picture was 'hot' in more ways than one, having been smuggled out of the hotel room! (Of course it was returned later!!)




The groomsmen patiently awaiting more instructions. What a neat group of guys! R & M have been blessed with an incredible circle of friends!








R & K have one last dance before he's married. She knows that she is not losing a brother, but gaining a sister, and couldn't be happier!









We woke up Saturday morning to blue skies. The morning was spent decorating the reception hall and getting hair done before the pictures. And then over to the church to get ready and have a few pictures taken before the ceremony. (The majority were taken after the ceremony as they did not see each other before the wedding!) Here are the girls throwing some of the feathers that will be dropped by the flower girl.




My three guys!! Boy they clean up good!











The ceremony was beautiful! There were few dry eyes in the place as the doors opened and R saw his beautiful bride for the first time. He wept with joy.











Instead of a 'Unity Candle', they did something I hadn't seen before, 'Unity Sand'. They had black and white sand that they poured into a container, mixing the two. It is beautiful!









Then it was off to the reception. What a beautiful place for a reception! It is a hall that is set up exclusively for receptions and catered by an amazing local BBQ restaurant. Mmm, the food was amazing!







After the pictures, the wedding party arrived at the reception.










Each pair was introduced as they entered the hall. And then the DJ introduced the bride and groom!! Do they look happy or what??










After everyone finished eating and toasts were given (the wedding party did an amazing job with their toasts!!) the cake was cut!

















And then the dancing begun!!! R & M danced the first dance to a beautiful song - "Marry Me" by Ed Cash.

















The Father/ Daughter dance was next and was beautiful!








Then R and I danced the Mother/Son dance. We danced to one of our favorite groups, Nickel Creek. It was hard to believe I was looking into the eyes of a married man!








Then the dance floor filled and never emptied again until late into the night.










K & A danced a few dances together. As you can see from his pocket, our son A caught the garter when it was tossed. Hmmm, will there be another wedding in our family soon??








The dollar dance was fun.



















Steve kicked up his hills doing the 'Can Can' with a group of guys. Fortunately he didn't hurt himself!!












I don't know, do you think we had a good time?

3 More Days....

Can you believe it? Just 3 more days and the wedding will be here. Yikes! Lists are being made; piles are being created; and chocolate is being eaten. (One way I cope with stress!!) We had a very nice, quiet Christmas. Steve had to work part of the day, so we kept things low key. Thanks to everyone for your Christmas greetings and for being such an encouragement to me over the past year as I've dabbled in the wonderful world of blogging! It's been fun! I look forward to the coming year as well!

Many of you have asked if K is studying photography, and actually she is! I thought I would share some of the recent photo's she has taken of the kitties next door. Boy, are they getting big!!




Here is little Scotti. What kitty can resist a piece of twine??










And, finally, here is Tess making an exit.












We certainly have had our share of winter this year. Lots of snow, and more in the forecast. Fortunately this Saturday looks like it will be blizzard free, which will be the only Saturday that is true of in the month of December! Sumo LOVES the snow and LOVES to go out in it. Here he is waiting for me to catch up and head out into the back field. You would never know he's almost 12 years old when he gets out in the snow. He jumps and runs and acts like a puppy! He got lots of turkey on Christmas and was quite happy about that. (Some was even covered with gravy!) We haven't broke the news to him yet that he can't come to the wedding. But he has someone fun watching over him, so he'll be happy. (And I'll bring him home a treat!)

I'm not sure if I'll be updating my blog until after the wedding. But I'll have lots to share after that.

Until Next Time.....

Merry Christmas!

From our house to yours.. wishing you all a Merry Christmas!!

Off The Needles

Well, I have several projects off my needles and just in need of a few finishing touches. Here is the Vintage Bubble Bag that I had been working on. This is probably one of my favorite felted bag patterns. It is a great size and I am very happy with the length of the straps. I need to decide if I am going to just add a snap, or actually line it and put in a zipper.










I also finished up and felted the Sophie bag I have been working on. I double stranded the yarn on both of these bags, which makes for a larger end product and a very dense fabric...which I like. I may add some embellishments yet to this bag, not sure yet.













With some of the leftover red yarn, I made a bowl from Leigh Radford's One Skein book. I think I know of a perfect home for it.








K and I came over to Galena yesterday to do some knitting and a little shopping. She is currently working on a Leaf afghan for her friend who is getting married next June. It is a great pattern because it is done in strips, so it is quite portable to work on. It is going to be beautiful when it is all done and very warm!

The pattern is free and available here.










While we were here, we went up to the lodge and looked at the yearly edible gingerbread house that they create. They always post a list of the ingredients that were used in creating it.
Over 225 pounds of flour and over 276 pounds of powdered sugar! (Plus lots of other stuff!!)









I love the fireplace that is inside of the house. I am pretty sure the log in the fireplace was NOT edible. It looked pretty real! And even though it is edible, I have to say I was not tempted to take a bite!!














K, however, amused herself by taking pictures in and around the lobby while we waited for the pizza we had ordered to be finished. As per usual, there were the series of 'Self Portraits' when I downloaded the card! I really liked this one taken in the mirror. Good thing the lobby was empty or people might have wondered what she was up to!!


Off to do a little more knitting before we head back home for the weekend. Looks like we are in for another snowstorm this weekend. Perfect weather for getting that last of my Christmas baking done. Before I go, however, I would like to share this link to a UTube clip of 'The 12 Days Of Christmas' that is quite enjoyable. I found it while reading Samantha's blog. Enjoy!

Until Next Time....

WINTER WONDERLAND

It is a Winter Wonderland outside my front door. One of those days where every tree branch is covered with frost. And when the sun shines through it, it is breath-taking!








Pictures just don't do it justice!!

















Here is a view of our house from partway up our driveway. (It's a long drive.. especially in the winter!) Good thing Steve enjoys plowing it out with his four-wheeler!!






GREAT portrait weather. Unfortunately, the only one who was game was Sumo!!















Wedding and Christmas preparations have us pretty busy these days. How fortunate for me that my kids are so willing to jump in and get it all done... having fun while doing it!! K made the first batch of our very favorite Christmas cookies.. the Cream Wafers. Oh my goodness! I cannot stop eating them!!



We've strung the popcorn and cranberries for the Christmas tree. I decided to put up our ancient artificial one this year and will shop for a new one after Christmas when they'll be on sale. Between the wedding and our trip, I decided I really didn't want to go with a real one this year. It looks 'ok'. This year, 'ok' will have to do!





Not everyone helped string the popcorn and cranberries.... Some chose to just watch the movie!! I would point fingers and name names, but I happen to have been one of them! First time in dozens of years that I haven't done it. (And the first time in years that Steve DID do it!!) And it was 'ok'!













We're taking time here and there for special treats as well. With K home, she has been treating us to her special homemade latte's. Whip cream is optional, with or without the latte!!





We've also been practicing our dance moves for the big night. I don't know, R & M may decide to ban us all from the dance floor!!








I've been going through stacks and stacks of pictures from years gone by picking out ones for R to use in a DVD for the wedding. Here is one of my favorite pictures of him as a baby. He was less than 24 hours old...can you believe it?? Seems like just yesterday. And now he's getting married. Crazy! Where DID the time go???











Until Next Time....

Graduation. Spinning. And More

Well, today was a big day for M. She graduated from college with a degree in Elementary Education! She is going to make an incredible school teacher!! We are all so proud of her! After the commencement, we had a wonderful lunch with her family. Can you believe 2 weeks from today they will be husband and wife? I think they are now counting the hours!











I have been trying to do some spinning in the little bits of free time that I find throughout the day. I have my first two bobbins ready to ply, but have no clue how to do it. I need to line up a plying lesson!!







I was getting a little tired of the white wool, so I grabbed some roving I had gotten from Spunky Eclectic and decided to give it a whirl! It feels similar to the wool I was spinning, but having a little color mixed in is fun.








K is home and wanted to take a few fun 'artsy' pictures of me spinning. I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it, but know I have a long way to go. I can't wait for another opportunity to get together with some of the spinners from the local guild and glean from their experience!





As per usual, K turned the camera on herself. (My kids have always enjoyed taking pictures of themselves.) Pretty sure she didn't think it would end up here!!









Remember Mr. Wonderful? Well, turns out there is a MS WONDERFUL! Whodda thunk?
Here are the things that I guess men would just LOVE to hear:

"It really doesn’t matter if you leave the toilet seat up, it makes it easier to clean."

"You don’t need a glass... just go ahead and drink right out of the carton."

"A new reversible drill. Oh honey, it is just what I needed!"

"Are you sure it’s ok to wash this shirt? You’ve only worn it for a couple of days."

"Don’t feel bad honey! I forgot it was our anniversary too!"

"You’re right, we don’t need directions. Maybe we’ll find a shortcut!"

Don’t worry about taking the trash out! I can use the exercise!


I guess I'll have to work on those!! (If I want to be Ms. Wonderful, that is!!)

And what would a family weekend be without gathering around the Mac?? I can honestly say that we watch very little TV. But we do spend a fair amount of time in front of a different screen. Probably watching Mac Commercials or learning the steps to the Souljaboy dance.






In unrelated news (but in the news nonetheless), I made another appearance in our local paper. Fortunately this time it was not for chasing llamas! A local writer did an article about the purses my friend Diane and I have made and sold to help Luba with her ministry in Russia. If you are interested, you can click here for a link to the article.










And Sumo? Well, he just wants in from the cold. We already have a good amount of snow on the ground, which means we will probably have a white Christmas, which is always nice. (And doesn't always happen!) Sumo actually enjoys the snow and loves to bury his face in it. But then he likes to come back in where it's warm and cozy. Yes, he has a tough life!!

Well, off for a family game of Settlers Of Catan. I hope I win!




Until Next Time.....