more on the wedding!

I am very sorry, blog readers. Life's been sticky lately and I'm having a time getting to the blog. Blah! But I promised more about David and Chelsea's July wedding so here goes.

The exciting and also a little nerve-wracking fact of having our five oldest grandchildren, ages 2 - 5 serve in the bridal party became real on the morning of July 18. Keeping 7 little children (including the two newborns) fed and rested was accomplished by many helping hands: parents, aunts and uncles, and two sets of grandparents. The little ones also had to be washed, combed, dressed, ferried, and photographed. A big undertaking but also a labor of love for our David and Chelsea.

          Here are the girls, ages 5, 4 and 3 all ready for photos. They held together pretty well!

 

A little wilted before the ceremony. Golly it was hot for us non-Floridians.

Here we have the little ring-bearers, beating the heat at the

St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club (wedding venue) after torrential rain the day before.
 Whatcha gonna do? Boys will be boys.
One bolted during the ceremony, but

all things considered they held it together.

 

 

 

Makin' it work: pre-ceremony snacks and video in the van.

 

 

"Wake me up for the reception."

 

 

Still sleeping .... Jordan with Jenny.

 

 

Wow! Chelsea's mom and aunt made all these cookies, which were

waaaaay better than any wedding cake. Little take-home bags

were provided, too!

 

Lily with Bill and me.

 

Mark with his middle, Ethan.

 

 

 

Have you ever played shuffleboard at a wedding?

Everyone loved it!

 

 

 

Jenny, Jill and Katie: three of "my" girls!

Notice the bride and groom in the background?

 

 

Cattle call for the photographer!

 

 

 

Of course, these two were who it was all about!

Chelsea and David planned a unique, fun and God-honoring wedding.

They had a short getaway in Florida and are planning

a fabulous official honeymoon for November!

 

 

This time a year ago, David and Chelsea had only known each

other a few months. For years I've prayed for my kids and their spouses, even before we KNEW their spouses. I thank the Lord for answered prayers!

(Special thanks to Jenny's mom, Shelley DeGeyter, for

some of these photos.)

 

 

 

 

July has come and gone and I have a new daughter-in-love!

Tampa Bay

My life is a wild, wonderful whirlwind. Well maybe it's more like hurricane season when you wait for the next big one to roll in. In between, there's tranquility.

We've been home over two weeks and "BLOG" keeps staring at me from my to do list. Computer issues, some house repairs, checking in on Bill's mom and catching up on sleep from the Florida wedding trip have kept me from writing.

So, excuses aside, here we go!

Yes, we drove all the way to St. Petersburg, Florida for son David and his lovely bride Chelsea's wedding. We made the drive safe and sound, all 2500 miles round trip in ten days! And the drive was definitely "shortened" by Katie introducing us to the podcast "Serial." Oh gosh, a seriously addictive real-life crime story!

Hot, it was hot as a pressure cooker! Bill and I lived in south Florida our first five years of marriage but the incessant rain they've been having blew the humidity level to around 200%. We dressed appropriately (no matronly suit for me!) and the wedding and reception and even the rehearsal dinner were just fabulous. Most importantly, the bride and groom were thrilled and loved their special day and they are just ADORABLE!

                            (Benjamin Hewitt Photography)

 

                                            Sweet dance on the patio.               (Benjamin Hewitt Photography)

Oh I didn't mention ... the wedding and reception were held at the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club ... a SWEET and historic place where David and Chelsea had many dates. Following dinner we all played shuffleboard. What fun!

 

                                                                  (Benjamin Hewitt Photography)

 

 

Lily caught on fast and loved some shuffleboard!

 

 

David's beautiful bride Chelsea, who I prayed would be kept safe and healthy

until God brought them together. I can't tell you how happy I am that they

both waited for each other. A perfect love story!    (Benjamin Hewitt)

 



It's hard "losing" this last son. As CRAZY as I am about my daughters-in-love, I feel a little loss when each son has married. But I'm super proud of each of them, and happy to see them succeeding in life. David and I danced to "Forever Young" by Bob Dylan. Ok, ok, I love it as the intro to Parenthood but the lyrics seemed perfect, even though my son is grown.

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young

 May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young

 May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
 

Bob Dylan, 1973

I have more to share, especially about my grandchildren's roles in the wedding .... next post!

engaged!

                                                                                photo by Sterling McLean

 

I'm so excited!!

Our oldest son David proposed to his girlfriend Chelsea

one week ago on Boca Grande Beach in Florida.

 I'm happy and thankful for many reasons.

I've always thought David will make a terrific husband:

 tender and compassionate,

has a great sense of humor and doesn't take himself too seriously,

is hard-working,

and (considering he's been a bachelor for 10 years)

he goes with the flow very well.

Best of all, David was incredibly patient in waiting and trusting

God for his future. He could've "settled" but didn't.

(and that was some feat, considering his mother kept pestering him to

"put a line in the water if you want to catch a fish.")

 

So who's the lucky girl?

Chelsea Barrett ... and we think he's a lucky guy, too!

We've only spent two weekends with Chelsea

and we love her already.

Any gal who can effortlessly spend Thanksgiving weekend in a house

with all 13 of us (including 5 kids under 5)

and sleep on a leaky air mattress without complaint has my vote!

Chelsea's an accomplished artist/graphic designer, loves coffee (a requirement),

seems to juggle many things at once, has a quick wit and laughs easily,

is up for adventure, is great with children (also a requirement, ha ha!)

and just has that comfortable I-care-about-others personality.

They both love God and have trusted his hand in their lives.

 

No word yet on a wedding date, but I was right about one thing:

this is going to be a very big year!

Congratulations, you two!

 

 

 

35 years!

At our Michigan cabin on our 25th anniversary, 2003.

It's universal: life seems to speed up as kids get older, as we get older. Our lives brimmed and spilled over with high school sports, kids learning to drive, me leading Katie's Girl Scout troop, two of the boys in Boy Scouts, youth group, and never-ending homework. (Ya know, I hated homework!) The baby we moved with to West Virginia graduated in 2001 and so began the college years.

I felt I was on a carousel those years, spinning round and round and trying to focus on something stationary. It was a rich and amazing ride, witnessing all four children transition to young adulthood and all three sons find jobs and move away. David, Dan and Katie all graduated from Taylor University, a gem of a school tucked away in rural Indiana. It might sound odd, but Bill and I fell in love with Taylor, for its Christian foundation and commitment to preparing kids to be Christ to a world in need. When Katie graduated last year, the only thing we were happy to leave behind at Taylor was tuition payments! 

Dan and Mark both fell in love with darling girls, Jenny and Jill, and we had weddings here in Delaware in 2007 and 2009. I always prayed for my children's future spouses, but never imagined how God would honor those prayers. I couldn't ask for more wonderful young women as my daughters-in-love as I call them.



Mark and Jill's wedding, August 1, 2009

In all the chaos, Bill continued to steady me. He found ways to take the pressure off, whether delaying a road trip by a day (because I'm never quite ready), or offering to pick up Chinese take-out so I don't have to cook. Whatever I make into a big deal, he somehow makes into a smaller deal. He's so flexible and accepting of my can't-always-get-it-together ways. Love that guy!

We didn't have a wedding of our own, so we enjoy our kids' weddings!
August 1, 2009

Well tomorrow is our anniversary! On more post to top it off. Our family grows by leaps and babies!

wedding willies

It's now two days until my son Mark's wedding. Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. to be exact. I know the bride and her mother are supposed to be the mush-brained ones, but a groom's mother has a share of brain freeze, too.

Here's what's on my mind, what's left of it:

CONFESSION: twice in the last 24 hours I've had to pull out the invitation to re-check the TIME OF THE WEDDING. Come on!

Guilt: Once the boys started finding far-off places to move, getting married and that sort of thing, I devised a empty-nest rule, and that rule is: if you're a) getting married and/or b) buying a house, you WILL sort and pack up your twenty years of accumulated belongings. This includes trophies, baseball cards, report cards and ninja turtles. It goes with you.

There is an escape clause to the rule: if you are moving to a small apartment, you may store your boxed belongings in our crawl space. For a time. I thought about imposing a rental fee, but decided against that. After all, I do want to be cared for once Alzheimers sets in.

So. The stressed-out, tending-to-a-hundred-wedding-details groom finally made serious progress on his room and belongings. Then I felt guilty. As I kept driving home the reminder to "clean out your room," it occurred to me that maybe I was being a bit heavy-handed. Even seeming overly-anxious to have him out. For good. Ugh. Mean old mother.

I started writing this post last night but got too sleepy and went to bed. Now it's 5:00 a.m. and I'm wide awake!

Wedding week camping trip?! The groom's brothers decided that a bachelor camp-out would be great fun. Tonight. Thursday. 48 hours before the wedding. Seeing as how both brothers live out-of-state and are ARRIVING today, they need a little help gathering the equipment. Tent. Sleeping bags. A skillet. Matches, flashlights, plates, cups. OK, I DID offer to help. But I was thinking more along the lines of making some food. It's turned into more than that. Boys, you WILL care for me when I'm old, won't you?

Out in the yard: Puttering in the yard is great therapy. My neighbors will see me there throughout the week. I just can't be stressed out at geraniums and hostas.

Hotel Haller: With four extra people staying at the house, there are a few issues to address. Who sleeps where. (I think the groom will be sleeping in the basement with all the wedding gifts.) Finding towels and sheets. After 30 years of marriage, I realize the towels and washcloths don't match. Oh, well. And there's some food prep going on, too.

Yep, it's a crazy week around here. Today will be especially frantic, with airport runs, camping trip packing and last-minute vacuuming up dog hair.

But I'm faithful it will all fade when I see my tall and handsome son standing with his radiant bride on Saturday evening!