Wedding Photos - Finally!

LOVE this shot! Melina you rock!

I think he adores her! :)

Very beautiful bridesmaids.

Our gang

The bride with her three big brother, who BTW each did a wonderful job of the toast to the bride! Made me laugh, made me cry. Love em!

Easter 2002

These dark, out of focus, turquoise pictures from 2002 are starting to get to me. At this point I just want to finish the year off. I only have about 10 more pages to go and 2002 is all recorded and in the album. Thankful that Allison kept a great journal of all the things we did back then - YEAH to home schooling!

However, sometimes it is hard to come up with something I like with these old bad photos.

But it isn't about the photo quality, right? It is about recording the event .... and I think from 2001 until 2005 we had someone around our dining room table very Sunday after church - in fact I am sure we did. That is too much scrapbooking of food and I am going to have to pick and choose what gets into the albums.
This I can live with so in the album it goes.

The good news it the wedding photos arrived last night and oh my, oh my, oh my.... Melina did a FANTASTIC job and every minute outside of sleep and work is going to be spent on having fun with these. (and getting the 2002 album done so it is out of the way).

People, I am out of commission for anything other than scrapbooking, work, sleep and the gym for the next two months!

I will try to post some picks in the next 24 hrs.

I have to get them into Adobe Lightroom, organized and ready for blogging (sized).

But here is one for you today!

A glimpse at my weekend

 I was able to get some photos of the wedding off my brothers camera....

This is my lovely daughter-in-law, Allie, who provided all the piano for the ceremony - it was so beautiful - and so is she. Paul and Allie are expecting our first grandchild Sept 1st!

A little bit of celebration in the parking lot post ceremony - do you think they are kind of happy????

The family were all here for brunch today ...

David and I brought out all the china and silverware - and we had a grand time. My kids washed and dried it all by hand afterwards. I am blessed. 

 

There were 12 of us. 

The festivities continue, but much more relaxed. Just hanging with the kids eating good food and playing games. Last night we played Origins until 11 pm.

What a wonderful day and what a stunning bride!

All went according to plans with no hiccups. It was a beautiful wedding service, a fun filled reception and a BIG thank you to all my dear friends from church who stayed and helped us clean up the hall in record time!!

I m so looking forward to all the pictures! I wish I could post one of the bride right now but I did not pick up my camera once yesterday.  I left all that in the capable hands of our photographer,  Melina Perron. I know there are some incredible pictures and I can't wait to see them. No one can make a large family break out in laughter for that incredible shot like Melina can. The family photo shoot was actually a lot of fun! 

It was all fun!! And I actually relaxed enough to enjoy the festivities and visit with family from far away. 

What a grand day! But it feels good to be in jeans today with NO make-up enjoying family and post wedding festivities. I am off to throw a couple of quiches into the oven!

I will post wedding photos as soon as I can. 

Quick wedding update!

TODAY is the DAY! 

Yeah!!

David and I along with Mark and Paul spent 6 hours decorating the reception hall yesterday and oh my - it looks spectacular!! this is why you have lots of children - you need them especially to figure out the audio visual stuff and build big glittery back drops!

My neighbour Linda fixed my dress last night!! Wow - what a fabulous neighbour! It is stunning! (but not as stunning as the bride)

Paul and Allie arrived and I got to feel my grandbaby kick!! That is just so very, very cool! deja vu!!

That's all...busy day!

My day

This was today's to do list and I got through all the important stuff. 

Gym?? likely not

cut Harold's hair

Mark's bedroom ready

Paul and Allie bedroom ready

basement bathroom cleaned

be home for wedding cake delivery -pay 

Florist #1 - drop off ribbon and pay bill

Florist #2 - give boutonniere and corsage count and pay bill

Pick up table cloths at Canadian Linen

pick up glasses and pay at Party World

pick up steamed wedding dress

final fitting and pick up for my dress

oil change for Mazda

Costco run for easy food for all these people

Mark home for supper.

It all went smoothly... except the fitting at Brides and Belles. My wedding advice?? They have nice stuff there but do NOT go for the alterations. They messed up on my dress twice -  and still insisted on charging me. I am hoping my seamstress neighbor can help me out. Linda, my neighbor, did all Allison's wedding dress alterations and they are PERFECT. 

I elected to let Brides and Bells do my dress alterations - mistake!! You live, you learn. I had no energy or time to argue with them. sigh....

BUT, my brilliant red/pink toe nails look fabulous!!

AND I found the most gorgeous jewelry at Crush on 2nd Ave north almost at 33rd - they have such cool stuff!! We got something for the bride too - that was a fun Wednesday - first we visited La Senza and then we bought our jewelry - gave the VISA another workout!

Tonight I got to hug Mark after his drive through a winter storm in Northern Manitoba and tomorrow I get to hug Paul and Allie who arrive from Victoria. 

The wedding cake is gorgeous!!! Sorry no pictures yet. 

Still haven't got the bubbly for the toast...sigh again.

I am off to make tomorrow's to do list. Good news is that we can set up at the reception hall anytime tomorrow so I will be over their early to make sure all goes well. 

Busy, busy, busy wedding prep...

It is starting to come together....

There are boxes and piles of lovingly made/or purchased items in the living room waiting for their debut on the black table cloths - still to be picked up. 

I am thankful I am getting over this resp infection and that I am now off work for the next few weeks - YEAH and double YEAH!!!! No more spending the evening making stuff (after a day at work) We are almost there. 

Today we are off to look at jewelry for the bride and mother of the bride, get the gown steamed, the nails done (hot toe nails!!!) food pick up and a few other things on the to do list. 

Mark arrives home tonight after an 11 hr drive from Thompson, Manitoba - so looking forward to giving him a big hug!! Cause it is fun to hug a fireman!!! hehe a tall, handsome fireman who happens to be MY son!! 

Paul and Allie and baby Cortens (to be born late Aug) arrive Friday morning and I am also looking forward to hugging them...but first I need to make a place for them to sleep!!! ...is that on the to do list???

Happy Mothers Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers! I hope you have a special day with those you love, celebrating the joys of being a mom....

I think there is no better calling! 

By next Friday, Lord willing,  I will have all my children home and am so looking forward to this. By Saturday afternoon our numbers will grow as we add Sammy to the ranks. 

No, I am not loosing a daughter but gaining a son. We hope to spend some fun time together the following week. There will be eight of us! 

Now on to last nights wedding shower.....

Hopefully the groom does not visit his mother-in-laws blog... at least until after the wedding, but I did want to share with you some of the fun we had last night. 

A lingerie shower is really just a lot of fun and it is of the utmost importance that there be no males remotely close to the happenings. Wine, women, cake and lingerie make for lot of laughter and a few stories....

The mousse cakes were a hit!

My neighbor Linda's mother made 8 of these beauties to decorate the church with next Saturday. They also decorated the front door and dining room for the shower last night. I am so thankful for her talent and willingness to help me out! 

There was some pretty hot stuff tonight! Kendal said that she thought Sammy should write the thank you notes! I couldn't agree more! 







There are gerber daisies everywhere around here! And it is kinda pretty. It'll all be over... (and just beginning for two love birds)... in one week.

Pampered Chefs

I thought I would share photos I took of "the couple" at a recent shower for them. It was actually a Pampered Chef shower and they now have an assortment of kitchen utensils for their teeny weeny kitchen. (more like itsy bitsy)

Allison loves to cook and bake and is accumulating all the stuff her Mom has, however her kitchen (as of next week) is just a little bigger than my refrigerator. Kind of cute. 

And NO dishwasher which amuses my husband no end.

Sammy btw, did a fine job of separating the eggs! 

Today is Allison's lingerie shower and I am thankful that, as of 6 am this morning, I am feeling much better - finally!! Yesterday I was sure pneumonia was setting in - fever and all and I left work at 12 noon, came home and slept. 

I have a full day today with shower prep and making the place look nice, however my dear husband who is also just as sick as I am will help me make the place look pretty. He does bathrooms! What a guy!

Bridesmaids will also be decorating and planning the activities of the event so we have it all covered. 

I think any girl getting married needs to have the basics for a good marriage - pots 'n pans and lingerie! I mean what else do you need? 

If I survive the day I will post pictures tomorrow because I can't wait to get some macros of these two fabulous mousse cakes I will serve for the shower. Strawberry and chocolate! Normally I would have made them...but work and the flu meant I hired Costco to make them for me....but they are real purty!

Stay tuned.