A SURPRISE WEDDING! AND TWO SHALL BECOME SEVEN!

WOW!!

Nothing like giving the

FAMILIES of the 

BRIDE & GROOM

a surprise!

Everyone was told that the party

was an honorary fete for Glen's 

25 years of service with the
FIRE DEPT

and an

ENGAGEMENT PARTY

to follow the 

honorary presentation.

LIAR, LIAR,

PANTS ON FIRE!!

When people walked in the door

here is the sign that greeted them.

This was made by Tara's oldest daughter-

ALANA---

this girl that has lots of creativity.

The next clue was the "altar"-

My new son-in-law

and my daughter are both

super-talented and artistic....

a match made in Heaven.

Tara did all the florals with help

from her sister and a friend.

Two little nephews and a niece

carried/tossed flowers down the "aisle".

Tara looked beautiful

In spite of the fact that she

was unable to wear the 

gown she had commissioned to have made

for the wedding, (long story-don't ask),

she bucked up at the last minute

and ordered a dress that

worked for her.

Her dad (MyHero) married them.

That is my WHITE HAIR on the left-

with CJK (ringbearer)

on my lap -not a wiggle out of him

as he watched the wedding unfold.

Afterwards, during the presentation

of newly wed husband and wife,

Glen gave a very emotional speech.

He was adopted and

found his birth mom 2 years ago.

Both  moms were right in the front and 

get along beautifully.

He also recognized his ex-wife, Sue,

the mother of his boys.

He thanked her for 

her part in his life and

paid tribute to what a good mother 

she has been to their boys--

 a testimony to the fine man

he is.

There was a first dance....

And a sweet moment where both had

something to quench their thirst.

Our friend, Jessica, 

sent me all these pictures 

this morning.

THANKS, JESS!!!

She is the one to the right 

and my other daughter, Mimi,

shows off her red head on the left.

What a blessing to have Tara's 

high school friends attend-

Rachel to the far left- her hubby,

Jessica (blond)

Mimi and my youngest son, Ryan,

Kristen and Jess (in front) taking the selfie.

It was a wonderful, wonderful night.

However, as much as I would like to

SIT ON MY BUTT ALL DAY-

I am off to pick up coffee for everyone

and help with cleanup.

ANOTHER SURPRISE!!!

oh wait....

NO SURPRISE THERE!

When the professional photos come through

I will share some of those with you, too....

and you might even see one of me if

they do enough photo-shopping so that 

I look like Loni Anderson....

just sayin'------

Have a wonderful blessed Sunday.

Where are those blogging friends

when you need work done?

Clean up crew volunteers?

ANYONE? ANYONE? ANYONE?

CONGRATULATIONS TO MY BEAUTIFUL TARA LYNN

While I was away in Florida

which is supposed to be the 

"most magical place on earth"~

A LITTLE MAGIC

happened right here at home.

My beautiful daughter,

TARA LYNN

got engaged to 

GLEN.

Her ring is beautiful-

I will try to get a close up of it soon.

But the ring isn't the important thing,

is it?

The important thing is that they 

love each other

and we love both of them.

He asked her to marry him in front of  her

THREE DAUGHTERS

at the coffee shop 

where they went for the first time

to "talk".

You know what that means?

There's a wedding in the works!

I can't wait!

By the way-

Coming up in a day or so--

another

PICK YOUR FAVORITE TABLE

blog post.

Can you GUESS what the theme

might be?

A COUPLE of WEDDING PICTURES & I REALLY AM GONE THIS TIME!!!

Well, being a BLOND means that 

the post went up yesterday and

should NOT have gone up at all!

This wedding happened on top of 

the weekend my brother-in-law

passed away so I wasn't going to post

anything about the wedding until we got home

(NEXT MONDAY)

Can I get a DUH?!?!!!!

Anyway, because I have already 

TEASED you by dangling a 

WEDDING in front of you---

I will show you a few candid shots

that were taken.

When I get home I will show you

some my son took.

He was the photographer

for the wedding.  

Ready?

Shaina and Christian

Aren't they CUTE?

Look at her flowers!

Her gown is 

WHISPER PINK!

Saying I DO!

That's MyHero standing behind them

performing the ceremony.

He did a GREAT JOB!

And WHAT comes after I DO?

Why---THE KISS--of course!

Now THAT is a KISS!

The barn at night....

And-WHAT'S THIS?

Oh!  Look!

The groom is trying to 

RUN AWAY!!!

Too late, buddy--

You IS stuck!

Just kidding, Shaina!

Okay--

And NOW I am officially gone until

NEXT WEEK!

I might have a few

REALLY GOOD PICTURES

for you then.

My son, MR. PHOTOG...

took THIRTY ONE HUNDRED 

Yes- 3,100!!!!  Pictures!

That's my boy!

If A LOT is good

A WHOLE LOT is even better!

I'M AWAY--I'M AWAY--SOMETHING SPECIAL HAPPENS TODAY

I am off to a 

VERY SPECIAL WEDDING TODAY.

It is kind of a 

FAIRY TALE WEDDING.

image

The bride is beautiful.

She's my hair stylist so you KNOW

her hair is going to be PERFECT!

MyHero is performing the ceremony

and the wedding is being held in a 

Wedding Barn!

She is one of my son's best friends

and HE Is the photographer.

It is going to be a 

wonderful family day!

I'll be back tomorrow with some pictures.

Hmmmm...Now what shall I wear?

image

What do you mean that might be

TOO MUCH?

Spoilsport!

See y'all tomorrow!

Everyone Loves A Wedding! Congratulations Esther & Michael & Update On Beth Marie

This will be short and sweet today

because I am on a dead run all day.

 I will have a couple of exciting things to 

share with you soon.

We have a beautiful friend, Maria.

 She works at the hospital 

in the same department as my husband.

I was hoping I had a picture of her.

I don't but trust me-

She is beautiful.

Remember our busy weekend with the kids?

We celebrated a wedding, too.

 Maria's sweet little daughter got

married this past weekend.

This is Esther and Michael.

My pictures are not the greatest.

They were taken in a dark reception hall.

Here he was thanking everyone that came to 

celebrate the day with them.

Something special happened at the 

start of the ceremony.

The pastor flew in from Washington

to marry them.

The pastor left his bible at home

(something that just doesn't happen).

He was handed a bible to use.

It had belonged to Esther's Dad.

Esther's Dad passed away when she 

was quite young so it was like a sign

that he was there with her for her

special day.

When she walked up the aisle

she was "handed off" from

her Dad's old family friend,
 to brother, to brother,

to groom.

Each one stood about 1/3 of the

way up the aisle of the church.

It was very touching to watch.

I have never seen a groom that smiled

as much as he did that day.

NEVER!

He never took his eyes off his bride

and you could see that she is the 

joy of his heart.

Their colors were beautiful.

The center of each table was anchored

by the sweetest little shell filled

goldfish "bowls".

Isn't that a sweet idea?

I don't have pictures of the bridesmaids

or the church.

I was too wrapped up in the beautiful music

and ceremony to take pictures.

This was a wonderful day and I am so happy

that we got to be a part of it.

If you have a moment,

leave the newly wed couple a comment below.

Here is the update that Beth posted on her blog:
I am so thrilled she is okay!

Just a line to say I am okay, Much devastation around me and two deaths in Washington IL,  My kitchen window was blown out, roofs and houses demolished all right in my area.  I feel so fortunate.  I am at hotel in East Peoria right  now.  Whenever I can go home I will have pics to post.  
Love you all,  thanks for all prayers.

Have a great day I will be around later

I am getting grandgirls off to school 

this morning!

WHAT A WEEKEND

Well, here I am!

I made it through the weekend!

You want to know if it was busy?

Funny you should ask.

This is a longer post than I usually do.

So-heat your coffee, grab some strawberries
 and sit a spell.

Friday night MyHero and I went to see

Lulu & SweetCheeks play-

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever....

and BOY was it!

Here are the girls  with Mom all ready for 

Scene I on stage.

Lulu played the part of 

Little Miss Self Righteous.

It was a good sized part and 

she did a GREAT job.

SweetCheeks was the youngest player

in the play-age 6.

She ad-libbed her way to 

front and center stage.

The director let her add two lines  

that she "wrote in".

No one was allowed to take pictures

of them on stage or during the play.

I only got pictures in the hallways

behind the scenes.

Here is middle sister, Ria,

caught in a pensive moment.

I think she was feeling a tad sad that

she didn't try out for the play.

She has beautiful hair-

I told her I would show everyone how

pretty it looked all pulled up in back..

So, Friday night was a busy one!

And~

Daughter Mimi, hubby and two boys

showed up to spend the night and go to

Saturday's show.

Saturday I went to TWO PERFORMANCES

back to back.  

At the 2nd show we had 21 family members

in the audience.

We ALL went to SweetCheeks' house for

pizza and Charlie's birthday cake.

When I got ready to leave

SweetCheeks begged her way into the backseat

and spent the night at my house.

If you have 15 seconds here she is

"relaxing" and telling me that she was

The Star and that "the spotlight loves me".

Sunday I went to the afternoon matinee.

This was the last performance of the season.

I now know every line by heart just in case

I want to try out to be 

THE NAUGHTY ANGEL

next year.

Wonder if they could stretch that costume to fit me?

Naaaaah!

Think that was the end of the weekend?

Nope!

Throw a wedding in there, too.

If you are REALLY GOOD 

I might tell you about

THE WEDDING

tomorrow.

Here's a sneak peek-

I will try to get around to visit later today-

bear with me if I am a little late.

A Belated Irish Blessing

I should have posted this yesterday

when Irish Eyes were

all on beautiful Irish things.

However,

better late than never.

I was not blogging

when my youngest daughter

got married 6 years ago.

My older daughter

(who was carrying SweetCheeks

just under her heart in this picture)

posted this the other day

and I just had to share it.

My oldest son is missing from this

sibling picture.

BUT----Here is:

Mama's Boy, Mimi & MomtoSweetCheeks

I wish my father could have seen 

this beautiful  girl.

He would have said she looked like

an Irish road map.

And so she does.

She is Mom to the two thumbsuckers...

They look pretty Irish to me themselves~

Have a wonderful Monday

and I hope none of you drank too much of this celebrating St. Paddy's day.

and...if you did.....well....

God bless your wee headache!