One More Wedding!!!!
May 2008

This is the last wedding of all the *big* girls. We have two generations of cousins in our family.....thus, the *big* girls and the *little* girls (and boys)!

In the last wedding post, I wrote about my sister Vicki, and her oldest daughter, J's wedding. This wedding is her youngest daughter...another J!!!
This J has had her wedding planned in her head for years!! She pretty much planned her whole wedding herself and actually made a lot of things herself! The color choice was green and she carried that color theme throughout the wedding! Her tables were quite unique, using fresh green apples and green split peas!!

J's new husband, R, is a runner. I stand in amazement at his abilities....not only in running, but in pleasing J!!! She loves him to pieces...he's a great guy! Because he's a runner, his gift to his groomsmen was running shoes...with green, of course!


Their cake was made by a high school friend...It was beautiful!!!
The girls and the flowers were gorgeous...........
It was one of the prettiest days for a wedding that I ever remember.
God blessed our day and the wedding couple.
J and R, we could not be more proud of you!
Props to Joy (photographer):http://www.truetolifephoto.com/

In Honor of Halloween!!

Several years ago, one of the nieces wanted a Wizard of Oz theme for her birthday. She assigned each of us a character to dress up as. I'm hard to see, but I'm the wicked witch........way over on the right!!!!!!! Don't ask why she assigned me that part! I said DON'T ASK!!!!!!!!!click on the picture to see larger view!

Another Wedding!!
February 2005

A little background here: My older sister, Vicki, and I are 21 months apart! We had our first babies 2 1/2 months apart. Our kids grew up together and have always been very close cousins! When Vicki's oldest daughter, J, decided to get married to N, we were all very excited! She fell in love with N while doing a DTS (discipleship training) with YWAM (youth with a mission) in Seattle, Washington! He has been a God-send to J in many ways! Anyway, back to the wedding. In September of 2004, J and her mom, Vicki (my sister) came to my house to spend the day. We all went wedding dress shopping together. I took my camera and took pictures of J trying on her wedding dress and included Vicki in the pictures. So glad I did.Tragically, Vicki died of a massive heart attack, just a few weeks later. As we mourned her death, we planned J and N's wedding. It was very bittersweet.

J had always wanted fresh tulips in her wedding...and she got what she always wanted! The tulips were beautiful! She had them on her cake........

........and her bouquets were FULL of them!!

The bride and groom. First dance as husband and wife!We are all so proud of J and N! And now they have M and J....... that's a post for another time!!!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY

E.C.!

On October 27, 2007, we welcomed you, our first granddaughter
We had no idea how much love we had left in our hearts until you!

You learned to sit up....

And were dedicated to Jesus

You got your first teeth...........

And were happy ALL THE TIME!
You smiled at LOTS of weddings...

And took a plane ride to Florida to visit daddy's family
Then, you went to the beach with mommy's family(us)
And moved into a brand new house!
Nonny and Poppy bought you a *smart car*... that you LOVE....

And during this past year, we realized something:
You've changed us.
You've made us better people.
Through you, we have learned more about unconditional love.
It HAS to be the way Jesus loves US...and it's the deepest kind of love.

Happy Birthday E.C.!
Nonny and Poppy love you...and we'd give you the moon if we could.

My Name is "J"....and I Love to Sleep!!!!

On the way to PA...yep, she's married to my sonAn hour later....................

Still sleeping...................
"School Puppy" got tired of waiting and woke her up. We're here now...and she's AWAKE!!!

Caramel Apples

We are headed to Pa tomorrow for E.C.'s first birthday! Some of the family came to ride with us. We decided to make caramel apples to take to the party!!! This is me, with my niece A. (Less than glamorous picture of me, but oh well, it is what it is!)

"A" did a great job!

My mom helped too. She was the official "bagger"!!!

The finished product!! On our way to PA....

Wordless Wednesday...............

DON'T YOU LOVE IT???

My BLOG had a facelift...and don't you just love it?? A good friend, Leah Belle, designed it for me!! I am *tickled pink* over it! Check Leah out over at www.leahbellesworld.blogspot.com. She's a great girl who always seems to have it all together! She's a homeschool mom who has her priorities in the right place. She use to live here in NC and we sure miss her! Thanks Leah Belle.......oh, and p.s., Belle is one of my all time favorite names....anyone reading family?????

START 'EM OUT YOUNG!!!

So, we have the greatest hot dog place EVER... here in NC where I live. No, SERIOUSLY, people come from like all over, just to eat a hot dog! It's a little "dive" downtown that makes their own chili and slaw, serves drinks in a glass bottle, and honestly, you get your food in three minutes...TOPS!

Anytime we have visitors, they want to go to Zack's!! This sweet visitor is only ten months:


He's Baby J, my nephew, and if he didn't have that bib on, he might be the cutest little Baby J there's ever been at Zack's!!!

His big sister, M, is two! She's been eating Zack's for a long time...We like to call her a seasoned veteran! She passed on the bottle drink and stayed with her apple juice! (I caught her with a mouth full!) At least her bib is a little better!

So, we start 'em out young with Zack's............and grow 'em up big:

WEDDING #3
June 21, 2008

June 2008 brought our third wedding in eighteen months! Our baby boy, J, married J in a beautiful outdoor ceremony. J and J were definitely meant for each other! She has a spunky side that puts joy in his heart and she can make him smile when no one else can. The Lord is the center of their marriage and we are proud to call J our daughter-in-love.

This girl's got spunk...yep, she loves her some cowboy boots!
J(her) loves to dance and convinced J(him) to take dance lessons so they could do this together:

This picture of the bride captures the essence of *J*. Her cowboy boots with the mountain in the background (in her hometown).The happy couple...young, happy and ready to take on life:

WEDDING #2
October 6, 2007After five years of dating, our son, B, married K, on October 6, 2007. We were so excited to have K join our family. She is a lifelong student, no wait, that's B...........anyway, she is an elementary school teacher who just completed her Masters. Not only do WE think she is awesome, but her school thinks so too. She was voted Teacher Of The Year her first year of teaching!

Every wedding has it's unique qualities. On THIS wedding day, the wedding party ran a 5K. The bride's dad had tee shirts made for all the runners that said "5K on the Big Day". On the back of each tee shirt was our *title*. Mine, of course, said "Mother of the Groom"!! (The groom was excused from the run so he wouldn't see his bride before the wedding). We all had a great run and it was a wonderful way to start our day!


The wedding was beautiful and the bride and groom were gorgeous!The cake was AMAZING! It was personalized with words that were meaningful to K and B. Their dog's name and their honeymoon location, favorite ACC school and other special names were all over the cake. The roses to match the bouquets were also on the cake. Not only did it look beautiful, it tasted great too!


After a wonderful reception, K and B left in a horse drawn carriage. A wedding dream come true for both of them!!! Happy One Year!!

Wedding #1 November 12, 2006

Our daughter, G, married A on November 12, 2006. He was an answer to a prayer that we had prayed all of her life. A is a christian man who is compassionate, gentle, athletic, driven, FUNNY and just the right man for G. He is a tribute to a girl who waited on the man God had for her life. I told her the Lord loved her so much, He went all the way to Venezuela for her man! A came to the U.S.A. to receive his Masters from Vanderbilt. The rest is history.

This is a picture of how the tables looked! They chose a plated meal and had place cards at each table so guests would be seated with friends or family that they knew. Each place setting had a petit four with their initials on them, placed on a small silver tray. Pretty AND yummy!
G LOVES children, as evidenced in how many she had in her wedding....NINE! Five of the children were family members and four were special children in her life. The children added a precious touch to the wedding and believe it or not, there were no disasters!!

The happy BRIDE and GROOM!

The day was wonderful....and everything they wanted. After being married outdoors, and a reception indoors, they left in a vintage car and headed towards a long life together....Hard to believe it's been two years! Link to professional wedding pics
http://www.pictage.com/248241 Take a look! Joy does a great job!!