A baby and a wedding... all within 12 hours!

Oh boy. This past week has been one of those, "Hang on, or you'll fall off the train" kind of weeks. We spent the first few days of the week preparing for our son's wedding, which was last Friday. There was a fair amount of running around and getting things crossed of my list, but I felt like we had a good handle on it. Then came Wednesday evening. We went to the temple with my son's fiance in preparation for their wedding. While we were there, we joked that "Lindsay is probably going into labor since we're all here, and she can't get in touch with us". In reality, her due date wasn't til March 17th, so we felt pretty safe. As soon as we got back to our phones, we realized that our joking matter was a reality. Her water broke while we were all gone! Thankfully, it turned out that she had a while to wait for baby to arrive, so things were somewhat in control. She was just starting to get panicky, though.

She didn't really start labor til the next day, but we were still sleeping lightly and checking our phones all through the night, in case we had somehow slept through an important call from her. That next day, Thursday, I had about a zillion things to do -- all of those pre-wedding things that have to wait til the last day to get done. So, I set up for the luncheon at the reception center. I was pretty fragmented in my thought process all day long, so I forgot things, or decided I needed to add this or that... I was going back and forth from our home to the reception center to See's (not a bad stop... they gave me a sample every time I dropped in) all day long.

See's Chocolates for all...
can't go wrong with that!

A glass candlestick from the dollar store,
with a cork in the top. We inserted a paper clip
into the cork, and that was the clip
that held the photos in place.

I finally got all of that in place, and about that same time, Lindsay and Ryan were getting checked into the birthing center.

Bob, Whitney and I all headed there to be the support group. Lindsay did a great job (no epidural... whaaaaatt?!) and we watched so many reruns of Pawn Stars that we saw Chumlee lose weight and grow his hair long all in one night. To make several hours of labor into a shorter story, somewhere around 10:30, Linday was dilated to a 6. A half hour later, she moved to a 9. As the midwife walked past us (we were all out in the waiting room at the time, including Ryan, who was out with us for a bit), I asked her, "You're going to let Ryan know when she starts pushing, right?", and she said, "Oh, yes... we'll start that in a while, and we'll come and get him". We chatted for a few minutes, and the midwife suddenly pops in and says excitedly, "The baby was just born!". Again, whaaaaatt?! Linds literally let out a yell, and the wee one was born. Just like that. Can you stand it?! We all missed it, including Ryan!

And it's a girl! They had waited to find out, so we all had our guesses, but no one knew for sure. They named her Zuma Preslie, and she is a doll... perfect in every way.

We didn't end up leaving the birthing center til 1:30am, and we climbed into bed around 2:00. I tossed and turned a bit, over-excited by the new grandbaby's birth, and also anticipating the wedding events of the next day. I heard Lindsay and Ryan come in at about 3:30 (they don't really let you stay long at the birthing center, so we had offered for them to come and stay at our house for a week or so). I got up and helped them get settled, and then climbed back into bed to try to get a few hours of sleep before the big day ahead.

And Friday was beautiful. Everything went as planned -- the wedding, the luncheon and the reception. It was a lovely, exhausting day, and I couldn't have been more thrilled. Wils is our last child to get married, and he married a gem! We count ourselves the luckiest people in the world to have all of our kids married to truly amazing, beautiful people. We love them all, and consider them our own.

Our family... missing the newest little family of three

These are some of the wedding reception details. I didn't have anything to do with the reception decor, but I loved what they did, and wanted to share...

Vintage bi-fold doors with
lace-filled embroidery hoops

Gorgeous paper flowers strewn across the walls

The "sign-in book" was squares of fabric that the guests
signed their names and a message on, which will later
be made into a quilt

A quilt square waiting to be written on

My grandson's handprint on his quilt square

The beautiful couple!

29 Year Anniversary

Excuse me whilst I get personal for a few minutes. But it can't be helped. It is a great day!

29 years ago today, I married the man of my dreams. I know that sounds a little cliche, but I'm telling you... as a young girl, teenager, and young adult, I had the same hopes and dreams about my future. They never changed. When I was in grade school, I remember having to write down what we "wanted to be when we grew up", and I wrote two words: A Mom. My teacher didn't think that was enough, and tried to get me to write something in addition to that, but I couldn't come up with anything else. There wasn't anything else, as far as my hopes and dreams were concerned. Now, if I had been on my toes, I might have changed it to: Wife and Mother. But, to me they were all encompassed in one word anyway. That all went without saying.

And then, when I was 21, I met Bob. And that's where the hopes and dreams turned into a reality. I'm not saying our lives have been perfect and free from trials and challenges since we've been married. We've had our share, and I'm sure there's more to come. That's just part of being on this earth. But through it all, I've always been living my dreams. (Again, cliche) But there's no other way to put it. 

And who knew? My mom told me that through the years we would just continue to grow more and more in love, and I couldn't really comprehend loving Bob more than I did the day I married him. But now I get it. I know that what she said is completely true. 

Our lives continue to get more and more full. The experiences we have are like beautiful pieces of a quilt -- all different patterns and shapes, but fitting together and making the whole quilt more and more beautiful as it continues to grow. 

And I say to myself, "How can this quilt possibly be any more beautiful than it is now?". And then, as the next son or daughter-in-law, or grand baby is added to the family, their is more beauty. And even when we have something really hard and sometimes really painful to go through, as we make it through the other side of it, we take another look at our "quilt" and lo and behold, it has become that much more lovely. 

How little did I know 29 years ago, when I was that smiling, happy bride, that my life would be this deeply rich and sweet. Words can't express how blessed and eternally grateful I am for the man that has been by my side and made every bit of it possible. Oh, how I love you, Bob.

Wedding Luncheon Photos - Part 2

Just a few more photos from the wedding luncheon. Such a beautiful day (despite the clouds and iffy weather)!

Originally we had planned to have all of the tables outside on the lawn. Since it had rained for the three days prior to the big day, the grass was a little mucky, and I feared the ladies' heels getting mired in the muck. So, we set up four of the tables outside, under the deck. where they were sheltered from any chance of rain. The other five tables were just inside, in the basement.

The centerpieces were made by my friend Val. She used old barn wood, fashioned it into boxes, and planted succulents and ivy in them.

Ooooo. Who is that cute little baby looking right at the camera? Our sweet, sweet grand-baby!

Some of the crowd in, some out. It worked beautifully as a "Plan B" arrangement.
How cute is my son (the groom) with his hand tenderly holding the arm of his new bride? He's a sweetie-pie!

And finally, my beautiful mother...

Wedding Luncheon Photos - Part 1

As I previously mentioned, we served box lunches at the wedding luncheon for my son and his new wife. I came up with the idea for two reasons: 1) I wanted a cold lunch (because of the long, hot summer); and 2) one of Robbie's favorite foods is a sandwich!

So, I enlisted the help of my friend Kristen, who catered my two daughters' receptions. We sat down and went through the possibilities, and I think the final product was both darling and yummy!

She started with a pasta salad. My only request was no onions, no peppers. It was perfect and delicious! She had measured the containers and box to make sure everything would fit in just right, and in the end, it fit in exactly, with no room to spare!

Next is the green salad. Simple, yummy, and refreshing. We didn't want the greens to wilt, so we had mason jars of dressing on each table.

And then came the fruit salad. She used seasonal fruits: watermelon, strawberries and blueberries. So delicious!

She also had a bag of chips (of course in a coordinating bag), and a croissant turkey sandwich (shown below in the closed bag... (forgot to get a photo of the croissant sandwich, but know that it was delicious)! She also had packets of mayo, mustard, salt and pepper in each of the box lunches.

And everything was neatly packaged in coordinating coral and navy packaging. The knife and fork were wrapped in a coral napkin with navy baker's twine tying it all up.

We didn't want to smoosh the "to-die-for" frosted sugar cookie, so we leaned those up against each box.

And do you think we could forget about embellishing the bottled water? We thought about labels, etc, but I didn't want to risk the chance of making a label and having the water get the paper soggy. So, instead, she tied each bottle with a little piece of navy tulle. Simple and darling!

And of course each box had to be tied up with navy and coral ribbons.

Bob cut out a bunch of chalkboard circles as a tag for each box. I had my other son's fiancee write R&R on all of them (the initials of the just married couple).

It was a perfect, easy, light, but filling lunch that everybody devoured! I loved them so much, I'm trying to think of another event to serve box lunches at!

(And thanks to Kristen, Kristi and Joanna for their photographing skills! Love you gals!)

Wedding "Thank You" sign

This morning, I made a little sign for a darling girl in our ward who is getting married in a week. They'll be holding this sign as they pose for photos, and then one of those photos will go out as their Thank You cards. Such a fun idea!

I started with some wood that we had bought to make Christmas signs last year. It was from a 8' by 12" plank. Bob cut them for me to about 18" long. Then, I used a watered down warm brown craft paint to "stain" the wood.

After letting that dry, I painted three coats of a cream-colored craft paint over the whole thing. Then, with my Silhouette, I cut out the letters in vinyl. I looked for a cursive font that would show up, but none of them were chunky enough to show up on the finished product. I love the font. Its a free font called "Santas Sleigh".

After cutting the vinyl, I stuck the vinyl onto the board, and smoothed out the bubbles. Then, I used a little picking tool, and pulled out the vinyl letters, which left the blank letter spots surrounded by vinyl. This is where you have to be pretty meticulous, and not be too rushed. I smoothed out the bubbles again, and made sure everything was nice and pressed down. Then, I got the black paint and using a dry foam brush, dabbed small, dryish amounts over all of the areas where the vinyl letters had been pulled out. It took about four coats of dabbing like that -- with very little paint and a very dry brush -- to make sure the letters were filled in solid.

When it was all dry, I pulled the remaining vinyl off, and was left with something like this:

To finish if off, I ran my sander all around the edges, and a little here and there along the face of the sign, just to give it a little depth and character.

Done! And another item crossed off the list! I can't wait for the wedding festivities. The bride and her family are absolutely lovely, so I know it will be a wonderful affair!

Wedding Photos - Part 6 - The Wedding Party

To view the rest of the wedding photos, click below:
Part 1 - The Temple

Part 2 - The Luncheon

Part 3 - The Reception Entry

Part 4 - More Reception Details

Part 5 - Yard and Food

These should be the last of the reunion photos that I'm sharing here. I have more than 600, but I think I'll save the bulk of them for a wedding photo book. This post shows some photos of the wedding party...

I love this photo with Bob and Ryan. Looks to me like Bob is giving Ryan some father-in-law advice. I would love to have heard the conversation!

We didn't have a formal reception line, but the bride and groom and Bob and I seemed to find ourselves greeting guests in the same neck of the woods. I think it gave the wedding couple a bit of reassurance to have us nearby, since so many of the guests were our friends.

We had the cut-out made of Wilson (who is in California serving a mission), so he was here and there throughout the wedding day. I love this photo of Robbie and Wils.

And here is our family. I love this photo! (Too bad Wils' missionary wardrobe didn't include any colors of the wedding) Its actually better that way. I like how he stands out.

Me, my mom, and my sisters. One of my sisters left before this photo was taken, and the other of my sisters lives in California and wasn't able to come for the wedding. I love these girls!

And me and my cute daughters. Oh, how I love these girls, too!

Robbie changed into shorts to help clean up. I like how he still stayed within the wedding colors (all except the socks) even for working. He's an awesome son!