September 19 Family

 Saturday:  I managed to take pictures of lots of dear family while I was wandering around nursing my terribly sore feet--my shoes were not fitting right, but what could I do? So ... I ignored it as much as possible! I did regret not being able to play around with the kiddos as much as I would have liked, but it was what it was.

It was rather chilly in the barn, but there was a nice and quite cozy loft area that I spent some time enjoying and taking a few pictures while I was at it.

Isn't this nice of Dylan and Kelly? It was so wonderful to see them relaxed, smiling, happy, and just enjoying themselves. I was really blessed by it so much.

Doesn't Emma look beautiful in her pretty dress? 

I love these pictures of Emma and Kota ...

At the dinner, I was seated at the same table as Dylan, Kelly, and the kiddos ...

A very nice pictures of my THREE granddaughters!

Emma and Kaity got ready for the wedding over at Emma's. They did their make-up and hair so pretty. See Grandma and Grandpa Hand behind them?

It's always a blast to watch tiny children dancing ... I love how they just let loose and MOVE.

Dear, dear Erin ... she is eight going on eighteen quite quickly!

Cal's dance moves ... he is very into break dancing ...

Dylan and Erin dancing ... I loved this so much! 

And Erin and Gregory too! Gregory is VERY fond of his mom ... they are sweeties together.

Cal (Gregory) really really REALLY enjoyed dancing!

And AIDAN! Oh.my.word. This kid can really do the dance moves! I was so impressed at his ability to throw himself around without falling! I would have completely wiped out. I love to see Aidan having fun like this.

And I like these of Jesse too ... and Matthew and Kaity as well ...

Matthew comforting Kaitlynn at the "loss of her brother, Chris" ... Kaity feels like Chris is gone to her forever. I surely hope not, Kaity-dear. Marriage does change families--there is no avoiding that; but Chris loves his family as well as Ella's.

Emma and Kota dancing ... so happy!

I love these two so much ...

My final picture ... 

It took awhile to edit these pictures ... many of them are random, but all of these folk are really dear to my heart. Oops ... one more picture that kind of cracked me up because it looks like a tragedy from a love story gone bad--

This is just a random picture of Brendan and Kaity--but he looks like a rather moody suitor and Kaity looks like she is totally ticked off ... I know--nothing is actually going on here, but it just reminded me of a tragic love story ... 

The End.

September 19 The Bride and Groom

Saturday:  Chris and Ella were pronounced husband and wife, or formally speaking, "Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Pahman" this afternoon at Whippoorwill Farm. The weather forecast all week was quite dismal for this momentous occasion, predicting 90% chance of significant rain throughout the day. Everyone who had anything to do with the planning of this wedding really badly wanted to have the ceremony outside at the beautiful setting out on the lawn, next to the barn. 

I woke up to heavy rain Saturday morning that kept it up until nearly 1:00 pm. PLUS, it was windy and rather chilly. SO disappointing (or so I concluded). However, since the ceremony was not taking place until 4:00 in the afternoon, there were three actual hours for everything to dry up enough to have the ceremony exactly where everyone wanted it to be.

Obviously, I took zero pictures during the wedding. I'm talking ZERO. They had their own professional photographers and no one wanted to mess around with spoiling the setting running around with cell phones! 

I took just a few pictures of the newlyweds at the reception:

Chris and Ella had their very own little round table for the meal.

After everyone had eaten, the wedding party went outside for quite a lengthy photo shoot; but finally, it was time for "the party" to begin with "first dances", etc. Ella, her dad, and her nephew (I think) had the first dance, and then Chris and his mom, but THEN ...

... it was time for THE most important dance of the evening ...

Chris and Ella dance very well together! I loved watching them twirl around.

I love these pictures of them. I was able to snap them without being in the way of any of the professional photographers, but I had to be very careful and kind of quick on the draw--so they are not the best pictures, but I think they at least capture the JOY of the moment.

Congratulations, Chris and Ella. Please, Lord, bless them in their marriage and life ahead so that they truly know You, love You as You alone deserve, and make You known to everyone around them.

September 18 GIR Celebration

Friday Evening:  The Sunday school class I attend at Calvary is called "Growing in Relationships" and has a 31 year history of being a class. Tonight the class invited everyone to a celebratory potluck in the newly renovated space at the church. It was a fun night of people remembering the early days of the class, how people met and got married, film clips from days gone by, etc.

Bev invited Ted to come, so I facilitated that! Ted was introduced to everyone he hadn't met at the last social gathering, and it turned out that he actually knew 2-3 people that went way back in his life--it's a small world. It's always fun to be with these two because they always run into someone they know and the they talk about old days together. Ted is 92 and Bev is 91, so they have quite a lot of people that they know and even though these two "old folk" just met each other six months ago, they keep finding common old friends that they have!

Ted and Bev . . .

This "room" is at the far west end of Calvary's buildings.

They tried to gather everyone for a group picture, but the group has gotten so large that they had to split the group into three separate pictures. I only took this one picture. I can't name every single person in this picture, but I have become acquainted with quite a few of them this past year and am glad about it.

I think the average age of people in this class is right around 80, so I'm one of the young ones!

September 17 Wedding Rehearsal

Thursday Evening:  This is the week! Chris and Ella are to be married two days from now, and tonight was the wedding rehearsal over at Whippoorwill Farms (their wedding venue). It was a really beautiful evening as everyone gathered to go over all of the details of the upcoming ceremony and reception. The wedding photographers, planners, the pastor, the wedding party, parents, grandparents, and everyone else in the family who could make it were there--Emma and Kota did not have enough notice to request time off from their jobs, so they were unable to come.

I took a few pictures (just a few) of the happenings ...

Here is the Best Man--Tyler (also Chris's best friend for probably a dozen years now)

Pastor Lou running through some of the details of the ceremony--directing the wedding party as to where they should stand, etc. and going over a few things with the bride and groom.

Chris looked very solemn as they practiced their vows ...

Matt is also in the wedding party--see him? He is right next to Tyler . . . and here comes the bride ... being walked down the aisle by her dad.

A nice smile from Chris! Tyler is taking it all in ...

I didn't get any pictures of Ella's face during any of this time. Why? Because I am NOT the wedding photographer, and I most certainly have been in the way. I took these pictures from where I was told to stand/sit during the rehearsal.

When all of the formalities of the rehearsal were rehearsed, everyone went into the barn for pizza and celebration. I wandered around a little bit outside because it was so pretty out there, AND rain is 90% predicted for Saturday. Ouch. We had a brief rehearsal inside their little chapel (plan B in case it rains), but I didn't take any pictures inside of it because it wasn't well lit.

This is inside the barn where we ate our pizza and visited with family. I love barns! This is an especially pretty one.

There were a few goat and donkeys wandering the fields. I'm not sure WHICH donkey (below) let out a mournful "HE-HAW" during the actual wedding ceremony (Saturday), but I sure was relieved that it was only ONE outburst and not a prolonged number.

Isn't it so pretty here? A very nice venue, unless of course you would rather be married in a church--which is my preference ... but perhaps it's because I am old. Anyway, I love the sky in these picture.

Across the grassy yard, the white building is where the reception will be held. I took a few shots in here because I really liked how it looked, PLUS I was relieved that the reception would not be out in the rather chilly barn.

Two more days ...