Like branches of a tree we grow in different directions,

yet our roots remain as one.

Each of our lives will always be a special part of the other’s.

(Author unknown)

Oh my! What a weekend! Dramatic weather, travel challenges, last minute sign placements, music decisions and more. It all came together in an absolutely beautiful, heart-warming evening of friends and family celebrating the marriage of Alex and Shelby. Scott and I have no sense of losing Alex but instead are so thankful for having the good fortune of gaining Shelby – a wonderful gift to our family!

These photos are just a sneak peak of all the fabulous pictures yet to come. Thanks to the assistance of Leahlynn Reed, Scott was able to magically be both father of the groom and wedding photographer. Scott will have more photos in the next week or so … he’s got two real big banquets this week so y’all will have to be a little patient. In the meantime, if you want to share any photos of the wedding, please upload them to your favorite photo site and share the link with us in the comments section here on this page.

Words really can’t express our appreciation and love for our family and friends that have always been there to help in guiding both Alex and Sam to adulthood. To have so many of you there with us in Stephenville was truly humbling. The quote that just keeps running through my head is this:

The best part of life is when your family becomes your friends, and your friends become your family. (Danica Whitfield)

By the way, here’s those final music decisions Alex made:

•Father & Bride dance •Mother & Groom dance •Bride & Groom dance

Kind of hard to break the tradition. Here again are images from our day. Image updates every 15 minutes automatically (if it doesn’t, just refresh your browser)

We’re done! Here’s a brief slideshow of the images.

It was time for some new beach towels. I found these on sale and got more than just a good deal – I got a bunch of memories of spending summer days at my grandparent’s on Buffalo Lake,  Montello, WI.

The colors and the texture of these towels just brought back a flood of memories: Gramma’s Fiestaware, the turquoise blue butterfly chair, those metal geese flying over those HUGE white leather recliners, Mexican blankets on the extra beds, and that funny, impossibly small metal table and chair in the bathroom off the breezeway … I don’t even know what I remember and what I’m conjuring up in my own mind.

It makes me think of Gramma yelling “Paul? Paul!” from inside while she got everything together and Grampa outside having a laugh while he entertained everyone. I think of Gramma coming to the top of the boathouse to watch us playing down below in the water or for us to zoom by in the boat. I think of the meals. Oh my gosh. All the food.

I’m absolutely certain that, as a result of my time spent at my grandparents, these days when I’m hosting a large meal it somehow doesn’t feel complete unless I offer crudités like olives and fancy little pickles … It wouldn’t be a holiday meal at our house without a door prize … and I have an EXTREMELY hard time following recipes without some sort of spontaneous change to the ingredient list. These are all things that must be deeply embedded in my DNA because I swear they happen without me even thinking about them!

It all comes back to style, though. It was the big things like the huge windows overlooking the lake and the repeated use of white – even the rocks that bordered the driveway were painted white! It was the little things like the fancy ashtrays and the many different glasses. It was the blessings at the meals. It all came together in Hattie’s own style.

Whew! Great day. As always. Food was terrific (turkey was especially good this year). Bill and Lorette were here for the first time in a long time. New babies: Anthony and Allison. Great to have the boys home too.

FR: Sam, Sarah, Amber, Oliva, Peter, Allison, Amy SR: LeAnne, Jacob, Lorette, Bill BR: Pat, Diana, Joe, Anthony, MariFe, Matt, Alex, Shelby, Ann, Scott

I earned it!

For us, summer this year started last Saturday, the day of Sam’s high school graduation. The graduation parties of friends started the week before and, in fact, he’s at another friend’s graduation party tonight, but we squeezed all his celebrating into that same day as the Centennial High School graduation ceremony, June 6. That allowed us to take advantage of out of town family to attend both ceremony and party.

To quote Jane Austen: One cannot have too large a party. That’s exactly how we do it around here! We are truly blessed with loving and supportive family and friends. Like with Alex’s graduation last year, the menu and other party plans all came from Sam. Needless to say, with fajitas and slushees on the menu and the volleyball net up in the pool, it was a fun day for everyone.

Click on the picture to the right to see more photos from the day. NOTE: There are not 200+ photos like we normally have because Scott was having as good a time as everyone else, just hanging out and enjoying the day to celebrate Sam!

Yes, I’m a little behind! Had some birthday and homecoming photos that I never got around to sharing.

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A couple weeks ago Ann and I went out to CGS to help put together bunk beds in the 5 new cabins at Main Camp. Hard work, but great to see the new cabins. Ann arranged for us to use one of the cabins for Memorial Day weekend. Sam had been wanting to share CGS with Sarah since he’s so enjoyed going there all these years. So we invited Sarah and her mom and dad to join us for the weekend.

We had a great time. Climbed to the top of Johnsons Peak, took a barge over to Hells Gate and climbed up Devils Island. We had a nice campfire on Sunday night and had “Hobo Packs” for dinner. All in all, a nice relaxing weekend

<< Click the image to see some of our weekend photos.