Beach Photos, Dance and The End

At the reception we were right next to this amazing beach and lake..... it was cold so no-one got to enjoy it.  When we went to scope out this location the sun was setting right on this beach and I wanted sunset photos...... well I got beachy, cloudy, misty photos.  Can't get everything that you want right?

How could this smile get any bigger?

Then the wedding party joined us.  

Goof balls!!!

Their first dance.

Someone decided he didn't like mommy and daddy dancing so he stood there by them....

I got Jr to come sit by me so they could have their dance.

Not for long though...... but they really didn't mind.

NO kissing!!!

Then Monica got to dance with Jr 

 Then her dad.

Then I danced with Adam.  

This son of ours has a very tender heart, he's been through a lot, they've been through a lot, we've been through a lot. 

I was taught family is important, I was taught family is tough, I was shown love as my parents stood by my side when I didn't even think I needed them, I learned God has a plan for all of us and we need to trust Him.  I found out that I suck at being strong.  

But together we make great family memories.

This is the end of the wedding photos.  If you made it this far, thank you.  It was an amazing wedding everyone who attended looked like they had a great time and Monica and Adam were speechless with the love they felt from everyone.  

Our Saturday night ended with a fantastic campfire of stories, snorting games, jokes, and so many laughs our sides hurt.

Sunday we had food and drinks to finish so we went to Adam and Monica's house.  It was a sunny warm day and we sat outside for hours.  One of their neighbors came into the field behind their house to cut down the wheat.  All of a sudden I seen a dragonfly circling above our little group and I thought about my wish for a sign from our family in heaven.  Then I seen another one, and another one, and soon there was about fifty dragonflies circling our group.  As you looked at the farmer in the field he was surrounded by dragonflies and they were flying from him to us.  I might not have gotten my sign at the wedding but this sign was loud and clear that our weekend was over but they are all still here watching over us.  

Weddings are certainly special and everyone needs their special day and everyone will be different, there will aways be love, there will aways be family and their will always be those signs if you just open your heart.

Wedding Day 2

The original wedding plans were for a small Friday afternoon ceremony with grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews..... then have everyone else join us for the reception the next day at a campground that Monica camped at while she was growing up with her family.  

Then a few more people got invited and then a few more and then the location changed so a few more got invited and simple turned into my version of simple, which isn't simple but I seriously could have taken it further but didn't if I knew what was good for me.

So Saturday's Reception was going to be the celebration part of the wedding with a few more family and friends.  And that it was.  We headed over to the campground on Friday after the last guest left and gathered around the fire with both families.  We spent the night in Lynn and Jesse's camper and got up Saturday morning to run home for a quick shower.  Here is John and I for Wedding Day 2.

We still had to keep the guest list small due to the number of people allowed in the pavilion and with 2 very large families we couldn't invite everyone but we did the best we could without hurting anyone's feelings.  

My great nieces are twins and full of all kinds of energy and I have to say they love their Auntie Connie and need to be touching me, teasing me, playing with me, hanging on me and most of the time giggling with me.  I decided to get us all together with my cell phone..... that was a big job.

We all have the same mouths........ open all the time.  

They are pretty special to me so if they want to hang on me and be silly with me I will let them.

Monica didn't wear her dress right away at the ceremony site but she did go back to the campers and put it on later.  It was so funny to see this white dress walking through the woods but I never grabbed my camera soon enough to get that.  

The ceremony location was beautiful next to the lake.  It was a little cool that day but it was supposed to rain and it never did so we'll take a little cool.

Tried to corral Andee from running whenever we could.

If you were cold this fire was all you needed to keep you warm.  

The supper was a pig roast where the whole pig was roasted and brought to the ceremony fully intact.  Ellie dressed him up in his shades and beach towel.  

He was the main attraction, every guest was in this room looking at the pig, asking questions, and taking pictures.  

Of course the bride should control the pig.

The caterer carved one little hole in the side and all the meat came out through that hole and the pigs outsides stayed the same.  

Most unique wedding photo ever........???

The meal was beyond delicious, it was amazing.  We had so many compliments on the food and thank yous for the invite to be able to share it with us.  

Join me with the next post when I share pictures of them on the beach, and the dancing.  

First Comes Love than comes CAKE

Cleaning out our garage was a tough job.  Cleaning 13 years of fly poop and spider webs along with a huge to-do pyramid of projects that have been collecting in my allotted space ((2'x2') John doesn't share very well with me in his garage) took me from the time the location change was decided until the week of the wedding to clean.  It was lots and lots of hard work, washing walls, fighting,sweeping, scrubbing, purging, fighting, moving, painting, fighting, and did I mention John and I might have had a few words for each other during this cleaning process?  But now that it's done I think he might just like a clean organized garage.  

This palette was in my to-do pyramid and I hated to throw it out so why not paint it for the wedding.  I think this might have been my favorite decoration and it took me 3 minutes from start to finish.  Photo credit for this one is to Elly my granddaughter.

Now to cover up the stuff that John won't let me hide move.  My steal of a deal (free) with multiple bolts of burlap came in pretty darn handy.  I've had them for years and knew that someday I would have a use for them.  

Monica wanted lanterns, deer horns, feathers, burlap, lace and flowers..... Yep I can do that.

These two chairs, coffee table, side table, shutter and toolbox came out of my pyramid.  So let's make a seating area for gifts and visiting.  The two white cabinets hold all my chalk paint and waxes so burlap helped to dress them up.  The long table is my chunky heavy farm table that I do all my painting on.  It worked great for the gifts.

Burlap and Lace to cover up the vintage snowmobile, even though John thought that wasn't nesseccary.  

Each lantern centerpiece had a painted tray for the pyramid.  The chalkboard was also in the pyramid pile.

This wall holds all the bungie cords, extension cords, straps..... and I pinky swore I wouldn't move them..... Little did he know that I would cover them up and it would become the head table area.

Bouquets were Hydrangea flowers from my bush and baby's breath that I threw together on Thursday.  

Elly took this photo also when she wandered around with my camera.  I seriously forgot that I gave it to her and was pretty excited with the photos she took with it.  I think my granddaughter might follow in my footsteps.

Monica had asked Jesse to say prayer before we ate.  Jesse is by far the best person to say a prayer and give everyone faith, love and tears........... and he outdid himself once again.  His prayer was thought out, written down and read with so much love.

Time for eating and kissing.

One shot from when guest were starting to filter inside to eat.

The cake table was a desk that was on the bottom of the to-do pyramid.  It's been there for years, it was actually the first thing I ever painted and it was in the upstairs bedroom for years and when Adam took that room over it came out to the garage and sat there.  It was a horrible black latex paint so I carried it out to the burn pitt...... and then I changed my mind and decided to put it in the garden to plant flowers in...... and then I changed my mind and painted it to put the cake on it.  

The doors behind are from a house my sisters and I salvage yeeeeaaaarrrrsssss ago. 

Monica's mom Ellie made the sweets for the cake table.  These cookies were seriously delicious, they were strawberry lemonade cookies.  And I might have ate one of the chocolate treats too.  YUM

Ellie also made the naked cake.  It was perfect.

Who's going to get messy?

No one!!!

First comes LOVE than come CAKE

This concludes the ceremony day for the wedding.  The next day was the reception at a campground. The families went to the campground on Friday night and had a big campfire and lots of laughs.  It was time to start relaxing and celebrating.  I'll be back with more posts from the reception that happened the next day.  

This wedding was simple, sweet and we couldn't have asked for anything more.  Their families were there, their kids were there, their friends were there and they were the happiest I've ever seen them.