Settle in ---

This could be a long one.
I've been gone from blogging for so long I'm not sure I know where to start. I completely missed blogging our trip to the zoo, I know that. I'll have to go back and hit that later, I guess. Probably the best thing to do is to start where we are and work back. And then from there work forward. Make sense????

So -- hanging out with the family this weekend. Went on a date (belated anniversary date) Friday night, classic dinner and a movie. Jon Carter's last ball game on Saturday and home today nursing a migraine. I've been working on fixing this blankity-blank computer for the past week and think I may have it working as good as it can. I honestly know nothing about it so it's a small miracle that what I did worked. But here I am, blogging along.

Alright, wedding recap:
*This was the first time any of my children have flown. We have always driven to FL or Myrtle Beach, or wherever we've gone. So this was a super-big deal. Our flight to Tampa was really smooth and easy -- we got there Thursday evening in time for a late dinner with everybody. Amy met us in the lobby and I started to tear up. Why? because I'm a big cry-baby? maybe, but also because all that we had talked about not only for this last year, but for such a long, long time was happening. I had a hard couple of weeks leading up to the wedding that really weren't wedding-related stress at all, but some other stuff. Getting down there was like a release of all that stress.
The TradeWinds was beautiful. The service that we had there, I thought was really superb. We ate that first night outside on this little patio, by the beach, the pool, the hammocks. It was perfect for families, with mini-golf and paddle boats, lots of pools. Friday we had the day free before the rehearsal and dinner. Hello, beach. 6 glorious hours of the best therapy there is. It's hard to explain how wonderful it was to have so many families together. People we went to school with there with their husbands and kids, Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob's friends from all over, family of Amy's that we had never gotten to meet, Doug's family ... all on the beach together, just hanging out. The best was watching the kids all play together. Kate was in "friend heaven". She made lots of new ones, and her best friend from Carterville, Annabelle was there. Those girls played for hours and hours. Precious.
<<--one of my favorites. love it in b & w too.

<<<-- yep, we kinda took over the beach for a couple of days.
<<--Kate again. I had a hard time choosing which ones to post. Lots of favorites at the beach.



<<-- playing with friends.

Rehearsal was brutal. Not because of the logistics, that all was easy. But it was stinkin' hot. Like, "I am going to die from this heat" hot. We made it quick and easy and made our way to the courtyard for the rehearsal dinner. The courtyard, with a very cool fountain, beautiful landscaping, was perfect for the rehearsal dinner and cocktails. Yummy Italian dinner, too.
Amy gave us girls awesome bridesmaid gifts: fun bright totes, with Haviana flip flops and monogrammed makeup bags (love, love, love).
Guests who weren't part of the rehearsal, were invited to the cocktail hour afterwards, which was a nice chance to get to mingle and talk to everyone. Barefoot Pinio Grigio was my date after Matt went up to the room early to hang with the kiddos....uh-oh.


<<<-- all the cousins at the rehearsal. all of them except baby Sarah were in the wedding.
<<-- Amy setting up the tables for the rehearsal dinner. Isn't that kinda happy illegal??

Alright, so are you still with me? It's wedding day.
The day starts with me and Aunt Linda in bed with Amy singing about it being her wedding day. Then, a knock on the door. Sarah B. and Laura V. are at the door, and now we are all jumping around on the bed , "it's your wedding day, it's your wedding day!"
Within half and hour there are about 10 of us in her room, drinking coffee, making and filling the rose petal cones, finishing up the details. After a short "meeting" with Sherri and Kathy about the decor and all that needed to be done for the day, we got ready to go to the Bee Hive to get beautif-ied
.<<--another one of my favorites. Wedding day morning....


<<<-- the rose petal cones. One of the many projects.

<<--this is classic. Jan, Doug's mom getting her hair done by Ross, Amy's stylist for the wedding. Isn't it a hoot??

A little detail I haven't mentioned is that is it raining. Yes, raining. But what could have been the ruin of a beautiful day, wasn't. We had an alternate plan and the wedding coordinators at the Tradewinds did a great job in handling everything. With the rain set in, the wedding was moved to the beautiful ballroom.

Candlelight, roses, peonies, hydrangeas, a string ensemble playing. Really beautiful. The ceremony was so sweet, they wrote their own vows and I think that it was what made the ceremony extra special.
<<<--one of the centerpieces. All of the flowers were incredible.


<<--Delicious.
The reception got underway and let me tell ya, I'm not sure what got into my children, but they must be secret solid-gold dancers or something. From the time the music started to the last song of the night, Jonathan was out there dancing like he was the reason we all had come. He had some serious moves. I think it was the suit. I know it was the sunglasses. He made history. Youngest boy to be in the center of a dance circle, tearin' it up. I am not kidding. There is video and photos -- that will be very profitable to us as his parents when he is a teenager, I'm sure.
Kate didn't stop either. Ballet twirling and spinning and leaping, until about 10:30 when she laid down under the table and nearly fell asleep.

<<--these speak for themselves.

Amy and Doug came into the reception to "Beautiful Day"
by U2, which wasn't planned, but is Amy's ring-tone. What are the odds??? I was hollering at her, "it's your phone!!!"
They danced to "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" and she danced with Uncle Bob to "You are So Beautiful to Me", one of my favorite moments of the night.
She was a truly stunning bride. Doug wasn't too bad himself. And we won the battle of the boutenniere :)
<<--courtesy of Kathy Shelton

We headed on up to the room shortly after the reception. Our shuttle to the airport was at 5:30 a.m. Yikes! Those kids were t.i.r.e.d. but they got up fairly easily at 4:45 and we headed home.
Whew. What a post, huh?
I wanted to give those of you who have been so supportive of me while I've been in the wedding "zone" (especially Jacki and Mom) some details of the big weekend. I left lots out but I hope you get the feeling of the trip and the wedding.

These are just a few (seriously) of my photos from the weekend. So hard to choose. I wish I had more of Amy and Doug together, but evidently you can't do everything at once and for a while, I just put my camera away and enjoyed the night.
You can look at the incredible photo sneek peek their photographer put on his blog...www.paytonphoto.com I can't wait to see all of their photos. He's a super nice guy, and has a really relaxed style. Very few "posed" pictures, more photojournalism style.

It feels good to be back blogging again. I've been storing up some posts in my head while I've been away, so keep coming back. And, hey, leave a girl a comment now and then. :)