Ice Cream Social

This should wrap up my wedding post. The last of the wedding events happened this weekend in Corpus. JR’s parents hosted a reception for all the family and friends that weren’t able to attend the wedding. There was a great turnout and it was so nice to get to meet all the wonderful people that B will be sharing her life with. Paula, JR’s mom did a wonderful job pulling everything together. The reception was an ice cream social, so as guest arrived they were invited to go through the line and make up their own creation and the topping options were endless. It was really fun to watch so many people who might normally feel that all the sugar was taboo, have the time of their lives. We got to choose between a myriad of waffle bowls. They were dipped in chocolate and coated in a variety of coatings ranging from nuts, to sprinkles, or coconut. I chose the conservative options so my treat consisted of a waffle bowl dipped in chocolate; coated in nuts; filled with two large scoops of chocolate Bluebell ice cream on top of a chocolate chip brownie, sprinkled with chocolate morsels, covered in hot chocolate syrup; sprayed with whipped topping, and topped with a cherry. Yes, I did say conservative! Needless to say it was a wonderful evening! Visiting and making new friends was quite enjoyable. We came home from a weekend spent with the newlyweds blessed by how good God has been to them, and how grateful they are.

The Wedding Reception

Off to the Hotel we went. It was B and JR’s desire that their guest begin eating as soon as they arrived at the reception. The Bride and Groom stopped at an undisclosed location on the way to the reception to take a few pictures with the rest of the bridal party and didn’t want anyone waiting on them. The food was amazing! When we first started planning the wedding B and JR had some special wishes but we weren’t sure if we could pull it off. Their request was that we would have four stations of food, two representing JR’s favorite cuisines, French and German and two for B’s favorite cuisines, Italian and Cajun. It was a wonderful idea but I wasn’t sure we could make it happen until we talked with my friend Dana Boles. Oh, how we love Dana! I cannot even begin to tell you the work this woman and her family did to make this happen. B and I sat down with her one afternoon and she totally caught the vision. She got so excited and assured us this could happen. With our input Dana came up with an amazing menu and here it is:
German Table:
Char grilled Bratwurst with onions, sauerkraut and red cabbage
Stone ground mustard
Rye and Pumpernickel breads
French Table:
Cheese service including
Brie
Roquefort
Camembert
Gruyere
French Goat Cheese
Baguettes
Italian Table:
Tortellini Salad with roasted red bell peppers and kalamata olives
Pesto Cheese Torta (Blend of cheeses, peppers, pesto and lots of garlic)
Assortment of crackers
Chicken Parmesan (Bite size breaded chicken over penne pasta coated in semi-homemade marinara sauce. Shards of parmesan and mozzarella melted over the top)
Italian fig cookies-Made by T’s Mom, Tena
Cajun Table:
Crawfish Etoufee served as a dip with crackers-made by Joanie Jarreau
Jambalaya made in the biggest black iron pot I have ever seen-made by Mike Russo
Fruit and Vegetable Tower
Garden Dill dip
Cinnamon Sugar Dip
Caesar Salad with homemade croutons
Marinated olives







The food turned out amazing! We are so grateful to Dana, her mom, Gwyn, and sister-in-law Ronnie, along with their husbands for being such wonderful friends and working themselves to death to make it all happen so beautifully! We are forever indebted to them. I know your reward will be great in heaven!

By the time everyone had eaten the Bride and Groom appeared, and had their first dance. As soon as they were finished she was handed over to her Dad for their special dance. Now, what many people don’t know is that B and her Dad had been practicing their dancing for several weeks. Because T has been a musician most of his life, well, lets just say he hasn’t perfected his dancing. Anyway they practiced to a particular song and all the while B thought that this would be the song they would dance to at the wedding, but as they got out on the floor and began to dance the song faded out and another song came on. It wasn’t just any song, but one that her Dad had written for her and surprised her with. It was a very special moment that I don’t think either of them will ever forget.

The bride and grooms cake were cut just in time for everyone to have a piece and then the dance party started. Let’s just say that I was amazed at the energy of those out on the floor. I think the last time my body was that agile was when I was two years old. Oh, my how they cut the rug! It was a great time of celebration for both young and old! The party ended with everyone taking a noise maker to the lobby and making lots of noise as two of the most precious young people traveled through to their awaiting getaway car.
I have to say that this evening ranked very high on my list of favorites. There is nothing quite as joyful as knowing that your daughter just married the man of her dreams and that by the grace of God he will take wonderful care of her.

The Wedding Ceremony

At 4: pm the wedding began with the parents and grandparents entering the sanctuary to the song Zephaniah 3:17 sung by Charlie Boyd written by Steven Manuel. JR chose to escort his mom down which was really sweet. After we were all seated we viewed a video presentation that B and JR recorded ahead of time. The message was profound.

The Minister, groom and groomsmen entered from the left as Katie Curry and Charlie Boyd began singing “He Loves Us” written by John Mark McMillan. The song continued as the bridesmaids entered, and reached a crescendo as B and her Dad entered. It was a beautiful depiction of Christ and His Bride, the Church. The love and joy they felt beamed from both of their faces.


Both sets of parents joined them at the front for a time of prayer, along with the Minister, David, and his wife, Sarah. Everything from this point on was pretty usual, you know, the vows, communion, until it was time for “the kiss.” Just before David pronounced them husband and wife T came up and presented JR with a sword. The sword represented a changing of the guard so to speak. It is symbolism for the transfer of responsibility for her care from T to JR. JR received the sword and quickly handed it off as he joyfully anticipated “the kiss.” You see this wasn’t just any kiss it was “the kiss.” The reason this kiss was so special is that B and JR had waited their entire lives for it. Both of them by the grace of God had kept themselves pure for each other. They had each made the decision when they were very young that they would keep themselves only for the person they would marry. Now I know neither of them would want any credit for this because they know that it was only by God’s grace and strength that they were able to wait. I share it with you as encouragement to those who choose to wait, because I think it gives God glory and because as a parent I am very proud of both of them. Well, the rest is history, they were married in the eyes of God and more witnesses than I ever imagined would be there. We then headed off to the reception…

The Wedding Jambalaya

Now before I tell you about the wedding I must tell of something else that was going on the day of the wedding. T’s brother, Mike and sister-in-law, Suzanne, came to town on Thursday to help us out. On the day of the wedding they cooked a huge pot of jambalaya. It was amazing! It was quite a bit of work and I’m sure they were worn out by the time they got home on Sunday. Here are a few pics of this major event going on behind the scenes. I don’t know much about what went on because I wasn’t there but I do know that they cooked over thirty pounds of rice and we had to get two extra men to haul the big pot to the Hotel. It literally took all day just to cook it, not including all the time they spent preparing the meat and seasoning. All I can say is “What a great brother to haul that big ole pot seven hundred miles just to cook for his niece’s wedding.” Amazing!!!! Thank you Mike and Suzanne for making us feel so loved!

The Wedding Day Afternoon

After leaving the Hotel the day of the wedding my friend Joanie went with me to get my hair done. It only took about twenty minutes so that gave me a bit of a breather. As we were traveling home we passed by a garage sale and needless to say we had to stop. Joanie took a picture of me because she couldn’t believe I was using my extra ten minutes at a garage sale. Yes, I bought something, or I should say Joanie bought me something. I found an easel for The Little Jewel that has a wipe off board on one side and a chalk board on the other. Joanie bought B a piece of crystal for 75 cents as memorabilia that her mom went to a garage sale on her wedding day.

You can see the little easel sitting down beside me.
We then headed back to my house to pick up B’s wedding dress and head to the church to get her dressed.
The florist arrived at 1: pm to drop off the flowers which were absolutely beautiful! I hope to show you pictures later when we get them from the photographer. I regret not taking my own but I was just too busy. Our friend Heather came at 1:30 to drop off food she had prepared for us, since none of us had time for lunch (thank you, Heather, that was so sweet of you). The bride and bridesmaids had all gotten their hair done together at a salon in town so after they finished we all gathered in the brides room to get dressed and ready for pictures. It was such a special time. B was so calm and beautiful. B and JR chose not to see each other until the moment she walked down the isle, so, no couple pictures before the wedding. Everything went as perfectly as it could have. At 4:PM the wedding began…

The Wedding Day Before Noon

I woke up early the day of the wedding and headed over to the Hotel. The wedding cakes were going to be delivered at 8: am and I was responsible for decorating them. I must say that this daughter of mine sure knows how to stretch me. She has so much creativity! When she first described to me what she wanted her cake to look like I was a bit surprised. She was going for the all natural look. She requested that her cakes be placed on stumps, five to be exact. She drew it out on a piece of paper for me and of course being the mother I am, I said “no problem we will make it happen.” Well, thankfully our wonderful friends Rodney and Carolyn caught the vision. I explained what I was looking for and they went to work creating it. In no time at all they had five beautiful mesquite stumps ready for a preview. When we saw them, both B and I were amazed. It was as if they had read her mind and created exactly what she wanted. The other request was that the cakes have sugared fruit on it. After doing a little research we scratched the sugar because of possible melting and decided to stick with fresh fruit. B and I took a trip to the grocery store and she picked out everything she wanted on the cake which consisted of tangerine oranges, sweet dried mango, and fresh figs. We added a few willow branch tips as well as coffee berries from the florist and voila! She also requested that no two cakes look alike. No bows, nothing symmetrical, those were her request.
When I arrived at the Hotel I looked at the bare cakes (Irish cream with cream cheese icing) and prayed “Lord, you know what B wants so please guide me.” She was so pleased with the outcome! I think I may have surprised myself as well as her. I really do think my hands were divinely guided. It was just too pretty to take any credit for it. Who would have ever thought a bunch of stumps would turn out so beautifully?




Here is a picture of the grooms cake as well. It was a chocolate stout cake covered in ganache. Very Tasty!

Speaking of stretching I think I really challenged my friend Joanie when I handed her a pot of flowers and requested that she make nine corsages and a throw away bouquet. She immediately got to work as though she knew exactly what to do, and didn’t complain not once. When she was almost finished she informed me that this was the first time she had ever made corsages. Well, she sure could have fooled me. They were gorgeous!
I have to say that the most hilarious thing that happened on Saturday morning had to do with T, my husband. It was his job to go to the pet store and pick up the twenty-four goldfish that went by pairs into the sixteen inch vases in the ballroom. He took great care to fill the vases with water, insert special drops, and then gently place the goldfish in. He came to me very disturbed and said “I don’t know what happened, I must have forgotten to put the drops in one of the vases because when I put the fish in they immediately dropped to the bottom and died” with emphasis on immediately. It was so sad. He went ahead and finished putting all the other fish in the vases and then came back to fish out the dead ones and replace them with two more. As he reached in the vase he realized he hadn’t forgotten the drops but had forgotten to put the water, which explained why the fish went directly to the bottom. We all had a good laugh at T’s mishap but were sad for the little fish.



When all was done we left the Hotel only to return after the wedding. I will tell you more about the wedding day in my next post…

Wedding Rehearsal

The rehearsal ran very smoothly thanks to our family friend Jeanie. She is an amazing organizer! B and I met with her on the Monday before the wedding and ironed out most of the details so she was able to make everything happen the exact way B and JR wanted.After we practiced we all headed to the fellowship hall to enjoy a wonderful meal hosted by JR’s family. Outback steakhouse did the cooking and it was delicious! JR and B put a slide show together of their lives to share with us and it was just so special. We then enjoyed family and friends sharing how much the couple met to them. Many tears flowed.

My husband T presented the groom with an iron. After hearing that JR had been inspired by T’s ironing he thought the gift would be appropriate to use as an analogy of marriage and the role of the husband. He shared with JR how important it is to understand your wife and her moods just as you take care to understand different fabrics and what they need. Sometimes you need a hot iron for the resistant fabric and other times you need a much lower setting for the very delicate fabrics. As a husband you must know what your wife needs because one setting won’t work on every situation. Sometime she may require heat and other times cool firmness. I then presented them with what I call “The Legacy.” It’s a tradition I started when our first daughter was married three years ago. “The Legacy” is a frame with pictures of the couples parents and grandparents on their wedding day. I also include their anniversary dates with the words “A Legacy of Commitment” written across the matt. There is a spot in the very center for the newlywed’s wedding picture. This symbolism is to be a reminder to JR and B as they go through life that there are those who have gone before them who have remained committed through the difficulties of this life and that the same is expected of them. It is my hope that they will be reminded when they face trying times, that they are not alone and that the same God who has kept their parents and grandparents together can keep them as well.

As the evening was coming to a close with a sweet time of prayer for the young couple, B asked me to go to the bride’s room and retrieve some gifts for the bridal party. As I walked down the dark corridor to the bride’s room the doors all closed behind me. It was only when I tried to return with the gifts that I realized I was locked in or should I say locked out? I saw movement way down the hall and began to bang on the glass doors. It was one of my daughters in the hall going to the restroom. She heard the banging, turned and looked right at me but because of the darkness couldn’t see me and returned to the fellowship hall. I realized that there was nothing for me to do but sit on the floor and wait for someone to miss me. As I sat on the floor in the dark I couldn’t help but ask the Lord what He was trying to teach me. I’m not sure this was His response to me but I surely thought, everything would be just fine without me, and I don’t have to be there for it to go smoothly.” Eventually JR’s uncle came into the hall and heard me banging on the door. I was released just in time to say goodbye to some of the guest. Again, no one missed me.

Wedding Friday

Friday morning we were up and dressed loading the vehicles by 7: am. The excitement in our house was contagious! Everyone headed off in different directions to accomplish all the many jobs that awaited them. My amazing friend Joanie and her husband Frank hung closely to T and me the whole day, or I should say the whole weekend. It seemed that before we could think of what we needed they were there ready to assist us. Most of the work for decorating at Hotel had been done ahead of time. B, T and me spent the previous weeks:
Making and Ironing table runners and toppers
Gluing ribbons to vases
Putting the stones in the vases
Trimming a gazillion candle wicks
Washing votive holders
Cutting ribbon sashes for 222 chairs
Cutting trees down and cementing them in pots
Tying raffia on over twenty vases
Printing and framing wedding pictures
Ordering favors and wrapping them for our guest
Ordering noise makers
Packing and labeling everything so that it would be easy to find…
We arrived at the Hotel at 8: am and with the help of our friends Jim, Judy, Mylea, Frank, and Joanie, we were able to knock out the decorating and head over to the Church to decorate there.




After getting everything pulled together at the church(Sorry no pictures yet) I headed toward home. As I got in the car I remembered that I hadn’t picked up the fresh flowers at the local florist. All their stems are half price on Fridays after 4:pm so the plan was to wait till then to pick them up. I zoomed over and picked them up just before they closed. Then I had to drive the flowers back to the Hotel and put them in the cooler which made me run terribly late. Who knew the entire population of our city would be on the road at that time? Just as I arrived at home everyone else was heading to the rehearsal so I told them to go ahead without me that I would drive over shortly in our other vehicle. This is where the fun really started! I got dressed and headed out the door only to remember that my key to the extra vehicle was in my purse, that was in the car that my husband took, along with my cell phone. Here I was standing in the sweltering heat in my front yard with no way to get back in my house or call my family members to come and get me. I decided to walk to a neighbor’s house and asked to use their phone. As she handed the phone to me it dawned on me that I didn’t have any of my family members telephone numbers memorized(thank you speed dial for making me a dummy). After calling several wrong numbers I gave up. My neighbor offered to bring me to the church which was across town so not having a better plan I accepted. I arrived about twenty-five minutes late and it appeared that no one had even missed me. You would think the mother-of–the–bride would play a more vital role but it seems that the efficient woman that I had in charge of the evening was doing a wonderful job. Everything continued as planned and I just joined right in thinking "if only you people knew what I have just been through, and by the way the reason I don't have lipstick on right now is because it too is in that same purse with my keys, and cell phone."
The rehearsal dinner was wonderful! Please stay tuned for the rest of the saga…

Wedding Week

This past weekend we celebrated the marriage of our third born daughter to a very amazing young man that we are honored to call son. After months of preparations we are able to say that B’s dream came true and she had the wedding of her dreams. I am overjoyed at how everything came together and turned out so beautiful. God has so blessed us with some of the most wonderful friends and family members that did so much to make everything come together. There is no way that we could have pulled it off without their help. In my next few post I will share more of the details of the big event but I would like to begin with the week before. Because I did so much ahead of time I was able to spend most of the week enjoying my time with B. We spent the first part of the week stocking up on groceries for our family and friends as well as finishing up some last minute details. By Wed. B and I were able to go out to lunch to share some sweet time of fellowship and also take in a movie. In the afternoon we headed out to the log cabin that our family would be staying in, cleaned and put fresh sheets on the beds. Thursday morning I was able to head off for a pedicure and manicure along with a little last minute shopping. Family and friends began arriving Thursday afternoon kicking off the celebration. We had a house full by the evening meal, twenty one people in all. Some wonderful friends of ours prepared the meal to relieve me so that I could enjoy my guest. It was wonderful! We had chicken, beef, and sausage fajitas. They also went above and beyond by preparing three different flavors of homemade ice cream, served everything and cleaned up afterward. I was so blessed by the generosity of these sweet friends. They anticipated our needs and met them before we even knew what we needed. They also brought us the biggest sweetest watermelon I had ever eaten. As the day came to a close I was again overwhelmed by the love of God shown to me through His people.

The Begining of Wedding Pics

The wedding has come and gone. These are just a few bridal portraits. There will be more coming when we recover a bit.