Wedding Weekend Part 2 (Warning: lots of pictures!)

Dan and I attended our son-in-law's brother's wedding last night. Lucas was the best man and our daughter, Erin, was a bridesmaid. It was held at Ashton Gardens, a lovely facility that I was unaware we had here in Houston. There is a chapel and an adjacent reception facility.

A bagpiper played as we entered the chapel. He also provided the music for the ceremony - "My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose" and "The Wedding March." The bride's family is obviously Scottish. I was fascinated by that Scottish brogue. I'm such a romantic... I immediately thought of "Jamie" in the Diana Galbadon series of books. Ha!

This is the inside of the chapel. It was nice and cool considering the outside temp was hovering around 100.

We sat on the last row right in front of this...

I heard "My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose" and "The Wedding March" loud and clear! Ha!

Lucas escorting his mom down the aisle prior to the start of the service.

Erin and her escort...

The bride and groom at the front of the chapel... Her dress was beautiful. Notice the little ring bearers in the kilts.

Saying their vows... (I don't know why my pictures are so grainy.)

A kiss for the photographer...

This was probably the shortest wedding ceremony I have ever attended. I was raised Southern Baptist and have continued to belong to the Baptist church. We never have a wedding without a sermonette and several prayers. I have also attended weddings of other denominations and they usually are similar to the ones I'm used to. After all, marriage is a holy sacrament designed by God. It is a covenant between God and the couple and that's serious business.  Sometimes I think that we have our focus too much on the trappings of the wedding and the party afterwards and not enough on the substance of the wedding which is the consecration of the union of the two individuals. I don't remember hearing "the two shall become one" or "what God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." The only scripture was a paraphrased version of I Corinthians 13. The thought that ran through my mind was that someone forgot to ask God to the ceremony. Everything was in place - beautiful bride in love with a handsome groom, family and friends in attendance to share the joy, but absence of the Creator. This made me sad, especially since I know that the groom is a believer. That was my sermon for the day.

The cake was beautiful and scrumptious...

The groom's cake...It was chocolate mint, I think.

I took this picture of our table's centerpiece because I thought it was clever the way they put apples in the vase. She used limelight hydrangeas and coral roses.

My lovely daughter and handsome son-in-law...

Lucas' grandparents... They were my Sunday School and Training Union (I know, I'm really getting old... It has been a very long time since there was such a thing as "Training Union") teachers when I was a little girl. The little girl is their great-granddaughter, Lucas' cousin's daughter. Lucas' grandfather also served as a deacon along with my dad in our church.

Cutting the cake... We were seated in a front-row seat.

Lucas' parents, nephew, and cousin...

Mother and daughter...

Dad and daughter...

Thank you, Lord, for my family!

Wedding Weekend Part 1

This weekend we have had the pleasure of having our whole family together for a few days. Erin flew in Wednesday night to attend her brother-in-law’s wedding. Lucas came in earlier in the week. Our time together got off to a shaky start because Dan went to the emergency room on Wednesday afternoon. He was having symptoms of a heart attack/stroke. Thankfully, they determined that he was not having either. He is seeing a neurologist on Monday to get to the bottom of the symptoms. In spite of the visit to the emergency room, we were able to pick up Erin at around midnight at the airport.

Thursday Amy and the girls came over for lunch at Tea for Two Tearoom and an afternoon swim. Katie was really excited to see her Aunt Erin.

I’m looking a little (that’s an understatement) wiped out from the previous afternoon and night.

Katie has been taking swimming lessons at Fin’s and was anxious to show off her new “skills.”

I am noticing, though, that Katie’s hair is not wet. She’s still having issues with putting her face in the water. Ha!

Grandpa and Grammy were content to just watch…as long as we could sit under the umbrella to escape the heat!

 

Hannah chose to watch Yo Gabba Gabba in the comfort of the air-conditioned house.

Thursday evening we went to Lupe Tortilla’s for dinner (Erin and Lucas always have to get a Mexican food fix when they come to Texas!) and then we went to Amy and Chris’ new house.

Katie was just a little on the wild side…

Hannah and Grandpa were rockin’

Friday in between Erin’s bridal luncheon and rehearsal dinner we were able to squeeze in some more swimming.

Hannah relaxed in her “lazy boy.” Isn’t that a sweet little face?

Sunday Mornings

Last weekend, when my sister and I drove to Waxahachie, we were listening to southern gospel music on her satellite radio. There is nothing that speaks to me quite like that old gospel music. I think that it is in my blood.

My grandmother played the piano by ear and loved to sing. She was a strong alto. I guess I took that after her, for I’m also an alto and a piano player. One of my piano teachers was the daughter of a member of the old Stamps Baxter Quartet. Needless to say, that gospel music was what I learned to play…and play I did at women’s clubs, churches, etc. I didn’t appreciate the experience at the time because it made me so nervous, but now I am grateful for those memories. Whenever grandmother visited us she would bring sheet music and hymn books so that I could play the piano and she could sing.

On Sunday mornings when we were growing up, especially when we stayed with grandmother, we used to listen to the gospel quartets on the television as we got ready for church. Our Sunday morning sounds were the steam singing from the roast in the pressure cooker and the voices of the Statesmen Brothers, the Blackwood Brothers, and the Stamps Baxter Quartet lifted in praise. Precious memories…

O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psalm 95:1

Friday Adventure

My sister and I like to follow Caroline, who lives and teaches in Waxahachie. We have been so impressed with some of her posts about the area that we decided to take a little road trip. So, today we drove 3 hours to have lunch at a lovely restaurant/shop, the Dove’s Nest, on a recommendation from Caroline’s blog.

It is a block off the courthouse square.

We had to wait to be seated, so browsed in the store. Both of us really wanted to take home the knife and fork print. It is printed on burlap, but is actually magnetized and the magnets on the front are real knives and forks…too cute!

The candlesticks in this candelabra are actually rolled up sheet music.

I loved the burlap flower on top of the spool.

Loved this chair…

I had tuna and wild rice salad made with oranges and cranberries. It was quite tasty. Then we had blackberry bread pudding with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Before we left, we had to stop by the ladies’ room and I just had to take a picture of these chickens that were gracing the walls of the restroom.

We did walk around the town square in the 100+ degree heat. Believe it or not, our grandmother’s name was Zula.

I also had to take a picture of this old hotel. When Judy and I were very young, our parents decided to take us to the Texas State Fair. We drove all the way to Dallas to discover that there were no available motel rooms because of the UT and OU football game. We had to turn around and start the drive back to Houston stopping at every hotel/motel to see if there was a place to stay. We finally ended up here on Main Street. Believe me, it was not this nice then. Mom was afraid to let our feet touch the floor and no one slept because of the 18 wheelers going by all night long.

We didn’t want to leave Waxahachie without seeing some of the historic homes and lo and behold I found our retirement cottage and it’s for sale! Don’t you just love the porches and that yard?

If something happens and that deal falls through, maybe we can go for this one.

Or even this one…

Since our husbands were unable to make the trip, we stopped at Woody’s and got them some beef jerky and fudge.

I just love road trips!

P.S. Here’s my little 4th of July firecrackers.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

That title sure brings back memories. It was the standard assignment we gave students on the first day of school (probably still is). It kept them busy while we organized the school supplies, wrote bus numbers on name tags, found out who were car riders, took lunch counts, etc.

But, back to my summer vacation, which happened to be this past week...

• A new front-loading Electrolux washing machine was delivered on Monday. We spent Monday evening having an ice cream cone and watching the clothes wash. I know that sounds like we're backwoods hillbillies, but I've been needing a new washing machine for quite some time and that baby is quiet, fast, and uses a fraction of the water. Yipee!!
• Tuesday I went to the eye doctor and ordered new contacts and glasses. I get soooo tired of hearing, "As you age...(fill in the blank with any new symptom)" Needless to say, my prescription is much stronger.
• Wednesday morning I went to watch Katie have swim lessons. She and her little friend were already sitting on the steps in the pool beginning their lesson when I snuck in the room where you can observe. She glanced up, saw me, and began waving her arms and saying "That's my grammy!" Of course, all the other moms had to turn around and see who had arrived. Everytime she did something in the pool she would look to see if I was watching and then she'd clap and say "Grammy!" After swim lessons, she changed her clothes and came running out to meet me with her arms waving, ready to be picked up. Katie looked at her mom, said "Bye Mommy. I go Grammy's car. I go Grammy's house." Of course, she had to love my neck. This makes up for the stronger prescription. Ha! I only wish I had pictures. We went to the Farmer's Market and brought fresh peas to have for dinner.
• Wednesday evening my dryer was delivered. Not so exciting as the washing machine, since it didn't work. We'll get a replacement this week.
• Thursday it rained and rained and rained. I thoroughly cleaned the house. I love going back to work with a squeaky clean house.
• Friday I met a dear friend for lunch at Los Tios. We caught up on all the latest news and current events. It was a little embarrassing, however, when I ran into the edge of the wall on the way out of the restaurant. Glenda said to the waiter, "She got her new glasses this morning and she's having trouble seeing. Stronger prescription, you know." It's nice having someone cover your back. Ha!
• Saturday I got a haircut and color. That always makes you feel better. Then we did one of my most favorite things - we went to Barnes and Noble to browse the magazines and books. (I know, it doesn't take much to make us happy.) I left with a sack full. Ahhhh... Began reading The Big Rich, The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes last night.

Lest you think we have a really boring life, we are going to Boston for the week of Labor Day to celebrate our anniversary. I hope I can see by then to get on the plane!

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you are enjoying your holiday. We are waiting for our grandbabies (and their parents :-)) and their great-grandparents to arrive for swimming, hot dogs, apple pie, and all the trimmings.

The first time I ever heard Sandi Patti sing the Star Spangled Banner was at the bicentennial celebration. Tom Brokaw was at the celebration in New York harbor and he commented that he had never heard our national anthem sung like that. Thanks to Kimberley for recording it.

Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.

Psalm 33:3-12

 

It’s raining, it’s pouring….

 

We are on vacation today and had hopes of maybe getting out of town…or not. As I type, it is pouring down rain. Originally we thought we might go to Canton First Monday. We decided it wouldn’t be that much fun tromping around in the mud. Dan’s asleep on the couch and the dogs are asleep in the utility room. We’re not complaining too much. It’s a welcome relief to the heat and high electricity bills. I guess I’ll go clean out closets.