we're back!

Our return trip was 785 miles through Virginia and Knoxville. We didn't keep track of the northern route on the way there, or the driving around to Chestertown and Baltimore . . . I'll post some pics later.

puppies! puppies! puppies! & a wedding

We got to visit the Patrick's furry relatives, Brinkley & Oscar. Becky's mom owns Brinkley and Oscar belongs to her brother.

Olivia & Brinkley

Gabby & Oscar

Oreo loves puppies! See her smile?

Moose teaching the little ones how to fetch

poor puppy

Shelly being escorted by her uncle (I think)

Ryan and our little friends. They love him.

Friends of theirs spray painted the trees white to make them look snowy. It was really pretty.

the kiss

Mr. & Mrs. Miller!

a wedding on campus

You may remember from last fall that Jeff's daughter Tiffany was proposed to at our Fall Festival. (Jeff does grounds/vehicles at Highland). Mike and Tiffany's wedding was scheduled for Sunday on front campus. They were forced indoors for the ceremony due to heavy wind gusts and intermittent morning rain. By 5:00p, Jeff had re-created the look of the Prayer Garden in the gym for the ceremony.

Jeff's indoor creation

Jeff designed Tiffany's dress and her mom, Becky, made it. Becky also made the rest of the girls' dresses.

See Tiffany's toes? There's wisdom in that.

Becky and their son Ethan (sophomore) walking out at the end of the wedding.

Our favors were tiny bags of yellow and blue personalized M&Ms.

snapshots from jaclyn's wedding

Ryan and I rolled into town in time to change our clothes and get down to the church for the rehearsal. All of the groomsmen followed their dress code, as you can see. Blue was the theme for the weekend.

I'm obviously not in the picture because I took it! Didn't we do a good job of pretending to have flowers?

Practice makes perfect!

Following their scripts

The 4 of us at their rehearsal dinner

Whitni and Aaron led song service as part of Friday evening vespers.

The 3 couples getting married this summer - 1 down, 2 to go

This time, I got to help Karen and Tara with the arrangements for the pews.

Aren't they beautiful?

Tara's aunts helped too

We all had fun catching up with the Cooks at church and supper Sabbath.

The Pisgah table

Randy modeling his Alaska present

Sabbath evening song service by the Fords

Hollie, me, Ken, Jaclyn, Rosanne, Madison, Lindsey, and Tara

Sunday! The beautification process begins

I don't even have a comment for this . . .

Bouquets close up

The photographer arrived and took pictures of the bridal party and families before the wedding.

Little Miss Muffet waiting with her carrots :)

the end

In case you wondered how we got the picture from the "Juneau Where We Are?" post.

sunday, june 1 - wedding day!

Ryan didn't tell me ahead of time where we were going the night of our wedding. Our drive took us up Lookout Mountain and along its ridge. We stopped at a hang gliding place to take some pictures as the sun sank away.

The place we stayed was a cute little cabin. I stood on the stairs to take this picture. It had an upstairs with two twin beds and a crib.

Last picture of my hair! Getting all the bobby pins out was quite an endeavor.

Yes, this picture was posed . . . thank goodness for the timer setting!

goin' to the chapel . . . to get out of the rain!

After tons of planning, the wedding weekend finally came, whether we were ready or not.

The rehearsal at the Goliath Wall gave us a chance to interact with our natural surroundings.

The clan

At the rehearsal dinner Friday evening

The Heilmans and helpers provided lots of good food for Sabbath lunch and supper.

Moral support for setting up the reception at McDonald Rd. Church

One of the things you can't control is the weather. We woke up early to crazy thunderstorms. The rain forced us to move everything to Talge Hall Chapel (SAU's guys' dorm) for the ceremony. Meanwhile, knowing everything was under control, I got ready. . .

Lindsey - make up artist to the stars!

Getting ready in the dorm room

Lip gloss for Ella, the flower girl

Shoes . . . check!

Ryan and I met at noon to see each other by ourselves and take pictures together.

And some pictures alone

Programs

Beautiful flowers from Karen's garden lined the aisle.

My bouquet

The illustrious bridal party

Family shots

With parents and grandparents

The musicians - all are CA students plus one mom

Last-minute instructions to Ethan

Ella meticulously lined the aisle with her petals - all of them!

We went over to the intended ceremony site for a few pictures before going to the reception. At least the rain cleared up to get some!

Arriving at McDonald Rd. Church

You know we had to smash it!

A present from Jaclyn after her story of the four of us

My buds from Highland

Grant's second garter - he's becoming a professional

The getaway!

Alaska pictures to follow soon!