Boy Marries Girl - Part Two

I promised some time ago to do a couple of posts about our son's wedding this past summer.  If I didn't mention it before I loved it!  Not just the getting married part but I loved the details.  It was a summer backyard wedding and in my mind simple is superb. Here are some pics of my favorite details:
The pictures were taken by Anne's Sister Emma you can find her website here


This was the sign at the end of our driveway. Anne's brother bought a house and tore down some out buildings that Anne made into signs. Loved them and kept them to repurpose!

 

Anne's Grammie drew this fingerprint tree for the happy couple. As you arrived for the wedding you left a fingerprint which they then had framed and kept as a keepsake of their special day.

Can I say that the whole place was decked out in bunting that Anne and her sister and mother made and hung. The cool thing about this is that Anne's cousin took all of the bunting and actually made it into a quilt and gave it to her at Thanksgiving....so special.

This was Emily's tree house that was all decked out
for the special day complete with flower boxes and
bunting.  It was also the entrance to the photo booth.

To honor the kids and give them a reminder of the special day Anne put together these special coloring books and a fresh brand new package of crayons for them.







There was also a photo booth for people to have pictures taken so that the Matt and Anne could have a pictures of their guests as keepsakes. This was one of my favorite photo booth pictures of Anne's Grandparents. One of the blessings for me in this union is the rich Christian heritage that Anne has and an answer to a prayer that I have prayed over all of my children.

These were bookmarks that the happy couple had made to give everyone as a keepsake. I loved them and a lovely touch.

All of the plates were biodegradable and very eco friendly.

Even the canned pop which was put into an old trunk and a huge wicker hamper was unique and added a nice touch.














Feel the LOVE!

The cake was to die for cake with blueberry filling and a scoop of lemon sorbet from Maine that Anne's Mom managed to get here without melting! Yuppers a full slice and I was soooo glad.

The Food well was awesome cause my awesome DH made it cause that is his thing. There was pulled pork sandwiches, chicken, burgers, salmon, salads...I think everyone left full! Here are some pics:

Matt and Anne wanted a day where family and friends could come together and celebrate their love. They wanted it to be like a big backyard barbecue that their family and friends could enjoy and they totally nailed it. It was very special day that celebrated the happy couple and honored their relationship in Christ. It was perfect. Mama-in-law out!

5 Year's Since Gotcha Day

REPOSTED FROM CHINA JANUARY 15TH, 2007

Today was the day that we met our daughter Emily for the first time.  We were up at 4:30 so we could meet at 6:00, check out of our hotel, be checked in for our flight at 8:40 a.m. Guangzhou is about a 3 hour flight from Beijing and we were to pick up our babies at 2:30.  The anticipation was unbelievable.  We were an hour delayed out of Beijing so we knew it would be tight getting to the hotel once we arrived.  When we finally landed there was much clapping, many tears and much fast walking to get our bags and get on the road.  It was kind of like the amazing race.  if you have ever seen that show and the fruitcakes that lose it when under stress - well yeah that was me.  My poor family.  I think it was nerves, I'm not sure but that drive from the airport to the hotel and then rushing like crazy to put a bag together to get back to the bus in a 5 minute turnaround (which was about a 30 minute turnaround for the Chaisson's) hence my meltdown.  We were the last on the bus -but oh well we did our best given the circumstances.  It's a good thing my family loves me.  We were so emotional driving to the Government Affairs office.  When we arrived it was incredible.  I get goosebumps even typing this.  Families filled several buses with brand new babies and other families walking out with babies.  As we walked in many of us were overwhelmed with emotions.  Mike taped it all so I'm anxious to see it again.  We went into a little room and waited about 10 minutes.  The suspense was awful. Then they started bringing our children in one by one.  What a sight too see these dear people who either are unable to have biological children or chose not to...see their wee ones for the first time was unbelievable in it's own right.  The group we are travelling with has great people it was a pleasure to share in their joy.  Emily was the last baby to be brought in so by the time she came there were some screaming babies but your prayers worked and God is Wonderful! She just looked at us ...look around and didn't say boo. She was nervous and her heart pounded like crazy, I could feel it through her chest.  We just took it easy and didn't overwhelm her.  She was so curious.  What a sweetie.  She fell asleep and when she woke up she allowed the boys to hold her and Matt got her to smile. What was crazy in the panic to get there the diaper bag we brought had everything but a change of clothes and oh yeah bottles! It was a good thing that others shared. Mike spent an hour with the orphanage director asking questions and we got our cameras back that we sent.  Emily was really sick for the past couple of weeks and lost weight so she is pale and smaller which is funny because she is easily the biggest baby in the group.  She is determined from what we can see and smart very quick to copy what you do.  I would say though from a motor skill perspective she is at about 10 months.  She is just crawling a little but can pick things up and loves to bang them together ( a budding drummer).  She played all night I bathed her fed her and she went to sleep.  I'm typing this in the wee hours of the morning on the 16th and she is still sleeping soundly.  She smiled at us last night  and she loves the boys.  When she sits with them she throws things on the floor then looks at them as if to say "dah....I've dropped something and you're not picking it up for me?" My pleasure has been in watching them.  They both fell in love instantly and Mike just kept saying "you're my baby".  I am overwhelmed really by it all.  What an incredible gift she is from the Lord.  After we lost our baby a few years ago and I thought he didn't answer my prayer.  I would have never imagined he would do so in this manner and I would have never imagined he would care for us in this way.  Today is a new day with our family and we are now a family of five and we can't imagine it any other way.