Cuteness Overload....and Jon's New Ride

If I get this much joy from our little flower girl 

  apologize in advance for what kind of a 

grandmother I will likely be.

But when the "miniature human" as Jonathan likes to call her

is this cute, what is one to do but capture her image?

Just wait...it gets even better when you put her with Chelsea.

And then I told J to tickle Chelsea with the flower 

she had picked from the tree.....

She is so obedient.  Ha!

And thus ended the photo session.

Last night we spent a few quality hours picking up 

Jon's new Jeep Renegade.

It fits him to a "T".

There are so many buttons though.

It was 8:30 pm as we stopped at a restaurant for dinner.

Warren and Jonathan got out laughing like crazy.

Apparently Jonathan took the salesman's advice to heart and was pushing

buttons to see what they did.

They weren't out of the dealer's lot before he had pushed the 

"Call 911" button.

Good Grief!!

I cannot tell you how it warms my heart to see my 

guys enjoying time together.

So proud of our son for being responsible with his finances 

so that he was in a position to make this decision.

And for the gift from a relative that took some of the stress out of it.

Rehearsal for a Wedding

Sunshine and warm weather made this a very beautiful day for Chelsea and Chadd's rehearsal and dinner.  Upcoming forecasts are predicting rain for Sunday.  The closer we get the more optimistic we are....but since there is a significant chance of storms we needed to have a plan B for the ceremony which was planned for out of doors.  And so we began our rehearsal at one end of the huge tent where we plan to have the reception.  Setting it up to be two separate areas will be tricky but the coordinator at the venue is very creative and full of solutions.  We are truly blessed!!

Warren cracked everyone up when he first responded, 

"My mother and I do".

Good thing we had a rehearsal. 

He got it right every time after that.

I do think he might have been a "tad" emotional. :-)

 I love every expression on the faces of Chadd and his groomsmen.

Practicing the vows.

J's first solo trip "down" the aisle.

I think it is her only solo trip down the aisle.

On Sunday she will come in with Emily.

That way we are fairly certain that she will do it.

 Big steps or little steps?

The dress is going to dictate that, I think.

We held the rehearsal dinner in this sweet room.

Chickfila brought two trays of chicken, we had purchased chicken and swiss rolls

from Costco and made fruit and garden salads.

We got Subway cookies and had a few other types that were known

favorites of people in the wedding party.

 A couple of our favorite people.....

The girls.  Well, most of them.  Chelsea photobombed this one.

 Then the girls let her in ....

 Emily noticed we were getting pictures and took her place.

The guys....

They are all very important people in Chadd's life.

Great guys.  All of them!!

It was a very fun evening.

Looking forward to Saturday and Sunday as we set up 

and then get these "kids" married.

He Is Faithful

This is a Psalms kind of a day.  Not the happy sunny kind.  But the out of the deeps I CRY to you, Lord, kind of a day. I will not be that person who only shares my spiritual highs.  There are clearly low days too.  This was one of the worst.

He is faithful.

Yesterday, just nine days before the wedding, another repercussion of the accident was made known.

The timing couldn't have been worse.  We were just finding our stride toward joy for the big day.  Whoosh!!!  There went our feet.

But He is faithful.

We cried, and yelled and were as upset as we get.  I once again asked God why any of this had to happen?  Why on that sunny day did the accident take place????  

But He was faithful.

He led us to support in our community.  Someone who has walked this road and assured us that time makes these things better.  Anyone else saying it would have seemed trite.  But this was the voice of experience.

He is faithful.

In providing caring family and friends who don't have to know details to love us and reach out in support.

I know this battle is not against flesh and blood.  I know it is for the very hearts and souls of men.

I know who wins!  But it is that very One that I cry out to with the why's.  Why?????  And He assures me that I don't have to understand.  I only need to walk.  One baby step at a time.

Because He is faithful.

In the midst of the darkness of yesterday's yuckiness there came hope.  Hope for a healing and a brighter future.  Hope for a closer walk with the One who created us.  Hope for a strong marriage for two people who love each other so dearly.  Hope for tomorrow.  And the day after that.  

No doubt, He IS faithful.

Crafting....

Hearts in all shades of pink and cream.

Watch for them in wedding photos.

Added burlap and lace on a sweet basket.

Always trying to see the "after" in cases such as these.

The "before" isn't bad but didn't quite fit the wedding decor.

I have four more photos to print and put in the photo wall and then that will be done.

Three more cakes to bake and then those will be done.

The rehearsal is Monday evening.

We are in the final stretch now.

New Car and Wedding Preps

Warren no longer drives the cute little Miata.

Dear friends will be driving it pretty soon.

His mom has been letting him drive her truck 

but the weather is nice now and she will most likely 

want to use the truck for her trips to the farm and to go bike riding.

And so we have been trying to decide what direction to go

for a new, to us, car.

Did we want to find a cheap car (less than $2000) that would get him

back and forth most of the time?

Or did we want to prepare for the eventuality that our minivan

would need to be replaced and get something a bit better?

Given that the minivan is just about to turn over 200,000 miles

we decided that it would be a good idea to see what we could do for a 

lower mileage pre-owned car.

I have wanted a Kia Soul since I had one as a rental when I had that 

fender bender back in 2014.

We found one in Delaware with 56,000 miles on it and

 took a late afternoon drive over there yesterday. 

 It was so pretty!  Back roads with lots of Spring views.

The Soul won our hearts quickly.

We took an extensive test drive with Ajay, the salesman who used to be 

in finance...so we commiserated together on the changes in that business.

Haha.

If you don't know I was a Personal Financial Analyst for 

sixteen years.  I loved the people aspect but found myself 

perpetually frustrated by the increased paperwork that happened after

the 9/11 attacks.

And so, I make candles.  

Anyhoo......back to the fun stuff.

This is our new sweet car.

I can't drive it.

It's a manual transmission.

But I'm willing to learn.

So, we shall see.

Today I stayed home from Bible Study to catch up from all of our running around

the past few days and to make sure that Jonathan stays on schedule with his 

medication for his back. 

He saw his orthopedic doctor yesterday who put him on a serious steroid course

to see if we can't get him back to his stable place with this herniated disk.

This is day one and he has to take the meds religiously

and around meals.

His back had been doing quite well....until he decided to play frisbee on Sunday.

The doctor said he didn't blame Jonathan for wanting to do things.

He is just "finding out his limits"....hmmm.

Today I paid business taxes and then moved on to wedding stuff.

I've done a fair amount of work on the Appetizer planning.

Laid out each of the tables in that tent

and what everything will be served on.

You know marble slabs for cheese and wicker baskets for crackers, etc.

I'm also working on decor.

Finding goodies around the house that will go into it.

Deciding if there are things that I need to pick up yet.

My friend Deanna, from Creekside Cottage, 

loaned us nine of these perfect chalkboard signs. 

We have a couple of possible uses for them.

This is my wish....

Chelsea has another possibility and so we will work that out.

This afternoon is cake baking and candle making.

So...I'd better go grab some lunch and get back to work.

I think this is how it will be until the wedding day.

And I'm good with that.

Busy is better than boring!!

Chloe's Turn

Sometimes it seems that Chloe is overshadowed by Bandit's spunky personality and craziness.  But those who know the both of them "in person" definitely prefer Chloe.  They usually just adore her.

Chloe isn't chasing squirrels these days, however, she does love to chew sticks.  Simply picking up a stick in her presence causes much tail wagging and excitement.

We definitely need to get out and pick up the many sticks and twigs

that fell during the super wind storm we had a few weeks ago.

Chadd and his friend, Kevin, got a bunch but there are still more.

Many more.

Seeing all of the white on Chloe's face reminds me that she is aging.

This Spring she has a cough.  I'm not sure if it is allergies or something more ominous

but she has plenty of energy and so I'll plan to take her to the vet after the wedding

if it persists.  If she seemed to be suffering in any way I would get her in now.

There is super tall grass where the men cut down the tree which was hit by 

lightning last year.  They planted this grass and it seems to like the shade there.

Chloe loves to play in the grass, hiding in it and eating it.

Because I was outside and these caught my eye I took a photo

of these yellow tulips as well.

The neighbors are having a garage built and so with extra people in the neighborhood

I'm actually spending more time out in the yard with the dogs.  

Normally I hang out in the doorway while they do their thing out there.

I'm finding being with them is a good thing.

It keeps the dogs from barking like crazy at the "strangers" 

and I get to enjoy the beauty of the season

that I would likely miss in all of the busyness of wedding preps.

I need to go and make another Cookies and Cream Bundt cake now.

They are amazing ....both in appearance and in flavor!

Have a blessed day!

Bandit and her Squirrel-Friend

From the upper side of the yard....

Through the tree tops.....

 To the back yard between our house and Georgia's.

 They got this close!

Fun times!

This is why I am never sure of Bandit's reason for asking to go out.