A Wedding Weekend!

We had a VERY busy week last week and things are not slowing down a bit! It amazes me how fast the time between Halloween and Christmas goes by...this year seems to be even faster than most! It seems as though we have something planned for every waking moment between now and December 25th! We went to Tyler last weekend for Cam and Lilli's wedding and we had the most wonderful time! The location was a stunning bed and breakfast hidden in the woods of East Texas, complete with outdoor English garden covered in twinkling lights! It was so beautiful, in fact, that I spent the better part of the weekend trying to figure out a reason to throw my own party out there! The wedding did not disappoint as I cried my way through the ceremony for various reasons. :-) My old pastor from childhood officiated the ceremony, which was a beautiful surprise. He is LONG ago retired, so hearing his voice was something special to say the least. I did not even recognize him by sight...it was the sound of his voice that caught me up short. Afterwards, there was dinner, drinks and dancing with tons of old friends...it was like time had stood still...some folks I had not seen since high school! We laughed and played like we were still 18 years old! That might be a bit of an overstatement considering that we all kept calling home to check on our kids and I stopped drinking after two glasses of wine to avoid a headache. :-) At least we had a great time for a group of 30-somethings. HA! Lilli and Cam also had what I consider one of the BEST ideas ever at the reception...the whole crowd was invited out on the front lawn once it got dark and every couple was given a huge paper lantern and a lighter. Everyone lit the bottom and held them up to gather hot air. As soon as they started to pull away, we all let go and dozens and dozens of these glowing lanterns floated away into the night sky! It was a precious moment and one I will not soon forget...all of the people that I have known for decades standing outside together under the glowing lights...it was amazing! Jer took a video of it...it is a bit long, but you can watch it here:



The night was especially wonderful because my parents kept Colin for us. I found out that while we were there, they packed him up and took him shopping for Christmas trees at Hobby Lobby and then for dinner at Chick-Fil-A. Apparently, he was beside himself over the decorations at the store and had the best time helping my parents pick out a new tree. At dinner, he got not only his favorite kids meal, but he also had a brownie AND an ice cream cone! It is little wonder that he keeps asking to "Go Mimi and Duke's house!". :-) It felt so good to be out and about and to find out that Colin had such a special night with his grandparents at the same time made it even better! We are home now and I am officially knee deep in Thanksgiving prep, not to mention working on getting Christmas cards done and decorations up! Whew! Here are some pictures from our weekend:

These two are Colin making a HUGE MESS with blueberries at his grandparents house. He adores eating Duke's blueberries above all things! Look at that face!! :-)



This one is of my sweet friend Nick...I have known him since we were...14? A LONG TIME! I have adored him forever! His son is Colin's age and was the ring bearer...so cute!

Hugging the beautiful bride, Lilli...she was breathtaking! We lived together in college with Sarah and Megan...four girls in what we called "the big house". It was more than a little crazy. :-)

Sarah and Nathan...two of my oldest friends. It was SO AMAZING to all be together in one place!

hugging the handsome groom, Cameron! Nathan, Cameron, myself and Sarah used to refer to ourselves as "NaChalSaCam". We were BEST FRIENDS and it brought me to tears to see him get married. I have endless of stories about this hilarious man...I am so happy that he found his soul mate!

A shot that Jer snagged during the ceremony...it was stunning. That is Brother Johnny officiating...we have family pictures with him when I was probably 5 years old!

Mom and Dad looking good! :-) All dressed up and ready to go!