Good morning, my friends!  It's Wednesday, July 15th...and I'm trying to get back into reality.  I slept in a little later this morning, coffee is ready and after my devotions I'll head out to Giant Eagle (our local grocery store).  Gary and I are tired of consuming wedding reception food leftovers, so today is the last day we hang onto those items.  The additional cookies not eaten at the reception have been sent home with every visitor that attended our continential breakfast last Sunday.  In fact, Gary took a large container of cookies to work this morning....

Half of the house is back to "normal" and the other half....well, hopefully after the grocery run I'll still have the energy....I simply didn't realize how draining this experience would be.  I had been warned by many, many friends, but it's quite a different feeling.  So, here we go...Jeremy David, Happy Birthday!  (The mailing of cards hasn't been timely, but hopefully Aunt Cookie will get on board!).

Have a great day, everyone!  God Bless...

 

Dear friends....although the last blog was on the 9th of July (officially it was the 10th!), I want each of you to know the graciousness and goodness of our Lord.  If you live in the Pittsburgh area the weather report for our daughter's wedding day was not great.  Out of the past ten days or so the only day of predicted thunderstorms was the 11th of July..  The percentage went from 30 at the beginning of the week and grew to 80....the father of the bride was almost pacing the floor and checking the internet on an hourly basis. 

Me....well, I finally said, "Gary, I'm not worrying about it any more.  We are going to thank God for every minute that it doesn't rain today."  And the day began.  As a testimony to our Lord, the only rain we experienced was a few drops outside the church before the couple emerged following the ceremony and receiving line.  Kimberly and Luke were almost through greeting guests and Kimberly (being the independent little thing she is) commented that she wanted to see the last few people that were waiting in line.  By the time she finished hugging and kissing everyone, the sun was back out and she got to exit the church with her new husband to lots and lots of bubbles! 

After church photos were done the wedding party climbed into the limo and headed to W&J College and had OUTSIDE pictures taken IN THE SUN!  The rest of the day....no rain!  We found out later that in Cleveland there were torrential downpours and thirty minutes outside of our area it was raining so hard some of our guests had to slow down their vehicles to a crawl!  It was as if God stretched out His mighty hands and protected this beautiful couple and their wedding day from showers.

My husband, Gary, spoke of being of little faith......I, once again, saw my Lord give me the desires of my heart....to Him be the honor and glory! 

I will blog more "wedding details" tomorrow....but today, God gets all the honor and the blog!

So this is the day before the big day....I'm sorry if this is starting to be confusing for my readers, but I find that I'm still up after midnight and this particular weebly organization must be on the west coast that sponsors my website.  Although it's 12:15 on the east coast, the date is still registering yesterday's date.  So, officially it's July 10th....the day before Kimberly gets married.

Our family did enjoy our day on Thursday delivering gift bags to the hotels, dropping off items to the reception hall, picking up tuxedos and having what our son, Nicholas, affectionately called "the last supper" together....the four of us are feeling a bit melancholy and excited all at the same time.

We had loads of people over for pizza tonight to get the weekend started early.  Many family and friends are coming into town for the festivities and we enjoyed just sitting around and chatting.  Today (Friday) more friends and family are headed into town as the bridesmaids, bride and flower girl get their manicures and pedicures, grandma gets her hair done and we all ready ourselves for the rehearsal at the church. 

The weather is still predicted to storm on Saturday and Sunday.....we pray God will stall the weather pattern so we can continue to enjoy this lovely weather we've had throughout the week.  The stars are shining brightly tonight and we were able to enjoy the deck until almost midnight.  Thank you, Jesus, for this opportunity to enjoy the outdoors.  We'll praise you throughout the weekend.....for we serve an awesome God!

God bless each one of you....thanks for reading!  Still pray for us!

 

 

Since it is past midnight here on the east coast, I thought I would blog day two before the day gets in full swing.  I can't believe the day has arrived when we will be taking items to the reception hall that I have been storing at our house for months!  This includes candles, votives, toasting glasses, cake cutting knives....etc., etc.  Of course we begin unloading the cookies from various freezers.  I'll let you know what that final count is after the wedding....from all estimations it appears to be in the hundreds....many hundreds!

It will be a great day as the four of us deposit the aforementioned items to the reception hall, deliver welcome/gift bags to the hotels where our guests will be staying, pick up tuxedos, run a few errands and then head to lunch.  The weather is still great and we look forward to sharing the day together as we ready ourselves for the main event.  About fourteen out of towners are expected for pizza at our house tonight....it's really beginning to happen!!!

My sincerest thanks to all my friends who have been writing emails and leaving messages on my phone to let us know you are thinking about us.  The messages have been so heartwarming and I appreciate your thoughtfulness more than you know.  Well, it's time to rest before day two gets further underway.

God bless each of you....thanks for reading!

It's early morning....around 7:15 a.m.....the birds are singing loudly and the sun is rising on what promises to be another beautiful day.  I'm basking in the glow of what is coming and enjoying this last morning of quiet and solitude.  I'm headed for the shower and then some moments on my screened in porch with a cup of coffee and my Bible.  God has been good to us and allowed us to accomplish what we have desired in order for Kimberly and Luke to have a lovely day on Saturday.

Ironically, the weather forecast is still predicting scattered thunderstorms for only Saturday and Sunday.  As I reflect on this information and praying that the storms hold off until the early part of next week, I have to draw a conclusion about marriage.  Along with the sunshine and happy moments of marriage comes the times of unexpected trials and "storms"....we don't ask for them, we don't desire them, but God sends them so that He might continue to teach us to lean on Him and ask His guidance for daily living.

So, I'll continue to come before the Lord and humbly ask for good weather and rejoice that I'm able to be present on Saturday to witness this most important event in the life of our family.  This is Gary's last work day, Kimberly is driving home today and we'll have a chance to sit around the dinner table tonight peeling shrimp, laughing, remembering our times together before our family expands and getting nervous together about the upcoming weekend.   It's great to be the mother of the bride!  God bless, my friends!

This is a special day on our street.  In fact, I lovingly refer to my neighbors as "the street people"....so many great neighbors and most of us have lived on the street for at least 20+ years!  Well, only on July 7th are three of us "girls" the same age.  Because on July 8th the birthday of the third person goes up a year and on this day one of the girls catches up with us.  Did you follow that?  Anyway, we try to get together and celebrate the fact we are all the same age for 24 hours. 

This morning we took a four mile walk on our local trail and then enjoyed coffee at The Farmhouse.  This is a local establishment right off the trail that has a lovely garden area for patrons to sit an enjoy the outdoors during nice weather.  It was a great time to share with friends, who are also neighbors, the blessings of birthdays.

Now I return to cleaning my house and getting ready for the rest of the week.  I also had a wonderful surprise yesterday.  My brother and his family are on vacation this week with their final destination being Pittsburgh for the wedding.  He called me late afternoon yesterday and told me that they were in West Virginia and their GPS was sending them through my area to get to Hershey, PA.  Boy, was I surprised!  So, I hurried and changed and met them for dinner at Cracker Barrel about 15 minutes from my house!  That was a great way to begin to celebrate the weekend.....knowing family is close because of our event!

I continue to ask for prayers for the weather.  My mom has always said, "if it's important to you, it's important to God."  So, I have to admit....I'd love for the day to be bright and sunny for Saturday and Sunday with the activties and events planned.  Would you pray with us?  Thank you so much, my friends.  I hope you are enjoying these little blogs....God bless!

Wow, five days before the wedding!  This is like singing the twelve days of Christmas (right, Sue?)...when you arrive at five golden rings you realize the song is almost over!  So, it's another gorgeous day here in Pittsburgh....blue skies, puffy clouds, birds singing...all my favorite things.  However....the forecast contains a chance of thunderstorms for Friday, Saturday and Sunday!  Please pray, my friends, for good weather....I know this is minor in the grand scheme of life, but it sure is important to us!

I so enjoyed talking with a childhood friend last night.  She lives out of town and is headed in this direction to celebrate with us this weekend.  It was calming to just sit down and chat about life, the wedding and flowers/vegetables!  Yep, we rural girls love our flowers and home-grown veggies! 

So, I begin to run a few more errands today.  The bride is due to arrive on Wednesday, so I'm putting the finishing touches on the house, cleaning, laundry and groceries.  I pray this wedding will shine forth the light of Christ throughout all we say and do, especially with so many individuals attending whom we don't know their relationship with Christ.  May Christ be honored and glorified! 

Have a great day, my friends....thanks for reading!  Oh, a new devotional will be posted later today....check it out!

Sunday....a beautiful day full of blue skies, white puffy clouds and birds singing.  Please, Lord, bless us with a day filled with this beauty for the wedding. 

Worship is a good place to start the new week....a week that will bring changes for our little family forever.  We enjoyed a nice lunch outside on the deck with our son following morning services. I forgot to mention while blogging yesterday, Nicholas came over and detailed his adventures at the Pittsburgh Project last week.  It's a great feeling as a parent to learn of God's blessings through this middle school mission trip and hear the stories through the eyes of a leader.

We will continue with a few errands today.  Viewing the slideshow for the wedding and probably stopping by the grocery store are among today's listed agenda.  We are also working on the brunch for next Sunday at our home.  Then I think we'll take a much deserved bike ride later this afternoon.  It's a lovely day to be outside....thank you, Jesus, for this beautiful earthly home you have given us to enjoy! 

Have a wonderful week, my friends!

 

Okay, if you're really paying attention you'll notice these last two days are written on the 4th of July....yep, those movies last night went way past my bedtime, so I'm playing a little catch up this morning! 

It's only seven days before the wedding....we keep saying, "this time next week...." and the "good" nerves are kicking in!  The sun is shining brightly this morning and the long range prediction is sun and warm temps....we'll keep praying the weather holds.  We enjoyed breakfast on the deck this morning with notepad in hand as we prepare for a brunch that will be held at our home the morning after the wedding.  We are expecting a lot of out of town family to stop by for a bite to eat before heading back to their homes in various states.

Gary is outside working on some mulching projects and then he'll be mowing grass.  I've pruned flowers and after blogging I'll continue with placing notes on hotel "goodie" bags and decorating the menus for the reception with a tiny ribbon tied in a bow.  Yep, I'm one of those "over the top" kind of personalities....so if I ever have an opportunity to speak at one of your women's events you can be sure I'll do my very best job! 

Well, onto the day's activities....a week from today....we simply can't believe it's coming this fast.  Our son called last night after being away for a week with middle school students in downtown Pittsburgh on a mission project.  His comment was he's been in a lot of weddings, but this one is different....this one is his sister....

God bless our country....Happy Birthday, America....may we continue to be a God fearing nation that vocally speaks the name of Jesus unashamed, standing on the promises of God!

 

Hello, my friends.  It's eight days before the wedding and we're doing a little inside work today.  We're shampooing carpets!  Yes, when a big event is scheduled you clean your house from top to bottom as if the wedding were taking place in your living room!  I've wanted to shampoo three rooms of carpet for over a year.....now it gets done!  The wedding is a great way to get projects accomplished that are spoken of, but never completed.  Thankfully, my husband is still off and he commanded the carpet cleaner and I worked on other details....like those place cards....I'm going to be dreaming of place cards....

Anyway, it's been a full day of putting final touches on the table seating arrangments, getting a screen door repaired and finally sitting down to a nice, long dinner out at Applebees and then propping our feet up and watching movies with a huge bag of popcorn!  It's been raining off and on for several days...tomorrow is predicted to be sunny, so we'll return to the outdoor projects.  It's fun, but it's starting to wind down...we continue to pray for good weather in only eight days!