You Wanna See Some Wedding Pictures?

Kale and Kayla got their wedding photos yesterday.  She’s posted several on her blog here.

And, I got the SWEETEST email of all time from Kale last week giving me dates to come to Houston – next month!! He has a four day weekend then and I’m going to take full advantage of it!!

Tyler is still in Hot Springs with his insurance job, and from the sound of it… a little training with little ones.  My sister (Kristin #11) has three young children and Tyler is learning new and creative ways to soothe a nearly three month old baby.  Too funny!

A Few Wedding Photos

The kids made it back home Monday morning.  Kale had to be in class early.  The next couple weeks will be the end of his schooling and preparing for finals and graduation.

The photographer will have photos in a couple of weeks, but my Mom sent me a few that she took…

The cake was gorgeous. Not your typical wedding cake, either.

It meant THE WORLD to us that Charlsie was able to attend.  (She’s wearing the outfit that she asked me to shop for.  So sweet!)  Her brother, Lloyd, was her “date” for the evening. 

Charlsie hugged on Kale a little after these pictures and my Mom said she saw her mouth the words, “You’re a good boy” to him.  (He is.)

The ceremony was beautiful, but nothing was more beautiful to me than when they said their vows to one another.  My heart was so full!!

And so, they begin their lives together…

Mr. & Mrs. Kale Wallace

Wedding Day Recap in A Nutshell

Woke early.

Enjoyed omelet – courtesy of Dave.

Last minute errands.

Chatted with Kayla on the phone before her hair/makeup appointment.

Relaxed in front of TV.

Feeling calm and proud of all we had accomplished.

Kale comes home – just chillin’.

One hour until photo session - about to get dressed.

Phone call from Kayla.

Both hairstyles - a DISASTER. Kayla is distraught.

Frantic phone calls… Kay, my wonderful hairdresser, comes to the rescue.

Kayla is happy again.

We all make it to the church for photos about 30 minutes late.

Button falls off Kale’s tux jacket.

Wedding begins ON SCHEDULE (did you notice Brother Steve?)

Wedding was BEAUTIFUL!!

Yes, I cried.

Head to reception - major caterer disaster.

I freak out. Start making punch. (BTW, chocolate coffee punch was the crowd favorite.)

After what seems like forever… food is served.  SORRY guests! We really do love you.

Kale and Kayla off to their mini-honeymoon destination… and off to begin their lives together. Smiling all the way.

* * * * * * * *

The day certainly had it’s tense moments.  But, the kids are just as married and all is well.

I want to thank everyone who helped us: Jodi and Gary (who stayed to clean until 10 PM, they also helped us so much setting up); Steve, Judy, Kelly, Joe and Libby for getting the church put back together for Sunday services; Carla (Dave’s sister) and Ray X. for helping the caterer.

Thank you, Steve, for all the years you’ve been there for our family.  It is a huge blessing for you to marry our “baby” after all these years.

Thank you, Lord, for blessing our son with a beautiful girl, inside and out, to spend his life with and for blessing David and me with a daughter. 

We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving week!

Dear Kayla

A little over three years ago, we met up with Kale at one of our favorite little spots in Harrison (Neighbors Mill).  He didn’t tell us ahead of time, so it kinda surprised us when a cute little girl stepped out from his car.  We got tickled and said to each other, “oh, look, Kale’s brought a little girl with him!”

Well, that little girl has come to mean so very much to me.  You love my son with your whole heart.  You are kind and warm and sweet.  You make me smile and I love you already as though you are my very own.

Today, on this day that you marry my son, we wish you all the happiness in the world. We pray that God will bless your marriage and keep you close to Him and to each other.

I’m so grateful that he invited you that day to Neighbors Mill.  That little girl has become OUR little girl.

We love you!

PS.  The five year plan starts today!!

An Unexpected Blessing

We had a sweet Thanksgiving church fellowship tonight.  There’s always so much good food (especially the desserts) and good conversation with wonderful church family. 

Afterwards, I was headed to my office to put a few things up and I heard someone in the sanctuary… it was Steve and Judy and they were working on packing up the shoe boxes our church collected for Operation Christmas Child.  So, Tyler and I joined them… and it was so much fun!!

I couldn’t help but think about the little hands that would get to open each box and the smiles on their faces and the joy that those simple shoe boxes would bring to each child.  I only wish I could be there to see them open them with my own eyes.

What a blessing to be able to do something as simple as pack a few shoeboxes to be ready to ship!

And the countdown is on… four more days until Thanksgiving and six more until the wedding.  This will be a busy week!

The Thought of Houston

Reality is setting in more and more every day.  This evening, Kale and Kayla flew to Houston for the weekend to find a home.  In 29 days, they will be married, and another month after that, they will be moving to Houston…which seems like worlds away to me.

Even though my heart is somewhat sad, it’s also so excited and happy for them and their future together.  There are so many exciting things going on in their lives right now.  David and I know that Houston is a great opportunity for Kale and his future and we also know he worked very hard to get where he is. But, I’m SO going to miss them when they move.

About four years ago, I watched him graduate from high school.  Shortly after I walked away from a college dorm room leaving my precious baby alone in a big, bad world, two hours away from home.  But he did well (and so did I, I might add).

And now, we’re about to see him graduate and leave again. Only this time, it’s 11 or 12 hours away. To this momma, that’s a LONG way. But, we’re confident he will do well there, too. And I’m certain I will, too.

Until that time comes, I’m going to look forward to their wedding and the holidays and cross that other bridge when I come to it.

A Bridal Shower

You know it’s getting close when the bridal showers begin.  Our church family had Kayla’s first shower today and it was so nice!

The table was beautiful.Kayla and her cute, cute Maid of Honor, Jessica My mom, Kayla and me

L-R My sister, Valerie #4, Mom, Kayla, me, and my sister, Suzanne #3

David’s sister, Carla and our great-niece, Rylee (what a cutie!) My BFF, Jodi.  It hit us today how our children should still be in grade school…not getting married!! (She’ll be where I am in short order.)

Rylee got sleepy. Thank you to our wonderful church family for being so good to us.  We are blessed!

A Lazy Weekend

Kale and Kayla came in for the weekend.  It’s muzzleloading season here in our “neck of the woods” so Kale was excited to come home for a man-camp this weekend.  Kayla and I decided to have a quiet girl’s weekend.

It’s been pretty chilly here, so we built a fire and did a lot of this…

and this…

It was good to just relax and get some rest.

Tyler hunted for a while Saturday morning, but he came home for the rest of the weekend.  He, Kayla and I all went to church this morning… kinda funny that he and Kayla walked in to Sunday School together without Kale…and then the three of us ate lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

The kids will be back next weekend for Kayla’s bridal shower at our church.  The wedding is less than 6 weeks away!!

In big family news… my baby sister (Kristin #11) had her second baby today!! A precious little girl, Sophia Rose.  Isn’t she precious?

 

Oh, and welcome back my laptop!!! (Can you hear me humming a little “Peaches and Herb”.)

Missing My Laptop

Kale has my laptop at his house.  She has had the required “surgery” and seems to have recovered nicely as per the reports I’ve received.  She’s still recuperating and is being monitored very closely and will be coming home to momma next weekend when my other “precious” makes the trip back for the weekend.

We are only seven weeks away from Thanksgiving AND the wedding.  Time is going by so fast and 2009 is almost one for the record books. I STILL haven’t found a thing to wear to the wedding.  I’m starting to get a little nervous.  I’m a big online shopper and have checked every store I can think of and have found nothing, notta, zip! I could really use some help in this department. I am leaning toward chocolate brown…so if y’all happen across something you think would work, let me know.

On another note, y’all know how much I LOVE “The Biggest Loser”.  As much as I love it, there are some things I truly have problems with:

• First of all, the past couple of seasons, we’ve seen the trainers behave in ways I believe (as a trainer) are not necessary to motivate people. This is and should be a family program, so NBC, please note that we don’t need the f-word bleeped out a million times a show to realize your trainers are intense.
• I also don’t care for the game play.  I think the show would do just as well, if not better, if it revolved totally around the health and fitness aspect and the emotional journey the contestants find themselves on.  Having experienced some form of it myself, I can tell you, that losing weight and getting fit is VERY empowering and it brings out some things in you that you don’t realize you have within you…whether that be purging negative self-talk or discovering strength and endurance you never knew you had.
• It’s awesome to see such amazing weight loss results at each weigh-in, but the show needs to remind the audience that these contestants are being watched with every morsel that touches their lips and are spending hours, 6-8-10 hours, in the gym each and every day.  Doing so can result in extreme weight loss, especially when they have so much to lose.
• The other thing that I have problems with is…the first rattle out of the box these contestants are expected to walk, jog, run a mile.  They are extremely overweight, out of shape, and obese…and from the shows own words… “very sick” .  From our perspective, it appears that these contestants take off in a run to try to reach that dangling carrot (immunity) first.  What we are not seeing, I’m sure, is that there are doctors, trainers, etc on the sidelines observing for safety (and legal) reasons.  But, the message is that the typical obese person can and should get up off their easy chairs and run a mile.  NOT! I would never do that to one of my clients.
• I do love the show, and I love how the contestants develop relationships and have a desire to get healthy for their loved ones and themselves.  I bawled over Abbey’s story of losing her husband and two young children tragically in 2006, or hearing how Shay has never felt loved.  I cheer each week for Rebecca and Amanda to do well.  I absolutely LOVE watching the changes occur both in the contestant’s bodies as well as their hearts and minds.

Well, now that I got that off my chest. As for me…I am happy to report that after 3 years of struggling on the scale, I have reached my goal weight and have lost almost 20 pounds since June.  And I did it without a trainer screaming obscenities in my ear!!  Although, there are a few times that I want to cuss myself for the workouts I put us through. Ha!

Hope y’all have a great weekend… we’ve got the Turkey Trot festival here.  We miss you, Mousie!

Sick Computer

My laptop at home is oh so sick and is waiting for the computer repairman (aka Kale) to bring it back to health!  I’m getting behind on blog reading (in most cases, just commenting), and  I’m really behind on posting. 

Life continues to be busy with work, working out, training, and getting ready for the wedding, which is only 2 months away now!!

Speaking of the wedding… they’re going with fall colors, mostly chocolate brown, green, and orange.  Anyone have any recommendations for what I should wear (as mother of the groom)?  The setting will be informal or dressy casual.  Have you seen the suggestions for “mother of the bride”?  They’re really not me.  Suggestions?

Whew! We’re Tired

It’s Monday morning and Kayla and I are about to head out the door again.  The kids came in on Friday afternoon and we’ve been in full wedding planning mode ALL weekend.  We’ve barely seen the guys. Ha!

Friday night, we met with a planner, then went to supper.  Saturday we met with someone on decorations, went to the tux place, met with the cake lady and ordered the cake, hit a few shops, then went back to my office to work on invitations.  We left the house at 10 AM and got back at 9 PM, pooped.  After church yesterday, we went to eat then headed to Branson, then back to the church to store some stuff and finish up the invitations. 

Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with a Paula Deen apple crisp pie and some vanilla ice cream!

Only 82 days until the wedding!!! But we got a TON done this weekend.