Here's me and Brent walking down the aisle after our wedding in 1981. What do you see? A radiant bride, beaming with happiness? A groom who doesn't exactly like having his picture taken and is a little bewildered by it all?
Almost 32 years later we have a repeat performance. Another radiant bride, beaming with happiness and a groom who is definitely better at having his photo taken, (see the smile?) but still doesn't look as happy in this shot as he could be.
All I can say is,
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!!
Photo credit of Jordan and Britney goes to Jeanette Brown at In The Light Photography, Mesa, AZ.
Since Max died three months ago, Sophie has been pretty lonely. They were litter mates and lived together for almost ten years. I understand that. Whereas Max and Sophie used to pretty much spend most of their lives in the kitchen, Sophie now wants to come and go in the living room as she pleases and makes this damned awful noise if we leave her downstairs when we go to bed. She's our little girl, our princess. How can we deny her?
Look at her! This is a photo our 5 year old granddaughter took of her on Christmas Day. You'd think butter wouldn't melt in her mouth wouldn't you? So sweet, so innocent!
Unfortunately, she also gets bored and that happens when we leave her by herself when we go out. We started coming home to her having been in the kitchen trash and literally trashing it all over the kitchen. So we got wise. After a few times of her doing that we would put the trash can in another room or up on the counter to foil her plans, but our Sophie is a clever one.
Today while we were at church, she came up with something else to say "This is what you get for leaving me alone!". We discovered that we had left the sliding door to the pantry a little open and she had gotten in to the shelf where I keep my dried foods. There were bags of rice and kidney beans on the floor and the contents were spilled everywhere. Almonds, cranberries, seeds with the bags ripped open. I found one bag with a single dried apricot in it!
Can I just tell you that vacuuming grains of rice from off the floor is not what I choose to do on a Sunday morning. What will she do next?
It's not even 8 a.m. and the phone rings with a "What are you doing?" "Getting ready", I reply. What else would I be doing? I mean, he does know I'm going to HIS wedding, doesn't he? I guess he was bored. He was already dressed and finished and sent me the obligatory "photo in the bathroom mirror" shot.
He got to the venue safely and of course, had to check his phone. Doesn't every groom do that?
We were there an hour before the ceremony was due to start to have the "groom's side" photos. I really wasn't able to snap alongside of the photographer because I was in so many of them myself, but I did manage to capture a few "before" shots. Take a look.
When Jordan was having his photos taken, I crept inside to the bride's room to see Britney having her dress laced up by her dad! She looked gorgeous. A big shout out to the adorable Alyssa Franco from Sassy Chic salon in Gilbert for the hair and make-up.
Before the Ceremony
The sun was bright and this was the only time I saw Jordan look a little nervous, but still handsome. Of course, I am biased!
Aaaahhh! My boys! (Practicing their best Grumpy Gwynn looks!)
Danielle looked cute as a button with her lovely dress and accessories...her Cinderella rings!
Her mom and dad don't look too shabby either!
When Britney was ready, Jordan had to wait elsewhere so as not to see her in her wedding dress, as it was her turn to have the "bride's side" photos taken.
Love the bourgainvillea flowers around the arch as the backdrop. Very pretty.
With her sister Taylor and her mom and dad.
The Ceremony
Watch the video of the vows. It's a little shaky at times, but remember, a teary eyed momma was taking it on her cell phone!
After the Ceremony
Presenting Mr and Mrs Jordan Gwynn.
This looks a little funky on here because I didn't get in at the right time with the right angle, but they're spelling the letters LOVE with their fingers. Cute!
His hands made a heart!
Love that Britney chose purple as her color. My favorite color too!
Swoon!
The Eating Part...Yum!
Loved the cup cakes! They might look like they're chocolate, but on the inside, they were vanilla with a strawberry center. Delicious!
G for Gwynn!
Ready to cut the cake? Britney showing her aggressive side? Jordan looking terrified? Nope, it was all in good fun!
Now I think this is an American tradition. I know Brent and I didn't do it. Yum! Feeding each other cake. It looks so sweet until...
Yowza! take that! A cake fight!
It got everywhere. In Britney's eyes, in Jordan's ear and hair and all over his beloved new sweater!
My Thoughts
I've been to many weddings before and I love how they all reflect what's important to the bride and groom. Mine was at the church Brent and I attended filled with our family and church friends, the cake and buffet organized by Sisters Lee and Kirkwood, the photos taken by a friend of a friend. It was pretty simple. I've been to ones where the ceremony was followed only by a toast to the happy couple. I attended one a few years ago at the Seville Golf and Country Club and it was the fanciest schmanciest thing I've ever been to. Hors d'oeuvres, elaborate table settings, gourmet food and flamenco dancers. It must have cost a fortune but Brent and I felt so out of place despite all the fineries.
For this couple, they decided that an intimate wedding witnessed by their family members was what mattered most because they were the people who would be the stable force throughout their married life. It was a time for celebrating and being with the ones you loved. Britney's family have been going to Joe's BBQ Grill in Gilbert almost every week since it first opened and they love the place. Brent and I were introduced to it only last month, but we were pretty impressed too. It wasn't a fancy reception, but it was just perfect. We were all able to be casual, eat good food, mingle and enjoy a good time.
It's hard for this momma to understand where the years have gone. Just a few minutes ago I was holding my last baby in my arms, picking him up from school, fixing up his cuts and scrapes, watching him grow, and now he's a married man. Oh, I love him so! The joy for me right now, is seeing someone else who loves him too. I pray for their well being, that they will always remember the love they have right now and work hard every single minute of every single day to make their love grow and their marriage thrive...to infinity, and beyond!
I thought I'd add a few random photos here, ones that I haven't posted before, but were all taken in 2012.
In March, Brent'd dad passed away pretty suddenly which was bitter sweet. Ever since mam passed away in 2008, he's been lonely and wanting to be with her again, but as always, it's hard to see a parent go, especially when you're not able to be there.
Shortly after, we had our Easter egg hunt for the little ones. That's always fun. Heather and Danielle have taken charge of painting the eggs and I love watching the kids run around the garden trying to find them while the adults are making sure they don't fall in the pool!
Spring brought growth and Brent's job is to climb that ladder and trim the palm trees.
In June, our niece Jamie came for a visit and discovered the joys of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.
She also managed to get Brent to do "cabana boy" duties as she relaxed in the pool.
In August, we found out that our dog Max had lymphoma and decided to relax the house rules a little by allowing him out of the kitchen and into the main part of the house if we were around. We wanted his last weeks to be a little more comfortable!
Danielle loves to go to the zoo and as a special treat, she got to ride a camel. I remember riding on an elephant when I was about her age!!!
Don't you just hate those self portraits where it's obvious that you're holding the camera yourself? I do and this is one of them!
Boys do spend an enormous amount of time lounging around, don't they?
A little better than holding the camera yourself is the 10 second timer, but it's hard to get it at the right height. Here's one from that particular experiment.
A little fuzzy, but I wanted you to see the scarf. I love it. It's a little funky, almost like a feather boa, and so warm, but why, oh why, does it have to shed red fluff all over my black tee shirt?
Christmas earrings! Jingle all the way!!!
Since Max died, Sophie has been very lonely and so we've spoiled her rotten. Here she's going out for a walk with her daddy on Christmas day! (Sorry, blurry, they were walking too fast for me!)
And what would be a year without having Donny in it? At the beginning of December, I went to see the Donny and Marie Christmas show (it was fantastic!) and they had these cardboard cuttouts of them both in the lobby. My friend Andrea and myself promptly disposed of the Marie one and snuggled all over Donny. If you could see the finger prints all over his chest you'd be amazed!
Getting ready before the show. Got to show my loyalty, right? Actually during the show Donny saw my scarf and mimed "What does it say?", then he read it and just shook his head as he laughed. A sweet moment!
