Wedding Weekend

Many folks attending the wedding were in the same villas as us.  Nephew Jim arrived and he and Sharon rode with us to the party barn where the wedding was held in the loft.  

Here are great nieces Taylor and Josie as flower girls.  Nolan and Reid were sign bearers.  One said "Uncle Brandon, this is your last chance to run."  The other said "Uncle Brandon, here comes your bride."  It drew lots of laughter.  I was presented with a corsage because I was asking the blessing at dinner.

It was a lovely ceremony and instead of lighting a unity candle, Rachel and Brandon tied two ropes together in a fisherman's knot.  Their log cabin home sits on their own private lake.  Even the wedding cake topper was a bride and groom in a rowboat.

My greatest thrill was the attendance of my half-brother Kim and his wife Marilynn.  I had not seen him since we moved to Florida in 1971 and he was living with his father.  We had such a great visit and I hope to see more of them.

A new thing, at least iin that part of the country, is the candy bar.  Jars, bowls, sucker trees, etc. are all arranged beautifully and guests are provided with boxes or bags to avail themselves of the treats.  Here are Josie and Taylor filling their bags.

I didn't take too many photos but here is one of niece Cindy's crew.  Missing of course are her two grandchildren.  What you can't see are Sarah's twins and Amy's baby all making their first appearance next fall.  When asked for name suggestions I chose Raelynn for a girl.  Rae is my middle name and only Terry has been given the middle name Ray.  I need a namesake!

No party would be complete without rolling on the river to Proud Mary.  I guess if I could get up without having to climb someone's leg I would join them.

Another great shot of a few of the male cousins along with Vicki who danced every dance.  I never saw her sitting except to eat dinner.

Dustin (our godson -17 years old, size 17 shoe!),  David, Josh, Paul, Vicki, Joe, Mike, Little Dan (as opposed to my brother Big Dan).  

They had the Marriage Dance where all married couples are called to the floor.  Then by years of marriage are asked to take a seat.  Karen and Ron won at 55 years, we came in second at 49.

By 11:30 Ted and I gave it up and walked across the parking lot to our villa.  We attended 9:00 Mass the next morning, checked out of the villa and drove to Dan and Sue's for brunch and the opening of the gifts.  We left there about 1:30 and decided to drive to Corbin, KY for the night.

We were passing Berea, KY right at dinner time and left the highway to have dinner at Boone Tavern.

This is a historical tavern and is used today as a dining room, hotel and conference center.  It is staffed in part by Berea College students who are studying hotel management and culinary arts.  Our server was from Bolivia and said he enjoyed this past winter's snow.

We settled in for the night in time to watch Amazing Race.  My Oklahoma cowboys are still in it and I cheer them on each week.  The weather is supposed to be severe today so we will plan our drive to Cumming, GA with that in mind.