It’s Party Time!

Sep 072011
 

After all that planning and worry (yes, I know there was worry… what future bride doesn’t have that?), it was time to let go and celebrate!

The wedding reception was held at a local ski resort decorated to the nines!  Erik’s Mom and her friends put a lot of effort into decorating , and it clearly showed.

Do you think that I would get a picture of it?  Of course not.  I was too busy relaxing out on the deck in the beautiful sunshine before the wedding party showed up.

And when they did, it was in grand style, with the DJ announcing each couple.  It kinda reminded me of Rod Roddy from “The Price is Right” calling down the next contestant with just the right kind of music to get the place hopping.

The crowd went wild!

After getting settled in, the Groom got a chance to express his gratitude to everyone.

He didn’t even look nervous!

Actually, Erik is quite an eloquent speaker.

What a proud Mom he had.

And quite beautiful.

The Bride got her chance to thank everyone too, but apparently between the church and the reception, there was a little too much fun on the Party Bus and she lost her voice for a while.

No worries, she squeaked along just fine.

After a delicious meal and scrumptious cake, the dancing commenced.

And who better to start the night out but the Bride & Groom.

…followed by the Mother’s dance with her son

…and the Father’s dance with his daughter.

When the ever-popular “dollar dance” was finished, it was time to throw things.

When this girl throws the bouquet, she makes it happen!

Oh, and here we go again with the garter.

It was OK, he found it. (But I think he had a little too much fun looking for it…)

In true TKE* fashion, the men showed their love to Christine with a serenade.

As the night progressed, the party was in full swing!

And there was no age limit when it came to dancing.  The kids had a blast.

You know it’s a party when the photographer gets wrapped up in a song.

I don’t remember what the song was, but it sure did bring some spirit to the dance floor.

I really liked watching my daughters dance.  It doesn’t happen very often that you see them have so much fun together.

The night seems to go by way to quickly, and before I knew it things were starting to slow down.

The kids had used up every ounce of energy they had on that dance floor.  (No, Rick’s not asleep, I just happened to catch him mid-blink.)

After getting Nichole, Corey and the kids on their way, it was time to think about getting ourselves back to the hotel and collapse.

But not before getting a chance to watch Chris & Erik dance one more time.

Our family officially got a little bigger that day.

 

*Tau Kappa Epsilon.  This is the fraternity that Erik belonged to in college.

It’s a Nice Day For a White Wedding

Sep 052011
 

The Big Day

I needed coffee.

Massive quantities.

Nichole sent one upstairs with Rick, and had 2 more waiting for me when we came down to the breakfast area of the hotel to get Brayden fed.

She takes care of her Mama.

After sufficient amounts of caffeine, I could appreciate what a beautiful day it was for a wedding!  The sun was shining with a slight breeze to keep the humidity down to a minimum.

And most important:  Christine was not in a panic.

What a relief.

But there was still one last minute detail that had to be completed:  a new suit for Rick.  He had brought one along, but wanted something extra special to walk his daughter down the aisle.  Hurray for Burnsville Center next door!!

Man, he cleans up nice!

Kinda reminds me of that suave Mob boss you always hear about.

Mmmmmmm….

Ahem, now onto the church to get that girl hitched!

And into the dress, which weighed 30 pounds.

Simple, just step into the thing

…navigate through the corsets

…and viola!

I don’t know how the girl managed to breathe.

Oh, and one last thing:  the garters (which Christine made herself).  She certainly won’t be able to get those things on now.

Never fear:  the Maid-of-Honor to the rescue!

I don’t think that Jen expected this to be on her list of duties when she signed up for the gig.

Now THAT is a good friend!

After Nichole helped Christine get her jewelry on, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to capture my girls together.

Awwwww…

While the girls were busy getting all gussied up, the men were downstairs doing the same.  Tuxedos were the order of the day.

And call me biased, but I’d have to say that Brayden sure did the suit proud!

He was the ring bearer for his Mama’s wedding, and what a fine job he did.  He was very happy for her and Erik.

And so was Nichole.

Since there had to be pictures taken before the wedding, it was time for the groom-to-be to set his eyes on Christine in her dress for the first time.

This was a very big deal, and so he was made to stand with his back to the church and wait for Christine to touch his shoulder

…he was speechless

…and wholeheartedly approved.

The next hour was filled with a whirlwind picture-taking session.  The gal that they had doing this event was top-notch, and had the bridal party doing amazing things (which I will summarize in a later post).

What a better back drop for a Minnesota wedding than a corn field?

Alexis and Kayla got the honor of being flower girls for the big day, and they were as beautiful as the bride and bridesmaids!

Again, I might be a tad biased.

When the Pastor pronounced them Husband and Wife, I finally breathed.

2 longs years of waiting were finally over and the only thing left to do was celebrate with food, drink and music.

And that, my friends, is a post all its own.

The Night Before

Sep 032011
 

Most weddings dictate a certain amount of tradition, and one of those traditions is of course the rehearsal.

This is a great time to get the low-down on what will happen on the big day, and also it allows everyone involved to let go of some of the stress that has come along with all the planning and get a little of the silliness out of the way.

And I took a ton of pictures, but I won’t be posting them.

Why?  Because my camera lens had become smudged and most of them ended up in the proverbial trash.

Sure, there were some keepers, but I think I’ll just keep them for my own little momentos.

After the rehearsal, it was on to the dinner hosted by the Grooms’ parents.  And it was there that I have to say I saw something that I never expected to see in my life.

My daughter’s last name written on the back of the pig that was roasted for the event.

He really looks more like a George, or maybe Barry.

No matter, he was delicious.

Erik’s parents put on a spectacular event!  As if his Mom hadn’t been busy enough helping with the wedding, she made it a point to add those extra special little touches to her home.

Lights hidden in the flowers?  The woman has talent!

And her flower gardens?  Simply put:  WOW!

I have never seen such beautiful lavender.

Everyone enjoyed a beautiful evening, especially the kids who had to be corralled once in a while by Nichole.

Yes, I’m talking to you, kiddo.  (See what I mean about the smudged lens?  Ugh!!)

When Nichole and I went shopping the previous weekend, we had purchased a bunch of small gifts to give Christine, ranging from a whisk with a piggy head (that seemed to be a coincidence, eh?), to books for cooking, puzzles and just for fun.

You have to know the personality of the person when picking things out, and she is definitely a cat person.

Which was evident upon meeting her lovable, spoiled cat Jude (aka Judas).

It was so good to relax, but in the back of my mind I knew that the next day was going to be long and busy.

And boy, was I right.

Like The Pitter-Patter of Rain

Sep 012011
 

That’s the sound wild rice makes as it lands in the bottom of the canoe

Well, that’s what it sounds like to me anyway.

And I got to hear that lovely sound today when Rick & I headed north to our destination.  There’s nothing quite like taking off at noon on a work day and heading off into nature.

It was sunny, hot and humid.  I loved it!  There was a threat of rain on the horizon, but it held off until later in the day.

Of course, not all travels are smooth ones, and sometimes you have to be tested on your way to make sure that you are worthy .  And today we were tested… the car overheated and delayed us a tad, but we didn’t let it get us down.  After a quick fix, we were back on the road.  We had wild rice to gather!

We usually go on one of the lakes around us, but this year there was a nearby river that looked good, so we decided to give it a try.  River rice tends to be shorter than lake rice (this is just an FYI for anyone who is guessing.  There is no difference in taste, just size).

Here’s the deal:  if you ever get a chance to go ricing, TAKE IT!!  It is absolutely fantastic!

You’re on a canoe amongst tall stalks of plants that contain actual food that you gather yourself.

Sure, there are a couple minor annoyances like worms, spiders and bugs (as well as the rice itself, which is quite itchy) that fall down in your hair and clothes.  You may also endure a few blisters on your hands from knocking the rice off the stalks (like me).  Worst case scenario is that you will tip the canoe and dump all of your hard work (and yourselves) overboard (which, has not happened to us yet… knock wood).

But don’t let those little things deter you… you get used to them.

Our reward after 2 1/2 hours on the river?  22 pounds of wet rice.  (Wet refers to fresh rice before it has been parched, which will yield about 1/2 that amount by the time you are finished.)

Parching (drying the rice) is the next fun step in the process.  We have our own humdinger of a way to do this over the fire pit that involves a chair with its legs sawed off at an angle and an old washing drum.  Oh, and don’t forget the canoe paddle for stirring the rice so it dries evenly.

After that, it’s thrashing time to remove the outer husk from your precious rice.  Then to get rid of any more little traces of chaff (fine pieces of husk), you winnow (shake) it in a fine breeze (or in front of a fan, whichever you have available).

I tend to clean mine more before packaging up by taking small amounts in a dish and picking out any remaining chaff and worms that remain with a tweezers.  (Yes, the worms get cooked in the parching process and end up like little black balls.   Some people don’t mind eating these.  As for me?  ewwwww!)

So begins Ricing Season 2011.  Rick & I are hoping to get out a few more times this weekend if the weather cooperates, because this is one of the many things that we truly enjoy about living in the Northwoods.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have rice and insects to pick out of my hair and various other places.

 Newer Entries