Wedding Week

Wow, it's been a week and I don't know where to start.  Tuesday we had heavy rain so we headed to town.  We picked up M's sister (Pam) and her daughter (Ashleigh) because they were not going to brave the mud anymore.  We ran around town and did a few errands and did some work at the new house.  C and M were trying to get the TV hooked up to the satellite dish and the rest of us changed out cabinet and drawer knobs in the kitchen.  Then M and R went to get haircuts while Pam, Ashleigh and I went to help put on chair covers at the reception hall with K and her other helpers. FYI, it takes a lot longer to put them on than to take them off although it didn't take too long with all the help.  J stopped in and showed us their new (to them) pickup.  I guess it was a wedding gift to each other.  From there we headed up to the bar that K's parents own and had pizza while we waited for M and R to get back from their haircuts.  It turned into a long night and some (won't name names LeeAnn) got a bit out of control.  We finally got to bed about 3 am after navigating the mud to get Pam and Ashleigh to the farm and then back to our house. 

Needless to say, we were all worthless on Wednesday.  However, a couple of bulls decided to get out of one pasture and some cows and calves out of another so M and R were busy getting them back in and fixing fence.  Have I mentioned that the critters think they need to get moved?  M's parents and sister headed to Scobey to stay at the new house for the weekend.

M was trying to finish up some seeding on Thursday so I rode to town with R who was planning to stay in town for the weekend (good plan), and M came in later for the bachelor party.  There was also a bachelorette party for K at the golf course.  We played a few games and had a few drinks and then headed uptown and ended up at the bar where the guys were.  R tried to take advantage of his brother in an inebriated state but all he had to show for it was some road rash on his elbow and knee.  We were home early--2 am, I think.

I was up early on Friday because the bride, her mom, her bridesmaids and I had pedicures scheduled which took most of the day.  I had a few errands to do in town and then we had rehearsal at 5 and the rehearsal supper following at the golf course.  M was wondering why he had to be at the rehearsal so I reminded him that he had to pour sand.  K thought it was special that both sets of parents have stayed married for many years so wanted us involved in the sand ceremony instead of having a unity candle.  M and I each poured different colors of sand into J's container and K's parents did the same for her.  Then J and K poured theirs together into another container as a keepsake.  Most of us had an early night after dinner--some didn't (bad boys).

Finally, it was wedding day on Saturday.  It turned out to be a beautiful day, sunny and warm for the most part, and the wedding went off without a hitch.  Well, other than there wasn't room for everyone in the church so the wedding was delayed while trying to get everyone seated.  Some of the overflow went to the church gym but they couldn't get the TV to work so they couldn't see anything and most just left and headed to the reception.  I guess it's a problem to be too popular.  K said if the wedding was at 5:00 we should be out of the church by 5:15.  It probably didn't get started until 5:15 and took a little longer than 15 minutes.

K had been telling everyone that there would be no crying because she thought she'd be fine unless one of the mothers cried.  Well, during rehearsal she started to cry so we were wondering how she was going to do at the ceremony but she held it together with not too much difficulty.

We felt a few sprinkles of rain as we were in the receiving line and after we got to the reception hall the sky fell and it rained hard!  Nice that it held off until everyone was inside where it was standing room only.  R had been planning his toast to the couple and did a great job.  He noted that he had lived with J for 16 years and knew it wasn't easy so wished  K luck.  He also commented on how he's seen J smile a lot more since he's been with K.

Brothers

 

 We had good food, great cake and cupcakes, wine, beer, champagne and then dancing. J chose "Simple Kind of Man" by Lynrd Skynrd for our dance.  Apparently he didn't realize how long the song was!  Oh well, it was good to dance with him, and I was happy that he was happy.  We all danced well into the night.  M and I stayed in town in our camper and woke up to a beautiful Sunday morning.  We went back to the reception hall and had breakfast pizza and watched J and K open their gifts.  Then we had to clean the hall.  We had a lot of help, and it was a fun time.  I told K she should be on her honeymoon and not worrying about cleaning up.  She was the only one who knew where everything needed to be returned to--the borrowed vases, rented chair covers and tablecloths.  She was very organized and planned it all pretty much on her own.  I keep telling her that she and her best friend need to start a party planning business.

J & K--notice the Ski-doo cake topper

Sunday afternoon we had a barbecue at the new house for some of the out-of-town relatives--we had a lot of leftover food from the rehearsal and reception.  M has been telling his mom that the patio at the house is meant for entertaining so we had to try it out.  Again, the rain held off just about long enough but we got another shower.  Another inch this weekend.

We had such a great time with our family and friends although it was hard to visit with everyone we wanted to. My sister and brother made quick trips here so they could be a part of it, and we are so glad they did.  So many people were so helpful from start to finish.  That's why it's so great to live here.

Now we are trying to get back into the swing of our normal lives.  I spent the day catching up on book work, bills and mowing while M was on the phone most of the morning with a cattle buyer, chemical salesman, crop insurance agent, John Deere salesman and a couple of neighbors.  M had told the cows that we'd be busy over the weekend and to stay put, and I guess they listened.  He needed to get the sprayer pulled out (C is stuck again) and try to mud in the last acres that we'll probably get seeded.  More rain in the forecast!