BEFORE THE WEDDING:
The flower girl, niece Serena, was looking lovely, with hair curled by my niece Jody.
My brother Dave with great nieces April, Jenna, Heidi and Emme and niece Serena.
(And yes, that big boy is Kam! "Let me down!")
Niece Faith puts flowers on the cake. (Cake made by someone else.)
Oh look, here's my charming nephew Duane with his lovely girl, Rachel.
Our girls Molly and Steph at the guest table with friend Alex.
Niece Brianna and her family arrive.
Just love this pic (taken by Venisa) of Nick getting Kam ready at niece Jewel's house in Brownsville. It was hard for this Nana to get herself put together with that going on in the next room! Talk about distracting! Jewel's house was a hive of activity, with groomsmen dressing in the rec room, and the master bathroom full of little girls getting hair done, and Kam...
Kam looked quite dapper in the little outfit sewed by his Great-Aunt Hope. (Though she remembered that she is not fond of sewing little boy vests and vowed to not make any ever again.) The bow tie and pocket hanky were made by me and Jewel with the help of Pinterest, hot glue and folding! He loved Nana's new purse, but I wish the cute side was facing out!
There is only a cute side on these boys!
Sticks are always fun.
The groom with his father and his son.
Love these boots!
Such a beautiful family!
This one too!
There is only a cute side on these boys!
So happy for these two!
The father of the groom is relieved as his groomsman son carefully walks to his place in the lineup after his pants ripped out and Jewel came to the rescue to mend them…."Take small steps, Eric," she urged. (The mending job lasted through the wedding, but not through the reception.) The wedding was delayed a few minutes so that he didn't have to go down the aisle looking indecent.
THE WEDDING
Nick and Pastor Nathan at the beginning…Jewel's husband Steve and daughter Betsy on the left made some beautiful music with guitar and violin.
oopsie daisy, down goes Owen...
Serena barely misses a step, smoothly pulling him back up and continuing the trek down the aisle!
Pastor Nathan, (friend of the family since he and our son Craig met in fifth grade), begins by telling the gathering that Nick and Christina have decided to start with a plate-smashing ceremony, symbolizing the scripture,"a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh".
Then Kam was handed to Nick, and they all walked down the aisle together. Nick passed off Kam to sit with me. Though I forgot to bring a little car or any toys for him, he entertained himself with my purse and my phone (puts to ear, "hewwo") and was very well behaved.
Nathan did a wonderful job of telling their story in a humorous and touching way, referring to the "famous McAnulty charm" more than once! (But was he being facetious?!) He and his wife Kari met with them for pre-marital counseling, and he reported that the homework for the last session was for them to each write a definition of marriage. Unfortunately, Nick did not get his homework done, but Christina did such an outstanding job with hers that Nathan used it as a basis for their marriage vows, which brought tears to a few of these eyes.
And they are man and wife, Mr. and Mrs. McAnulty! (Photo by Scott V.)
AFTER THE CEREMONY:
Soon it's time for some food, a taco/baked potato bar.
The bridal party.
A family table, mostly brother Doug's, with Faith and Harold
Kam enjoys a little coloring, which Venisa and Anisa thoughtfully rolled up
and tied with twine for me.
Some of Hope's family, it looks like most of them are in line...
Look at that cutie! Jenna and Burkley.
More of Hope's family. Her two out-of state daughters and their families were visiting, so we were honored with the entire family's presence!
The bride and groom with Nick's grandma, Jewel and Steve, sister Jean.
Carol with April. (Looking good, Jody, sorry about that serious face, Jean!)
The bride and groom with Sheriff Riley and his daughter Holly, whose home was where I dropped Nick off before school during his elementary years, and Holly would get his cereal for him!
Great-niece Jenna does a beautiful job coloring a placemat,
which was created by another great-niece, Betsy Hesser, for the enjoyment of the children...
although obviously Rachel is enjoying it as well!
Love all these girls!
Venisa and Christina
My brother Galen, showing off great-nephew Zaiden to Nathan's family.
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Brother Doug with Nathan and Kari |
Looking good in those jeans, Eric! With Molly and my brother Dave.
The parents of the groom clean up rather well if I may say so!
The father of the groom is happy to have a new daughter.
And some more treasured long-time friends. Aren't they special!!
Love all our old friends!
No doubt Burl is sharing some words of wisdom with the newlyweds.
Heidi and plenty of little girls enjoyed keeping an eye on Kam.
He was happy to just run up and down the ramps.
The newlyweds with Christina's grandma. (Apologies to the rest of Christina's family that they aren't pictured here, but I'm afraid I my camera was focused on my own family. There's so many of them!)
With Russell and Tiesha Williams, wonderful friends since Nick's youth group days.
Soon it is time to cut the lovely cake….
Wouldn't you know that these two would have a little fun with it...
Looking good, kids!
And then it's time for the first dance…Oh Nick, why didn't you keep your fancy shoes
on a little longer?!
The bridal couple went off to enjoy a one-night getaway.
Oh, Nick and Christina, may you walk together in sunshine and rain, knowing that your love and the love of Jesus are all you need to weather the storms and to fully appreciate the sunshine. May your love continue to grow and deepen, making you better together than you could possibly be without each other. May laughter and joy and happiness fill your days.
And when you need something to laugh about, just look at this!
(Summer Rae Chase Photography)
It's incredible how much time and effort and planning go into making a beautiful day like this happen. Christina was amazing with all the wonderful things she planned and made, and many friends and family on both sides helped in countless ways, including but not limited to decor, set-up, clean-up, food. Thank you so much to all of you.
We also thank all the dear friends and family who came and
helped make this a very special day! We love you all!
Many of the bride and groom's friends and family helped take down and clean up after the wedding, but these faithful friends remained to the very end when everything was loaded and cleaned up.
Five groomsmen (including Nick's brothers), niece Faith and her husband Harold,
and of course, Will and I. Thanks, guys, you're our heroes!
(Did I mention that I had over 27,000 steps on my Fitbit that day - 12 miles?!
And no, I did not find time for a run or a walk!)
Kam was also a bit tired at day's end. He was at Jewel's while we were cleaning up, playing as happy as could be. He's not one to stay asleep when you get him out of the carseat, but that night, he was sleeping so soundly that he was completely limp when Will got him out at home, and remained that way through the transfer to the crib. I'd like to know how many steps he took that day! We got to enjoy a great day together on Monday, just playing and hanging out. This Nana was able to get a few things done while he took a three-hour nap.
Interestingly enough, the next afternoon, there were Facebook posts from various local women who found lovely bouquets of roses and lilies at their front doors, particularly a widow who was very touched when she found the bride's bouquet and very sweet note from a stranger. Her daughter shared this with the picture, "There are still wonderful people in the world. A new bride left this on my mother's door step in celebration of my parent's love and the passing of my father. This gesture made my mother feel better. Thank you to whoever did this wonderful gesture. God bless."
How sweet and thoughtful is that!
Congratulations, Nick and Christina! We love you!
