England Trip {My Sister's Wedding}

The whole purpose of our trip to England was for my sister's wedding!

The Royal Pavilion was the venue for the wedding. The Royal Pavilion was the "pleasure palace" for the regent prince, and later King George IV. It was a beautifully ornate place.

The wedding was in the "red room" of the palace.

Here is Bethany being escorted by our father.

In Brighton (it may be all of England, I'm not sure), weddings not held in churches cannot have any religious aspects. So, Bethany selected an old English poem to be read by her Scottish friend, Kenny. The poem was "The Owl & the Pussy Cat" by Edward Lear. This poem was actually part of the Abeka Curriculum when I taught 3rd grade many years ago at Tabernacle Christian Academy. Students were expected to memorize it. Plus, I remember Mom was fond of it which made it special to Bethany.

Bethany & Warwick

Time for vows

Nothing is final until the paper is signed.

 Bethany's turn to sign.

After everything was signed & dotted, we moved into the "music room" for a few pictures. Here is Beatrix playing with her pink stuffed animal.

The now "Mrs. Stone" chatting with some friends.

Bethany's friend Fran & I took turns caring for Charlotte.

Then it was outside for more pictures.

Here I am with my beautiful niece!

The Stone Family!

This is Warwick's family - his two sisters & brother-in-law.

Bethany's friend Lynda & her beautiful hat.

Bethany & Kenny - they met in Scotland back in 1992 when Bethany was studying abroad and have kept touch over the years.

From the Pavilion, the wedding party walked through the "Lanes" in a promenade. Chris was carrying a sleeping Charlotte and I was pushing the stroller, so we didn't get any photos of that. It was probably a 10 minute walk to get to the Coach House where the reception was held.

The Reception

We were served delicious mojitos upon arrival. For our appetizers, we had little paper cones with fish & chips. I didn't get any pictures of them, but they were so cute! And yummy.

Here is Chris & me with our beautiful niece, Beatrix!

My Aunt Brenda & Uncle Ken from Lizton, Indiana came over for the wedding.

Here is Dad talking with a couple who hosted Bethany on a visit to England back in the early 1990s.

And here I am with my sister!!! My Dad likes numbers. He made the comment that I got married when I was 23 years old. And this year marks my 23rd wedding anniversary and I turned 46 this past January. It was kind of weird to think that I have been married so much longer than my sister who is just 3 1/2 years younger than me. It just took Bethany a little longer to find the right one! I am so happy for her!!!

I can't wait to see all the professional pictures from the wedding!!

Best Birthday Gift Ever!

My birthday was a few days ago. About a week before my birthday, my husband told me that he had something planned. I am not a fan of surprise parties, so I began to worry. He finally said that some friends were coming over on my birthday. We would have drinks at our house, then go out to dinner. He was a bit vague about who was coming and said it was hard to tell because not everyone had RSVP'd yet.

Over the next few days, my husband spent several hours cleaning and unpacking boxes in the basement. I figured that some of the guests he had invited haven't seen our new house yet. I always like my house to be clean for first time guests, so I did a lot of cleaning, too.

The day of my birthday arrived. I planned to finish up the cleaning, then go shopping for a new outfit for my birthday dinner. Plus go out to lunch with the kids. Chris told me to make sure that I was home by 3:30 -4:00. I did think that was a bit early to go for dinner, but I do have some friends that work early shifts, so that wasn't too unrealistic.

At 1pm, the kids were still asleep. I went to the garage to throw something away & noticed that my car wasn't there. I texted Chris & asked him why he had taken my car instead one of the other two like he usually does. He replied saying that he thought that my car still needed its emission test, so he was going to do that on his lunch break. (For some reason, all 3 of our cars have tags that expire on my birthday, not his!) I wasn't too happy, but I wasn't stuck at home, so things were ok. Finally, after 2, the kids finally woke up. They both gave me a cheery "Happy Birthday, Mom". But I barked at them because since they woke up so late, we didn't have enough time to go out & have lunch or shop.

I sat in my clean living room & played games on my tablet.

Around 3:30 or so, my sister called to wish me a happy birthday. She lives in Las Vegas and always calls me on my birthday. She actually sang the birthday song to me. Our grandmother & mother would always do that & they weren't around to sing it anymore. We talked for a short while because she was out with a friend.

Then, about 4:10, the doorbell rang. I went to answer it. There was a tiny baby in a car seat sitting on my front porch. I recognized this baby as my nearly 3 month old niece. I looked around and saw my sister poking her head out behind the garage. My husband appeared, too.  I was stunned. I totally wasn't expecting them. The kids had no idea either. Chris wasn't sure they would be able to keep a secret, so he didn't tell them.

This was such a wonderful surprise. My niece was born in October & it was killing me that I hadn't met her yet. They stayed 3 nights.

Here are a few pictures from Bethany & Charlotte's visit.


Hannah & her little cousin.

Hannah & her friend, Rachel, playing with Charlotte.

And feeding Charlotte.

James & baby.

Chris & a baby.

Babies eat & sleep a lot!

 

We didn't have any empty drawers (or cribs) for baby. So we improvised. 

Charlotte & me.

Bethany, Charlotte, & me.

James making a face because baby was fussing.

The visit was too short! We miss them already! This is one of those times when it's hard to live so far from family.  Thanks, Bethany, for such a wonderful birthday gift!