The first pictures of Morgan and Solomon's wedding!

I'm slowly recuperating from all the planning, organization, and busyness surrounding the wedding.  I had planned to start posting pictures in another day or two, but even as tired as I am, I can take a hint!!  I just looked at my "site meter" and apparently a LOT of people have been checking in to the blog to find out about the wedding.  They may not post replies very often, but they're definitely checking in!!  So without further ado, here are some photos of the day.  Many of these are actually "stills" taken from the video our videographers took, so they are a bit grainy and fuzzy, plus they've not been edited yet; others were taken by friends, so not always the best quality, but definitely beautiful, nonetheless.  When the professional pictures start showing up (probably around Wednesday), I'll make sure to post those or a link to them.  In the meantime, enjoy these!!

The musicians in the string quartet & pianist

View down the aisle as the guests gather

Beginning the walk down the aisle with her dad

It's a loooong way down that aisle....

Finally reaching the front of the church

Prayer to begin ceremony; soloist Mark Cobb waiting behind minister to sing

After a message to the couple by Pastor Sebek and taking of vows, rings were exchanged.  Unfortunately, Solomon had been holding Morgan's hands so tightly, her fingers were starting to swell, making it difficult to get the ring on!!

Finally, SUCCESS!!!  Yesssss!!!  High five's all around!  It made everybody laugh!!

"I now pronounce you husband and wife......"

"You may kiss your bride!"

So happy!

One of my favorite pictures of the day that I've seen thus far, taken by my friend, Toshi Baer! You can see a lot of the flowers -- and look at the smiles!!

Walking back UP the aisle seems so much faster!!

Morgan's friend, Becki (co-maid of honor) escorted by Daniel (co-best man)

Morgan's friend, Georgi (co-maid of honor) escorted by Zak (co-best man)

Friend Diana (bridesmaid) escorted by Erich

Bryanna (sister/bridesmaid) escorted by Nelson (brother/groomsman)

Friend Shelagh escorted by friend Will

Sister/jr. bridesmaid Mackenzie, escorted by jr. groomsman Daniel

Flower girl Joy escorted by ring bearer Matthew

Mother of the bride (me!!) escorted by my son Nelson, followed by husband Nelson

Laura (mother of groom) escorted by Erich and followed by David (father of groom)

My mother Norma (Morgan's grandmother) escorted by Daniel, followed by my father Ben

Mackenzie and Daniel entering the reception

Morgan and Solomon entering reception

First dance together as husband and wife

Wedding cake (made by me!! yikes -- was I CRAZY???)

And that's all the photos for now.  I'll share more when they become available.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of Morgan and Solomon's special day!

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"Ch-ch-ch-changes......"

You know you're a musical person when something happens in your life and automatically some song (or song title) pops into your head!!  It seems to be happening a lot with me lately.....

So today's theme song, "Changes", just seemed appropriate.  Good changes, bad changes, middle-of-the-road changes -- that's been my day.  Good change -- the kennel where I REALLY wanted to board my dogs called with an opening -- YIPPEE!!  Bad change -- Morgan woke up with a migraine and has been absolutely useless today.  Middle of the road changes -- my dad REALLY doesn't want to do the MC'ing at the reception; however, he's willing to help make sure my brother CAN get to the wedding (car transportation was in doubt!!), and if he comes, HE can do the MC'ing!  Change of an unknown status -- the friend who's supposed to be providing the sound system for the reception (music and microphone) was supposed to be back in town from an extended vacation last week.  However, he's STILL gone and will "probably" be back on Wednesday??!!  Yikes.......  Please, please come back, Peter!! 

Another change -- the gal who's doing the dress alterations was supposed to do Bryanna's alterations today; however, she ended up in Rehoboth Beach for the weekend and won't return until tomorrow -- so fittings will be done tomorrow evening.  She assures me that's "plenty of time" for her to get the dress done.....  I hope so!!!

But I am NOT going to let all of this worry me.  I just found out yesterday about a family we know whose daughter got married in Colorado a few weeks back.  Talk about changes!!  Apparently, the CATERER got the dates mixed up, and no food arrived for the reception -- just the cake and the drinks!!  So I've been telling myself that if they can survive THAT kind of problem with grace and a good attitude, I can deal with all these little annoyances. 

Breathe, relax, breathe, relax......... just a few more days!!

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Changes, chaos, craziness.....

This last week (two weeks before the wedding) has been nothing short of chaos.  We had all sorts of plans for things to get done, and then found out Monday that Nelson would be leaving Wednesday for a three day business trip to New Jersey.  Sigh..... not a great way to start the week!

Because Morgan and Solomon's insurance situation after the wedding is still a bit unknown, we decided it would be a good idea to just hurry up and get a good dental cleaning, get three months' worth of any prescriptions filled, maybe an eye exam -- just get all the bases covered.  On Monday, I took her to the dentist.  Now, Morgan is the kind of kid who's always been pretty meticulous about her teeth.  She brushes, she flosses, she drinks more water than probably the rest of the family put together, and she very much limits soda, coffee and tea intake, so her teeth are usually better than anybody else's.  She hasn't had a cavity in YEARS -- until this visit...... sigh....... there were THREE of them!!  How?  We don't know -- very strange to us -- but there they were.  So we made an appointment on Wednesday to come back and get all three fillings done at once.  By Wednesday night, she was hurting; by Thursday AM, she was in agony.  Yikes -- please don't tell me she's going to need a root canal!!  So we made ANOTHER appointment for Friday AM, and went in to the dentist with fear and trepidation.  Thankfully, THANKFULLY, it appears that the filling on the bottom tooth was just too high and when she would bite down, it would cause extra pressure.  The dentist was able to grind off a portion of the filling, and thus far, it seems like the pain is gone!  YAY!!

I forgot to mention, though, that on the way to the dentist on Friday, I was sitting at a stop light in front of a police car.  As I pulled forward, on came the police woman's lights to pull me over!!  Huh??  What did I do?  I certainly wasn't speeding -- I was stopped at the light!!  Quick mental check -- I know the license plate is current; maybe somebody stole them overnight?  What else could it be?  After doing the mandatory "License and registration, please, ma'am", she says "Do you know that your rear brake light is burned out?"  Uh, no -- how would I know that unless somebody TOLD me??  Thankfully, she only wrote a warning, then sent us on our merry way to the dentist.  We had to call them and tell them we'd be a few minutes late since I'd been pulled over -- I got a fair amount of good-natured teasing about that at the dentist's office!

Additionally, one of the prescriptions we tried to fill was rejected.  Turns out it's been almost a year since Morgan had visited the allergist, so they wouldn't refill it without an office visit.  That ended up being Thursday's errand.  That was an easy in-and-out visit, which was good, because I don't think either she or I could've stood one more complication this week!!

I was able to find a kennel to board the dogs for the days surrounding the wedding.  There will just be too many people and too much chaos to have the underfoot for those days -- not to mention that we really don't want to deal with dog hair and dog drool on wedding dresses!!

The one thing I HAVEN'T been able to come up with is a full-sized passenger van.  I was really hoping to rent one, since we'll have so many extra people to be moving around next week.  But it appears they are all rented out.  Hertz, Alamo, Enterprise, Avis, Thrifty, Budget -- you name it, I called it -- and there are just none available!!  Maybe we'll rent a mini-van instead??

The guy who's been working on our wood floors came out this week to finish the installation of the trim and the last three stair treads.  He needed to complete the trim around the floor edges as well.  He got the trim done; unfortunately, the stair treads we needed were not available for him to pick up -- so we've still got one set of stairs only halfway done!!  But the flight of stairs that goes from the foyer up to the first floor look great.  Nelson was able to stain those this week and put the first coat of polyurethane on them.  It makes me feel good to know that I don't have to be so worried now about those steps getting wet or stained; they're at least partially protected now.  After the wedding's over, we'll try to get a few more coats on there, but for now, it's good enough.

And the bachelorette party -- which is all the girls getting together for food, talk and "chick-flicks" somehow mysteriously ended up being held in MY HOUSE today -- and I didn't find out about this until YESTERDAY???  Uh, seriously, ladies??  You think I don't have enough to do already??  OK..... what's a bit more chaos when you're already completely upside-down???

Bryanna flies in from Texas tonight.  Originally, she told me she'd be in around 8:30 or so; yesterday she realized her flight actually arrives around 4:45 -- and the party starts here around 3:30.......  It's gonna be interesting -- how many places can I be at once??

This is going to be a long, long week!!!!

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"Showered" with gifts!

Several of Morgan's bridesmaids (Diane, Georgi, and Becki) threw her a beautiful bridal shower yesterday.  It was so very, very nice and a lot of fun; the girls put a lot of work into it.  And I'll just go straight to the photos, since I know that's the part everyone wants to see anyway!  (Especially you, Grammy!!)

Nanette Jefferies and Frannie Miller chatting at the punch and cake table

Morgan talking with friends

Nancy and Liz Clash talking with Sarah Llewellyn

Laura Stein (groom's mother) talking with ladies from our church

Angela Toner and Michelle Krout talking with Mary Fisher (Morgan's aunt)

In the "Seat of Honor"!!

Becki Prentice (co-maid of honor) giving instructions for the first party game

Morgan enjoying a laugh with Georgi Spilman (co-maid of honor)

Diana Jefferies (bridesmaid)

Then came the "Toilet Paper Bride", where each team had 10 minutes to "design" a wedding dress on their model -- in this case, on Mackenzie Llewellyn (bride's sister/jr. bridesmaid).  At the end, Morgan would select the winning design.....

And the second team, working on Katie Prentice's dress.....

..... while our team started a veil and decorative flowers on the back of the "dress"!

Continuing on the dress....

Michelle Krout being decorated for the third team! Look at her lovely "string of pearls"!!

And the winner was -- Katie Prentice and team!!

Then Morgan began opening gifts, while Diana recorded them in her laptop!!  Much more up-to-date than the old steno pads we used to use!! First gift, from Victoria's Secret......... (oooooooo-la-la!!)

A negligee!!!

And then another!!  (slight embarassment!!)

On to more "practical" items.....

..... and then another negligee!!!

Napkin rings being modeled by bridesmaids and Morgan!!

And finally, the bouquet of ribbons to be used at the rehearsal, complete with net "veil"!!

All the wedding party members who were present at the shower -- (L to R):
Becki Prentice, co-maid of honor
Mackenzie Llewellyn, Jr. bridesmaid
Georgi Spilman, co-maid of honor
Morgan Llewellyn, bride-to-be
Diana Jefferies, bridesmaid

Hope you enjoy the pictures!!  We certainly enjoyed our wonderful afternoon!!

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