Wedding Pictures!

My favorite photo of us, sitting on the bench in my mom's garden under my brother's tree.

Such a sweet, private moment with my husband and our all time favorite Harvest Day Cake!

Our cake was my Harvest Day Cake, with some chocolate cupcakes - made by a good friend of Steve's.

After the ceremony, playing in Coval Creek. I LOVE Mandie behind us!

Siren Song

My sweet Mandie, asking permission to walk in the water.

Under my brother's Empress tree in his memory garden in my parent's yard.

I love this shot of my hair and my flowers.

My wonderful wedding party!

Steve and his guys - Jim, Karl, Truman, and Hunter.

My wonderful women - Cristina, Michelle, Shelby, and my Mandie.

Cristina, Michelle, and I.  I love these ladies so much!

My posed "moment of reflection". It does show off my dress well. I am very happy with how it turned out!

My two princesses - Shelby and Mandie - showing off their dresses I made.

Shelby and Truman have been inseparable since Shelby was born!

Shelby and I were really really missing her mama.

My wonderful, sweet boys. Hunter cracks me up in his hat and binoculars!

I LOVE this shot of the smiles on the guys faces!

My favorite shot of my four kiddos! (Shelby's been my princess since she was born.)

I love this photo - especially the mischievous looks on Mandie & Hunter's faces!

Not sure what cracked Hunter up, but it's a great photo of my loves.

My babies and I.

One of my favorite of all our photos - heading off into our new life together. I also love the back of Mandie's dress!

With Pastor Howard Smith. He had everyone laughing through the ceremony!

Our happy walk to the altar.

Hunter getting last minute instructions on the carrying of the ring book!

This one is so sweet! Shelby & Truman heading towards the ceremony.

Mandie telling Steve how much she loves him before the ceremony.  I LOVE her hair in this shot!

My friend/makeup artist Sharon grabbing a shot of Mandie and I after hair and makeup was done.

  Sorry these are in reverse order.  I have no idea how to get them back to the correct order I started with! lol    

 Steve and I wed on an amazingly beautiful Monday in May, in an area which had been under several feet of water just two weeks beforehand.   We were surrounded by our very best friends and family, who worked hard to help us celebrate our wedding the way we wanted to - outside, with our dear friends and family present.  We got married at Coval Creek at Ottawa Friendship House, and had the reception at my parents home in South Ottawa.   Friends & family came from all over the state of IL, as well as IA, CO, CA, WI, and AK to share our day with us.  Two of my dearest friends, whom I've been close to since grade school, came from CO, and CA to celebrate. 

  The night before the wedding Michelle, Cristina, and Robin came to our house and helped with a pre-wedding dinner before spending the night with us.  Deborah had come in from CA a day before that, and attended our dinner and was the biggest blessing with all of her help.    My dear friend and Mary Kay Consultant - Sharon - came to our house the morning of the wedding and did makeup for me, Cristina, and Michelle.  My wonderful cousin Cristina did all of our hair, while Michelle (Steve's niece/my dear, dear friend, came all the way from AK via her sister's NH wedding) was my wedding planner, chef, calming presence, and all around kept everything flowing smoothly all weekend.  These amazing photos were taken by my very talented cousin Robin, who blogs, does photography, is a mom and step mom, massage therapist, and wonderful friend.  To see more of her work, check out her blog, Write On, Mom!   
   
 If you want to see more wedding photos, please feel free to look at them here on Snapfish .  There are some fantastic shots of my flowers, done by my buddy Jody, and the dresses I made myself, Shelby, and Mandie.  Our Honeymoon Photos are here also.  We went to Galena for a few days in June, so that we could relax without worrying about getting back for work.    All in all, our wedding was exactly what we wanted, and what God had in mind for us when he put us into each others lives three years ago.  Every single detail was perfectly orchestrated, and everyone told me during and after the wedding that they saw God's hand at work not only in the details of our perfect day, but also in how He brought us together.   Yes, I am a very blessed woman!