The Wedding: Preparation

Now that I'm sufficiently recovered from my trip, and sufficiently recovered from my cold, I think it's time to begin posting pictures from our trip!

 

So without further ado, Part One of The Wedding: Preparation...

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

We arrived in North Carolina on Wednesday the 10th.  I'm so glad we came several days before the wedding so we could help out with the last minute details. 

 

I spent the first day dipping almonds and pecans in chocolate with Abbie.  We attempted to watch "The Happiest Millionaire" but between the numerous phone calls that Cuz was making and taking, and a rather bellicose game of Risk going on between the boys, Sarah, and Uncle John, I didn't really get much out of the movie.  We re-watched it later, and I loved it:)

 

Poor Cuz had been sick a few days before, and at this point had pretty much lost her voice...the phone calls didn't help.

 

The Risk players - Ken, Ivan, Sarah Jo, Uncle John, and Alex.

 

Alex, as usual, took control of Australia...I warned them not to let him do that;)

 

Cuz and I also made the punch - yummy banana pineapple.  No, really, I did help!  I was just, umm, supervising at this point and playing with the cellphone! 

 

That evening all of the girls - Faye, Abbie, Aunt Donna, Sarah, and I - worked late in to the wee smas folding favor boxes and stuffing them with the chocolate dipped nuts, and homemade truffles.  I think we stayed up till 1:30 AM working on those, but by the time we went to sleep they were all done and ready to be transported to the church the next day.  It was a good feeling.

 

Sarah Jo and I had the job of putting the nuts into little silver and gold foil/paper cups.  They looked so elegant!

 

Cuz making truffles...or attempting to make truffles while also laughing at something the Chief said. 

 

Ken - the sweetest and cutest of all little boys.

 

Alex and Ivan stayed up talking until 6 in the morning on the first night, so they only got about 3 hours of sleep.  We sent them to bed early for obvious reasons:)

 

Good ol' Molly dog

 

The next morning, with a good nights sleep under our belts, and hot showers behind us - it's amazing what a hot shower will do for you! - we headed over to the church to decorate the reception area.

 

Abbie and Gabby (sister of Sam, the groom) decorating the glass candle holders with tulle and ribbon.

 

Jo Bug

 

Shoes.  Abbie's shoes, to be exact.

 

Hey!  What do ya know?  The rest of Abbie is attached to those shoes!

 

You know, I think that just won the award for the dumbest caption ever.  I mean, really Tasha...

 

Me!=D  We used a ton of adhesive velcro (you know, I'm not really sure how you spell velcro, but I don't really care either;) on that table skirt, but it looked great in the end!

 

Sarah Jo again - she's 13 and a Miller.  No other explanation is necessary.

 

A committee meeting of some kind - Ken, Faye, Linda (Sam and Gabby's aunt), and Ivan.

 

Abbie's shoes again...in case you're wondering, Abbie was under the table for a reason.  Table skirts and more velcro.

 

Brothers - Uncle John and Uncle Tom

 

Glassware art

 

 

Even the guys got put to work shaping the candles to fit the candle sticks.

 

 

Ivan and Uncle John.   Apparently they were supervising and drinking coke.

 

 

More velcro

 

Ribbon art.

 

More velcro.

 

Lookin' good!

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Tune in next time for *duh duh duunn* Part Two of The Wedding: The Rehearsal...

 

Happy Trails, y'all!

Faye & Sam's Wedding

Here are a few of the pictures that the professional photographer took at Faye and Sam's wedding...

 

 

 

Our Grandma Barb wasn't able to attend the wedding, so she sent the ribbons from her wedding bouquet, and a sweet locket shaped like a book with pictures of Grandpa Cliff and her in it for Faye to borrow.  Faye used one of the ribbons threaded through the locket to tie it and the ring around her bouquet.  The ring is a birthstone ring belonging to Faye's mom, my Aunt Donna.

 

Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.

 

Faye and Ken

 

The train on Faye's dress converted to a bustle for during the reception.  It was gorgeous!

 

The beautiful bride

 

Bubbles & Rose Petals

 

You can see more pictures at the photographer's blog, here.

Cheesy Potato Pie

I don't pretend to be an excellent cook, but what I cook is edible...at least, I hope it is.  My family hasn't told me otherwise, so I assume that what I cook is edible and tastes good.

I love all-in-one meals - throw everything in one pan, or pot, cook until done, and serve.  I'm into simple, hearty, meals that are easy to make, and don't mess up the kitchen too much, but taste good, of course.  

Here's one of my favorite recipes....

~*Cheesy Potato Pie*~

Serves 4 - {I always double this recipe - apparently, we eat more than 4 average folks...plus leftovers are always good}

1 Tbs. butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 large potatoes

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 cup grated cheese {I usually use pepper jack, but the cook book recommends Swiss}

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 tsp. mustard

1/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley {we never have parsley, so I usually substitute spinach - tastes great!}

dash Tabasco sauce

Bacon or mushrooms would also be a nice addition to this delectable dish.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Heavily butter a deep 9-inch pie pan.  In a small skillet, melt butter.  Add onions and cook over medium heat until translucent.  Remove from heat.  Peel and quarter potatoes.  Place potatoes in food processor in batches.  Process until finely grated.  {Oh, you beautiful food processor, how I love you!}  In a medium bowl, combine potatoes, onions, salt, and pepper.  Stir to mix.  Spoon into pie pan and press potatoes over bottom and sides of the pan to form a shell.  Sprinkle cheese over potatoes.  In a medium bowl, beat together milk, eggs, mustard, salt, parsley, and Tabasco.  Pour into shell.  Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until set and golden brown.

Note: Potatoes have to be finely grated or they will not be completely tender when the pie is done.

Recipe from Mom's Updated Recipe Box: 250 Family Favorites Made Quick and Healthy by Donna L. Weihofen, R.D.

{} indicate my comments and notes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In Which I take Pictures of My Bonnet...

My mom and I love vintage hats.  

 

Sometimes, just for fun, we'll look up vintage hats on ebay, and ooh and ahh over them for a bit.   One day, while we were engaged in this pleasant past time, Mom found an absolutely darling little hat!  I'm not sure if it would be considered a hat or a bonnet, but I fell in love with it, never expecting to get it.   I was therefore all the more surprised and delighted when I received the bonnet for Christmas!

 

I couldn't believe Mom had actually bought it for me, and I was very pleased=)  

 

Well, Kellie has been hearing about this hat for about a month now, but she still hasn't seen it...until now.

 

So, without further ado, I would like to present...the hat.

 

.....

 

Please pardon my non-period correct shirt...I don't have a dress worthy of this bonnet.  That's next on my sewing list.

 

Aren't the feathers simply delightful?!

 

Oh, and the sweet cluster of roses with the blue/green ribbon!

 

Kellie, the back of this hat, as you can see, sits rather high on the head, so there's room for a bun bellow, but there's also an incredible amount of room inside.  I believe you'd be able to fit all of your hair under it with no trouble at all!  And for those of you who know Kellie, that's saying a lot;)  Next time you come over, you'll have to try it on, dear:)

 

 

And then...well, I don't know what it is about Photobooth, but it tends to lead to extreme amounts of craziness and silliness...

It just went downhill from here...fast.

 

Enjoy;)

 

 

Apparently I enjoy making faces at myself...

 

...strange faces.

 

I scare myself sometimes.  I really do...

 

It was about here that I remembered all of the neat effects that Photobooth offers...

 

Don't worry, I'll spare you the pics I took on distort mode;D  They were totally unworthy of my bonnet, anyways...

 

My "twin" and I had a happy reunion - we're absolutely identical, not even our mother can tell us apart.

 

Comic book - I actually like the way this one turned out.  The bonnet looks neat...and my hair looks blue.

 

Oh, so elegant...

 

Or not.

 

I liked the previous face so much, I had to try it out in Pop Art mode.

 

Glamour glow...

 

 

I was starting to return to my normal state of sanity at this point...I don't know that I have a normal state of sanity, but I was pretty normal at this point...for me.

 

 

I think Sketch is my favorite effect - it makes everything look so soft and dreamy.  Love it:)

 

Y'all come back now...

 

Happy Trails!