Monday, May 2, 2011

Our Royal Wedding!!

The rehearsal was on the Thursday, then we started decorating the church at 10 p.m. on Friday, so I got a few of these pictures out of order...but you'll get it. Before the rehearsal, we all stopped in at a little coffee shop in Paris - the Brown Dog, and enjoyed some of their fresh apple fritters.
This is what the centerpieces looked like - arranged by Nelly.

(with some help from a couple others.)


Figuring out the name cards - Anne-Marie, Shelly, Deanna and Melanie.

The rehearsal night - I had a lot of fun coordinating the wedding.

Waiting for their turn - the bride and dad.

Then it was a wonderful Chinese food dinner, and to bed.

This is my princess on the morning of the wedding. Doesn't she look the pink of confection? :)

And Anne-Marie and my prince - isn't he dashing? I made the bow tie to match my top, and found the white shirt, vest, and pants for $3.50. :)

The reception hall... so beautiful.

The guest book table - with their heritage pictures from both sides of the family.

Anne-Marie - my beautiful sister.

Charissa -my other beautiful sister. :) They were so sweet to sit in the back and watch Erik for me (Katelyn and a few other children were watched by some babysitters in the toddler room upstairs)

Deanna - 6 months pregnant with their first. She looked so well, and held up better than most people on that busy day.

Lovely Sarah

The dresses on the girls (8 bridesmaids) ended up turning out so well - and everyone praised God for that! A few scares on the way, but the final product looked smashing on all of them.

Nathan was the ring-bearer, and adorable Gracie(Brad's niece) was the flower girl. They performed beautifully. (thanks to a great reward program initiated by Ben)

The grand moment - Diane looked amazing! Absolutely stunning - perfectly relaxed, but very excited! That was what I personally loved about this day. That Diane was so happy, and she just enjoyed the day to the fullest.

Walking down the isle. (on the runner I had for my wedding-my sisters brought it from Alberta)

Exchanging glances during the ceremony. They sat down later on - during the great message given by Peter Bolton, and some music. (side note: the music was so beautiful - some of the prettiest I've heard at a wedding. All done by the Toman family, and two trumpeters: Mark and another trumpet player. So royal, and beautiful- not overdone, but so appropriate.)

All the siblings (almost all of them) sang "Seekers of Your Heart" , and Nelly wrote another verse for the occasion:

"We're standing in Your presence, to make these sacred vows
To have, to hold, to cherish, as long as time allows.

We could never follow through, without the grace You promise,

To those who trust in You."


Beautiful.

Then the moment I couldn't wait for: James had constructed a rose petal drop - an amazing feat, since the church ceiling was 30 feet or so high. They had gotten a scissor lift in, and at midnight the night before, put it together, so that what they kissed, this magical moment began - a shower of rose petals. I loved it!!!

After the ceremony, Diane had the neat and thoughtful idea, of while the bride and groom did the receiving line, the professional photographer took family photos of both sides of the family. I can't wait to see how the professional ones turned out.

Henry and Heather's lovely family.

Our picture - taken by Charissa on the sidelines.

And Charissa took some of me and Katy - even though my tired girl, didn't feel cooperating.

My little girl. (most of these pictures were taken by Charissa) :)

Then after more pictures, the bridal party left for some outdoor pictures, despite some rain, and after cleanup at the church, the reception began. The bridal party did some line dancing - quite a feat, as many of the bridal party hadn't done any type dancing...but they tried, and it was cute. Then Brad and Diane entered and did a sweet couple dance. Then the reception began.


The room full of people. It was so lovely.

The wedding cake, made by Michelle at the Windmill, and constructed by James.

It was really good.

Us two - James looked so handsome - as usual. :) I'm still twitterpated.

Nel, Anne-Marie, and Charissa sang "How Beautiful" and I got to accompany them. Nelly gave a great maid of honor speech, and there were a few other speeches, and a fun skit by Rob, Mark and William.

Nel and Anne-Marie. I have the most gorgeous sisters. :)

Charissa trying on Caleb's hat. All the boys, Heikoops and Dycks looked so great! Heikoop boys got fedoras to match Brad's style.

After they cut the cake -

The lovely couple!

I love this one...Diane enjoying the a bit of the icing after they sampled the cake. :)

During the evening, they dealt with the kissing issue, by having anyone wanting them to kiss do the hula hoop. There weren't too many people that tried, but Hendrik worked hard at it all night, and by the end of the evening, had it done pat! The M.C. - Shane Johnson and Rob - twisted the game around, and had the couple kiss as long as Hendrik could hula hoop...and well.....Hendrik just kept going and going....finally Brad and Diane had to stop...so the M.C.'s stopped Hendrik! He got a big hand! Was proud of my nephew. :) Hendrik for sure, has an amazing sense of balance and coordination. If only I was that good. :)

Giving the thank-you speech - a wonderful example of rhyme and thought. :) Brad put it all into a poem, and it was so great. Then after a bit longer, everyone left, Brad and Diane left for the honeymoon (destination a few days later - Hawaii!) and we cleaned up and got home around11:30 ish.

This is our sister picture - good grief - we got it just before bed. :) What we felt like - well, the girls must have felt alright, cause they look good - I was tired, but so happy. :)

Excited for Brad & Diane! Happy to get another brother in law!

Three Sisters & a lot of Fun

At last my dear sisters arrived to visit us for a couple weeks on April 4th. We picked them up - oh lovely reunion- and headed into Hamilton and Burlington to do a tiny bit of shopping before heading off to Burlington and meeting up with most of the family and some friends from Huntsville- the Strongmens. At the bowling alley - Kate played with the bowling balls for a while.
By the end, Erik got fussy and needed to sleep, so I tried bowling with the wrap on - my score wasn't so great, but it was fun. :)

All of us at the end of the night - lots of fun!

The girls were such a huge help to us - willing to help me catch up and do all those things

that I was putting off like...

...taking the scuffs off the basement stairwell and washing the walls.

Going for a walk to the park - my new double stroller which I love. :) Found it online for an incredible price, and am making good use out of it with our spring weather. It can accomadate a newborn (in a lying position) as well as a toddler; should last us a while.

Erik enjoying the weather.

Swinging together brought back memories of Charissa and I doing all types of acrobatic swing acts while singing "Tomorrow, tomorrow...you're only a day away".

The two darlings...

Taking Katy down the slide. The slide and swing are her favorites.



On one of the Mondays, we traveled into Toronto to visit Nelly and her class of Korean students learning English. We sang a few songs for them (so fun to sing with Fehr girls again) and then they sang a song for us.

A mix of Nel's class and another class. Then we went shopping for fun, at some antique stores, bakery's and an adorable

(but pricey) baby store - sigh...


Nelly joined us-so lovely to be all together. We went to a fun gelato shop, and shared some of that creamy goodness before dinner.Then we finished our day of a Korean experience, by enjoying their food at a lovely restaurant. It was totally the real Asian deal - good thing Nel was with us, or we'd be lost. They grilled the meat on the table, with all the veggies, nuts, rice, and sauces to be rolled in a lettuce leaf, or just eaten with the steamed rice. Tim and a friend from work joined us.




Erik was pretty fussy that evening, so James and I (and Charissa too) took turns jiggling him in the foyer. His crying wasn't contributing anything to the gourmet experience. :)

Playing a game with Andrea Dyck after the Dycks had arrived from out west for the wedding.


Anne-Marie trying to work with Katy with potty-training. The little darling understands, but just doesn't think that it's a big deal - and thus, why bother?

Anne-Marie kept Erik entertained while she sat with Katelyn and Winne-the-Pooh.

Little "miss" Innocent. :)


Julie came over one afternoon and brought her little man Lincoln. Erik and Lincoln had some buddy bumbo time.

Posing - too cute eh? :)

Erik - all chubbs. :)

All of us - I did the timer thing, and didn't quite calculate me. :)

One evening after playing "Match the Penguins" and tired.

Charissa assisted me in the nursery at church one night - good thing, cause there was a ton of little guys to hold.



This is me on a real day - :) Trying on the remains of my veil (Diane used the rest of it for her veil) and being goofy at a late hour. :)

Working on the name-cards for the reception furiously the night before the wedding...

Anne-Marie giving Katelyn the royal treatment - a foot scrub at 1.5 yrs. What luxury.

Anne-Marie, Charissa and Lydia all gave the other cousins foot scrubs, and the nail treatment they desired for the wedding. Anne-Marie lovingly washed the feet.

Lydia and Charissa did the nail art.

This girl and her soothers - we almost had finished with them, but we're now back to weaning them away. She's quite obsessed with soothers - not unlike those of us adults who think something such as motorcycles, strollers, vintage cars, etc. are the coolest things.

She spots them everywhere.

As you can see, two soothers are the rage now.

The day before the girls had to leave for home, we went out for breakfast together.

Brother and sister-in-law.

Us two girls.

At the Sherwood Restaurant. (with Katy behind the carnation)

Me and my little guy.

James and his daughter.Then, that evening, we went over to Ben & Deanna's and a delicious supper with William and Sarah too. Such a lovely evening, chatting and playing a game. Then it was home, and the next day we dropped them off at the airport, and picked up the Collin sisters at the same time...but that's in a different post - but FIRST!

The Wedding Post!!!