Mountain Musings

Wedding Memories ~ Eric & Sarah

Well, the wedding day that we planned for, prayed over, and eagerly awaited has now come and gone! That was quick! And now the newlyweds are enjoying their honeymoon and beginning their life together!

The tears around here have come at the most unexpected times this first week without Sarah. But the happiness we feel for both Eric and Sarah far outweighs missing her, and we're so very thankful that the Lord, in His good timing, brought the two of them together.

Here are some snapshots of wedding day:

Tom and Deb with the happy couple, along with siblings Jonathan, Hannah, and Micah:  The groom spoke at the end of the ceremony and then thanked all the guests for being a part of their special day: The green-themed Guest Book table included a photo of the couple, Sarah's favorite hymn plaque, Mr & Mrs pumpkins, and the guest photo book...(thank you to Dee over at Red Letter Words for the word art plaques we used to decorate):At the other end...a vase of green hydrangeas with white - green-tinted roses, a basket of raspberry fudge favors for guests to take home with "He Picked Her; She Picked Him" printed on the tags, and another plaque with a line from the Come Thou Fount hymn: Each church pew was decorated with a verse from I Corinthians 13: Jonathan and Hannah, brother and sister of the bride: Sarah helped her friend Anna put final touches on the cake table before putting on her wedding dress: The groom's mother, Victoria, added her touches to the table also: And here's Sarah all dressed in her momma's vintage wedding dress and ready for the ceremony to start: The wedding cake table is shown with the three cakes in place; guests had a choice of Funfetti wedding cake or key lime pie, the groom's favorite dessert:Sarah's oldest brother, Micah, flew in that morning to be at her wedding. Here, Micah escorts Granny:The five bridesmaids wore green and each made their dress in whichever pattern they chose (this is the only quick shot I have of the bridesmaids until the photographer's photos arrive, but this gives you some idea): The groom's parents:Dear friends, Anna and Kim, who helped with Sarah and Hannah's hair: This sweet lady had a hard time pinning her husband's boutonniere (ha!):Our next post will include some behind-the-scenes photos and our special guests at the reception. Stay tuned! ~Deb

Time hasn't permitted me to respond to all of your well-wishes in the last Wedding Day post. However, we always appreciate your visits and comments so much and look forward to touching base with you soon. Thank you!

 

 

Wedding Day!

Congratulations, Eric and Sarah!

"O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together."

Psalm 34:3

All Things Wedding!

Blogging...as well as housekeeping...ahem...has definitely taken a backseat around here with all of Sarah's wedding to-dos these past weeks. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at what all of us have been doing lately:

The girls went white pumpkin picking recently for fall table decorations for the wedding: Hannah has been working on her maid of honor dress and finished it today...yay! That's done!We girls took a day to make all 16 of the lasagnas for the wedding and put them in the freezer. It was really smelling delicious in our kitchen! Sarah practiced a couple of different recipes to use for her wedding cake:Another day she made 16 Key Lime Pies for a second wedding dessert--the groom's favorite: Making raspberry fudge for wedding favors: Sarah's friend, Sarah, came over one day to help wrap the fudge: I'm getting into the act by stuffing the fudge into gift bags: And punching holes in favor labels:The girls also worked on cutting burlap for the tables...this was a messy job!
Granny enjoyed watching all the activities going on: A trip to Georgia was planned last month to move all of Sarah's "stuff!" It took a 20-foot U-Haul to hold all her accumulated hope chest items, but we finally loaded all the boxes and furniture in anticipation of stocking her future home:It was fun helping Sarah unpack and set up most of the rooms. Here's Hannah organizing the kitchen: While we were in Georgia, Sarah's future sisters-in-law gave her a bridal shower. Here are Hannah and Sarah with Eric's sisters Abby and Emma, the shower hostesses: Sarah and Eric pose with some of the festive decorations:It was a festive occasion with lots of friends, a fun game, many nice gifts, and delicious food: Sarah enjoyed herself and was very thankful for everyone's generosity! Practicing a song for the wedding while we were in Georgia with Eric's siblings: Once we were back home in Virginia, the girls made their shopping list and purchased the dinnerware and other supplies at Costco. It's a good thing Sarah made a wedding spreadsheet with each day's activities planned:Just practicing.....a friend came over and worked on the girls' hair. Here's our dear friend, Kim, experimenting with a hair style for Hannah for the wedding: And sandwiched in between all of Sarah's wedding to-dos, Tom is using any extra time working on kitchen cabinets for Jonathan's future home, which is coming along slowly but surely!

This photo doesn't show the cabinets which are already built and awaiting painting. I guess when those are moved...into my living room!...they'll make an appearance on the blog! Ha! Hope that catches you up on some of the happenings around the ol' Mountain Musings homestead.

I hope you all are enjoying fall and this delightful busy month of November! Hopefully, it won't be long before we post again!

~Deb

Happy 30th Birthday, Jonathan!

It's the big 3-0 for the Girotti third-born today! Happy birthday, Jonathan - we love you so much. We hope the coming year is the best yet! :)

~Your family

Blog Catch-up ~ October ~ NCFIC Conference

A week after the Hammond family visited, it was time to pack up and head off to Asheville, NC, for the annual NCFIC Conference, The Highway of Holiness.

Here we are on the road headed to the Ridgecrest Conference Center, a familiar trek every fall:We've arrived at the conference center! It's time to check in and see who else is here! Here's part of the family on the beautiful fall campus after we've checked in: These Southwest Virginia friends are always a delight to see. We enjoyed catching up with each other: We look forward to seeing this lovely group of ladies from Virginia each year: Meal times provided extra fellowship and conversation with families. Future son-in-law Eric and his family are eating with us at this meal. The conference took place just two weeks before the wedding, so there was much for us all to talk about: So....between sessions we found a quiet sitting area in the lobby and discussed final wedding details--lots of input from both families on order of service and who would say what and when: Okay...back to the conference instead of the wedding! Here's Hannah with some Tennessee friends: Most of our group are together here in the vendor hall talking with Marcus and Cheryl Serven. Marcus is one of our favorite workshop speakers: Although I didn't get any photos of the keynote speakers in action, here's a view of the speakers' panel discussion taking place at the end of the conference, moderated by Scott Brown: We enjoyed the conference and the messages and the breakout sessions. Everything was well-planned and very interesting--it was hard to choose which session to attend. Mostly, we enjoyed connecting with people; the fellowship we have with folks who attend the conference each year is rich and rewarding.

Soon it was Sunday morning, and the conference was over. Here's my sister, Aunt Bet, meeting Eric for the first time. She arrived to deliver Granny back to us after they spent a quick weekend together while we were at the conference: It's time to say our good-byes to friends. You can see Granny peeking out from the van ready for the long ride home.

"We'll see you folks at the wedding in just two weeks!" I'm sure Eric and Sarah will be counting the hours!

~Deb