Category: My Family

Lingerie Party (Sorry guys)

Well, it’s finally the end of two very busy weeks.  The stress joy of the wedding is over, all of our out of town guests have gone home, and now Steve and I can just look forward to our honeymoon on Tuesday.  We thoroughly enjoyed having all our family and friends come all the way to Tennessee for our wedding, and especially having my parents stay with us for an extra 5 days, but it is kinda nice having our house to ourselves again, and letting everything fall back to it’s normal pace.

So I’m going to start this series of wedding blog posts with my lingerie party.  My wonderful best friend and matron of honor, Elizabeth, planned two amazing showers for me (lingerie and bridal) with wonderful food, friends & family, decorations, and (of course) dessert!

Here is the beautiful table setting I saw as I walked in the door to my lingerie party.

Look at these awesome cookies!!!!  Some are bras with necklaces and others are undies!!! (Again, sorry guys.)

She also had some beautiful mini cupcakes with pink roses on top.

Yummy chocolate covered strawberries….I had a few of these.  Well, actually I had a few of everything.

And these awesome “bra” cupcakes.  I didn’t see it at first, but if you look at 2 cupcakes together they look like a bra!  You’ll see it better in a later photo.

Our friend Jen made this incredible chicken fettuccine bow-tie pasta with sun-dried tomatoes.  I die!  I had 3 helpings of this, I think.

And who can forget the delicious sherbet punch!!!  Mmmmm.  My mouth is watering right now for this stuff!

Alright, Elizabeth, you convinced me.  I’ll have a mimosa too. 🙂

After eating (and drinking) all those delicious treats, we played bridal themed Pictionary. (That looks weird….is that spelled correctly?)

Jenni was the best one at Pictionary  because she is a teacher and is used to writing or drawing on large marker boards.

We had a fun time guessing all the drawings.  And when we ran out of the papers that tell you what to draw, we started making up our own things.

Then it was time for presents!!  (Guys may want to stop reading at this point.)

New lingerie is always super fun!  Actually, new anything is always super fun.  Unless it’s a new mosquito bite, or a new speeding ticket, or a new drool spot on your wall (I get that last one a lot).

And I got some CUTE stuff!

Elizabeth gave me some very risque lingerie…..so be glad that this picture is small enough to where you can’t really see the pictures on the front of those boxes.  Awkward!

Here’s a better view of those “bra” cupcakes.  What a cute idea!  Thank you, Elizabeth, for such a wonderful lingerie party!  Steve I really appreciates it!

 

Please Pray For Cassidy

Recently I learned some devastating news about one of our family friends.  Cassidy Clark is a 7 year old girl who was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 3.  She was diagnosed only three weeks after her mother, Myndi, died after a long battle with cancer.  Cassidy has had three bone marrow transplants, and each time her cancer has returned.  This time, it has returned with a vengeance.  The doctors have only given her 3 months to live, but said that it could just be a matter of weeks.  There is no treatment they can give her since the leukemia is so aggressive this time.  Please lift her and her family up in prayer.  She has two older sisters, McKenzie and Savannah, and they are taking it quite hard.  All three sisters are very close.  Her father, Chad, and step-mom Jenn have been through so much over the past few years, and they need God’s loving arms to wrap around them in peace and comfort.  Here is the letter they wrote to their friends on facebook:

Dear Praying Friends,

I want to praise God for His goodness to our family.  It is so easy to see all of the ways He shows His love to us.  We serve a wonderful SAVIOR.  We understand that every thing that God allows to happen in our lives is molding us into the people He wants us to be and that NOTHING happens that separates God’s Glory from our good. 

It is with those thoughts in mind, I want to inform everyone of the test results we received on Friday.  Cassidy’s nurse practitioner, Kim, who we’ve become very close with during our time at St. Jude, called yesterday to tell us that the leukemia is indeed back.  Cassidy has completely lost the graft from her third transplant and her original bone marrow has taken over.  The team at St Jude met to discuss treatment options and have none to offer. There is nothing that they have not tried and each relapse has resulted in a stronger, more resistant leukemia. We felt we had to ask how much time they were thinking we had left and were shocked at how little time they predict.  Kim said it might be three months, but we’re probably talking weeks.  Once a leukemia patient converts back to the original marrow, a “snow ball” effect takes place.  Cassidy has already passed that point.

As we continue to pray for HEALING, we do understand that, sometimes, that is not GOD’S PLAN.  Chad and I have cried our hearts out to God to heal Cassidy, but if HE CHOOSES not to, we have PEACE that He knows what is best for Cassidy and for each of us.  Words cannot convey the peace He has already given.  I feel as though He has wrapped me in His arms and is constantly whispering in my ear that He is with us.  We are resting in Him.

Recently, we’ve had a few conversations with Cassidy regarding HEAVEN.  Last night, Chad asked her if the leukemia was back and there was no cure, would she want to take chemotherapy again to make her live a little longer and she said, “Daddy, Pleeeaase let me go to Heaven and don’t make me take the pill.”  She is not afraid of death in any way and is even excited to see her Savior face to face.  She talks about getting a “nunicorn” in heaven and wants to name him, “NUNA.”  She talks about eating as much fruit as she wants from the Tree of Life talked about in the Bible.  She talks about seeing her first mommy and hopes that at least one of the babies that Myndi miscarried is a boy because she’s always wanted a brother.

Please do not stop praying for us.  We plan to tell the girls shortly after I finish this update.  We pray for God’s peace to surround our home as we say these difficult words. 

Ever thankful for your continued prayers,

The Clarks

Cassidy and her sisters were going to be my flower girl and junior bridesmaids, but due to this horrible turn of events, they will not be able to make it.  My lack of a flower girl will be explained in my wedding program, and we will take a moment during the ceremony to honor this wonderful little girl who has more strength in her little body than I can even imagine.

 

Franklin Wedding: The Reception

So I’ve done posts on getting ready, pre-ceremony photos, the ceremony, and now I’m going to conclude this 4 post series with the RECEPTION PHOTOS!!!!!

Here’s Rustin, waiting for the marriage license to be signed.  You can see the minister signing it in the background.

For some reason, I didn’t have to sign the marriage license as a witness.  Only Eli, the best man signed it.  That was a little disappointing. 🙁

Elizabeth, Steve, and I are looking at the guest book.  They had cute pictures in there from throughout their relationship.  They even had a screen shot of Rustin’s text message, asking Elizabeth to marry him.  That’s right…….a text message!

Yay!  They’re officially married!!!

Ok, is this not the funniest cake topper you’ve ever seen??  Hilarious!

Beautiful bridesmaids…..if I do say so myself.  🙂

Krista and Steve (one of the many).  Such a cute couple!

Here are some attempts at our jumping picture.

Traditional wedding photo.

The groomsmen with the bride.  Look at my little cutie there in the front!

Bridesmaids with the groom.

Steve and me with our best friends, Elizabeth and Rustin!  Just you wait, in a few years we’re going to have another picture together with the addition of a bunch of little kids.  🙂

Capturing a private moment.

Love this photo!

My pretty gerbera daisy bouquet.  My favorite flowers!  Oh, and my pink sandals that Elizabeth gave to all the bridesmaids to wear at the reception.

Time for the first dance as husband and wife.

Time to cut the cake!

That cake topper was really stuck on there!

Well, in case you can’t tell….and because my “camera man” didn’t get a picture quick enough….instead of feeding each other the cake, Rustin and Elizabeth so graciously decided to smash the cake in mine and the best man’s faces.  Sooooooooo thoughtful!!!  And look, they think they’re SO funny!  Well just you wait little missy.  You’re in my wedding in less than a month!

But I was a good sport about it.  Even though Rustin completely chucked the cake at me like he was throwing a fast ball!

We’re still friends! 🙂

Thanks for the help, guys!

I had some trouble getting it out of my eyelashes, so Jen helped me.

All better!

Bouquet time!!  I only had a month and a half left where I can participate in this!

She had to do it twice because both times, she threw it WAY to far!  Sarah (in the purple) ended up catching it.

Garter time!  Oh Elizabeth, so naughty!

Rob, Sarah’s boyfriend ended up catching the garter.  How perfect!

Here’s a close up of my hairdo.  🙂

And, all of a sudden it’s dark!  There was about a 2 hour span where I didn’t have my camera with me for some reason.  Oh I know, it was because I was dancing!!  And the ring bearer wouldn’t let me stop dancing, or dance with anyone but him.  I was his prisoner!!

Somehow, all the guys ended up in the pool at the end of the night…..in their tuxes!!!

Even the ring bearer jumped in!

Here is my Steve’s graceful entrance into the pool!

Yah!  We’re so cool!!

Oh honey, you’re still a little kid at heart!  The girls ended up jumping in a little later….but not in our dresses, of course.  Wendie (Rustin’s mom) provided us with some bathing suits. 🙂  It was a very fun night!  A night that I hope we will never forget!