Finally Friday!

Thank goodness it's Friday. For some reason, this has been a loooonnngg week! Steve has been out of town for the past three days so I have just been hanging out here by myself. This is completely out of the ordinary for me! In fact, I can't remember when I've had the house to myself for this long in the past 22 years! haha

Ashley and John got back from their honeymoon today so Ashley and I sat and looked at all her pictures this afternoon and she caught me up on everything. They had a great time and are already planning on a trip back.

Here are a few of their pictures that I stole off of her memory stick. :)











Then tonight we sat and opened all the gifts that have been waiting for them. They were hoping to wait to open them with Steve here and maybe some grandparents, but they had a few things they still needed in order to even cook basic things...so they decided to go ahead and see what they had gotten/still needed. They opened everything and then made a quick run to Bed Bath and Beyond to fill in with a few neccessities. They were so blessed and everyone was very generous. What a lucky couple!

I am so glad the weekend is here. I ordered a pizza just for myself tonight. It came to the door in this little tiny box. haha And I am thinking some pajamas and a movie sound great right about now! I am looking forward to hanging out with Steve tomorrow and helping John and Ashley do whatever they need us to!

Have a great weekend! :)

Traditions

Well, life is getting back to normal now. Ashley and John are returning from St. Thomas tonight and I can't wait to see all their honeymoon pictures.


I haven't talked to them much this week, but Ashley did call today to tell me they were at the airport about to leave. I asked her how the week was and she said it was amazing!! Yay! I'm so glad they had fun.

It was so hard getting back to work this week. Every day I have had such a hard time getting up so early. I guess I got spoiled from being off for a few days last week. Plus I am still just recovering from all the wedding festivities and business.

Anyway...Thanksgiving is one week from today! Wow...how did it get here so fast?? I have to admit that I really love this time of year. My family is very into tradition. If we do something one year, it all of a sudden becomes a "tradition" to my kids and we have to do it every year! :) And the tradition for the past 7-8 years has been to have Thanksgiving dinner at our house with all the friends and family that can come.

Thanksgiving morning we start by putting Mr. Turkey in the oven and getting that yummy smell going.


Then we turn on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I LOVE watching that!! It is going all morning while we are getting the house ready for everyone to come over.


I usually make mulled apple cider and lots of different dips to snack on until lunch is ready. Some of our favorites are my Heath Bar dip, spinach dip, "That Now Famous Cheese Ring", pepper jelly spread, and cranberry cream cheese dip. I am a huge fan of appetizers so this is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving day! :)


Most of the time we eat lunch around one o'clock and everybody brings something yummy. I always seem to have around 20-25 people in the house and everything is bustling. It's so much fun to have family all together. And several years we have had friends come over, too.


Thanksgiving afternoon is full of watching football...


and taking pictures and playing ping pong in the garage and basketball in the driveway and throwing the football in the yard. There are people sitting around everywhere just chatting together.

Then around six or seven o'clock that night, it is time to pull everything back out of the refridgerator and start on round two!!! Of course we always have some friendly games of Monopoly or Guitar Hero going.


And sometimes we watch a movie together, too! It's fun to get out the Christmas movies and kick off the season with Elf or Christmas Vacation or something funny and festive.


The day after Thanksgiving is officially our "Put Up The Tree" day. That's another tradition that my kids don't want to change. But I love it. Once that tree is up, the house seems so warm and cozy. Lights are strung on the bannister and wreaths are put up on the windows and doors and the fun can begin!!


What are your family's holiday traditions??

Mr. and Mrs. John Scott

We have had such a wonderful weekend. I am really still trying to process it all and remember all the details of the wedding that we planned for so long. I took the day off today and I am glad I did. Steve and I both have a cold so I got to rest a little bit today and get some things done. We took back all the linens and candles today and you should see the stack of presents John and Ashley have to open when they get back. Our dining room table is stacked!

We have gotten to spend lots of time with family, too. Yesterday we went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel with my family. Then we went to a cookout at Steve's parents' house with all of his aunts and uncles and cousins. Then tonight we went out to dinner again with my parents. So that has been fun. We have been able to talk about the wedding and remember everything with them.

I am still trying to round up pictures, but I wanted to show you Ashley's bridal portrait so I just took a picture of it with my camera. :) I thought she looked so pretty!


We were so blessed that my dad and my brother, Blake were able to perform the service. My dad preached my wedding, too, right after he walked me down the aisle! (He did double duty that night!)


What I loved about my dad's sermon was that it was so personal. He wrote it specifically for John and Ashley with certain things he wanted them to know and to remember. After the service, he gave me a copy of his sermon so I could keep it. I wanted to share a little bit of what he said at the end. If you click on it, you will be able to read the last thing he said to them. It was so sweet.


These other pictures are some I borrowed from other people. Some of them are a little blurry, but you can at least get the idea! I will be getting the professional pictures soon and I can't wait to share those with you!







We finally figured out how to do YouTube so we downloaded John and Ashley's first dance! It's a little grainy, but it's the best we could do. :) (If it stops a lot, just pause it and let it download and then you can play it without so many stops and starts.)



These are a few pictures my sister in law Angie took. (By the way...did you get to see Blake and Angie on World's Strictest Parents?? They did such a good job with those kids!)



Here are John and Ashley as they were leaving. They were so happy and excited!


Saying goodbye!



I will share more pictures as I get them. Ya'll will probably be sick of wedding pictures before it's all over! haha

Rehearsal Dinner And Wedding Preview

Hi Everyone! Well...John and Ashley are officially Mr. and Mrs. John Scott!


The wedding was beautiful and they had a great time celebrating with their family and friends.



They are now honeymooning in St. Thomas and I'm sure they are having so much fun together. Unfortunately, I do not have many pictures of the wedding because I was so busy visiting with everyone that I didn't take any pictures. These are the only two pictures I could find, so I will try to get some from other people who had their cameras and maybe post some more tomorrow!

But I can tell you about the rehearsal dinner that we had Friday night! I think it always puts everyone's mind at ease to walk through the ceremony and get familiar with where you are going to stand and how fast to walk down the aisle, etc.






I got some good pictures in between practicing!

I love this one. It's all my children, plus John. Now I can officially consider him my son, too! :)


Lindy and me...


Laura and Lindy...


Laura and Lindy with their Granny...


Steve and me...


Ashley and John looked so cute together.


After the rehearsal, we headed over to the Ballantyne Resort for dinner. John's parents had worked so hard on making sure it was a nice night for everyone. We had a choice between a filet or chicken or salmon. I chose the filet and it was so tender you could cut it with a fork! All the other food was delicious too.

John's dad spoke and Steve spoke. I was so proud of him. He didn't get choked up or anything and he said so many funny and sweet things about Ashley and John. Our prayer for them is that they will always keep God first in their marriage. John also spoke and about how thankful he was for his parents and grandparents and all they had done for him. It was so nice. A few other friends and family shared their memories or stories about John and Ashley and they all helped make the night really special.


Afterwards, Ashley came home with us and finished packing while she watched Father Of The Bride with Laura and Lindy. Steve and I tried to get to bed and get some sleep so we would be ready for the BIG DAY!

I can't wait to tell you all about it, but I will have to find a few pictures first! :)

Bridesmaid's Luncheon

Today my two sisters in law and my mom gave Ashley a really nice Bridesmaid's Luncheon.


We had it at a quaint little restaurant called Sante. When we got there, this was the sign that was out in front of the restaurant!


All the girls in the family came. Steve's mom and sisters and his neice were there.


And my mom and aunt and my sisters in law and niece were there. Then all John's sisters, mom, grandmother, and aunts came.


Plus all of Ashley's bridesmaids.


It was such a nice time of visiting together and just getting excited about the BIG DAY tomorrow!










The food was amazing. We had bread, salad, tomato bisque, and you could choose between chicken salad, toasted ham and cheese sandwich, or broccoli quiche. Then for dessert we had a delicious vanilla cake with raspberries. Mmmm!

Every time I have been to one of these parties or events, I just leave thinking about how blessed we are to have such wonderful family and friends!

Tonight is the Rehearsal Dinner. I am not nervous at all and neither is Ashley! Mark came in town today and we are all just excited about having a fun night tonight celebrating with Ashley and John!

Weddings are so wonderful! :)

Ashley's Bachelorette Party

Yesterday was Ashley's Bachelorette Party and she had the best time! Her matron of honor, Rachel, did such a great job planning everything and making sure there were plenty of fun things to do.

First, we all met up at My Bella Spa about 3:00 for pedicures and manicures. Here I am with Ashley...





Drying our nails...



Ashley and Rachel...


It is so nice putting your feet in that warm water... MMMmmmm! So relaxing!


Everyone except Ashley and I got their nails done to match the bridesmaids dresses. We got french manicures.

I did not go with them for the rest of the night, but I sent my camera along with Laura and Lindy! They all went out for appetizers first, then on to one of Ashley's favorite restaurants...Cantina 511 where they have the best guacamole in the whole world. I could seriously eat it for dinner.

Here are some pictures that Laura and Lindy took of the night...

Everybody at the restaurant...


Ashley was sad because one of her bridesmaids, Robyn, couldn't come to the party because she had to work...


This is Ashley with her best friend growing up, Michelle...


Ashley with Laura and her future sister-in-law, Meredith...


The rest of these pictures are just of Ashley and various bridesmaids and friends...












After dinner they went to get dessert at Encore. Then it was back to the hotel where all of Ashley's bridesmaids are staying.


They had everything decorated and Rachel had made cute cupcakes with big diamond rings in them.


All the girls gave Ashley a lingerie shower. I told Ashley that if she's like me...all that lingerie is so pretty, but I'm a shorts and t-shirt girl when it comes to sleepwear. Give me the comfortable stuff! :)

Ashley is so blessed with such sweet friends. They have all been so supportive and excited for her. It was a great way to kick of the wedding weekend!

The Countdown Is On!

Well, the rain and wind is still going non-stop. I'm thinking about building an ark right about now. I think it has rained about 4-5 inches over the past two days!

Steve and I went to our friend's funeral this morning. What a testimony to God's love and mercy that was. I think we could have pretty much had an altar call at the end of it because it was so God glorifying. That's the kind of funeral where you are greiving, but at the same time you are filled with hope.

It was a long funeral and we went straight to the airport afterwards to pick up Steve's sister who flew in from Phoenix. His other sister got in about that same time, so we all met at Chili's for lunch. It was nice getting to see everyone and visit together.

This afternoon I took a little nap. Aren't naps the best on rainy days?? When I got up, I made some dinner for Laura and Lindy because they were getting in around that time. I was so glad they made it home safely. I was worried about them driving through the rain and wind!

After dinner we all went over to Steve's parents' house for a little while.

Steve and his girls...




Then we came home and turned on the CMA Awards and helped Ashley get some gift bags together.


I am so glad all my girls are home.


I can't wait to see Mark on Friday! The countdown is on! :)