Trees and more

Second week of recovery and I feel back to normal! I can't believe how fast time has flown since the wedding. My parents are still with us, we are waiting to leave on our cruise on Saturday.

Mom and Dad before the wedding

Our friends Doug and Judy from Tupelo, MS and Elizabeth from Zion, IL

At our brunch after the wedding

Terry's cousin Ron and Jane from Montgomery, IL and our friends Bob, Jan and Shirley from Springfield, IL

We have remained quite busy since the wedding, catching up on all the things that I had let go. Ashley and Jose are still in Gatlinburg and will return this Saturday. We will miss seeing them, as we will leave before they get home. I wanted to have my house decorated before I leave, so when I return on December 5th I will be ready to shop and bake for Christmas. Today I achieved that task with help from my Mom and Dad. Terry started getting the outside decorated and will probably finish tomorrow after the big meal.

Brittany's boyfriend Justin is here for Thanksgiving and we have been having fun playing guitar hero....looks like we will be getting one for a family Christmas present, if we can get our hands on one.

Today, I had dad go out and harvest my kumquats from my back yard. A couple of years ago, I bought Terry a kumquat tree for our anniversary....we love kumquats and each other, so I called it our "love" tree. It has produced very well.

I finished the tree last night with help from Brittany and Justin. I wish I could just put it away decorated each year. What a task.

Also, this year I wanted to decorate around my mirror above my mantle. I finished it this afternoon and was quite pleased with my results.

I probably won't blog until I return from our cruise. Hope everyone enjoys a great Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Now - we are going to eat pizza and play dominoes.

Wedding Pictures

The Beautiful BrideBrittany - Maid of HonorGroom's Cake - A pot of crawfishCake PullsMy little great nephews after their duties had been fulfilled -at the receptionSecond Line - fun! My Dad certainly enjoyed himself - doing the twist!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a few thousand! I am too tired to write a wedding summary yet, so let the pictures speak and in a couple of days I will add more and share our experience. Let me just say this.....it was amazing, beyond my imagination and all the planning was worth every second.

The last of our company left this morning. My parents are still here and will be through Thanksgiving and then we will leave on a cruise with my parents to celebrate Terry's 50th birthday this year and their 50th wedding anniversary.

Ashley and Jose are in Gatlinburg enjoying the beginning of a two week honeymoon for them, which they truly deserve. Ashley called this morning and it was snowing in the mountains.

Final Days...

It's Thursday....just two more days until the wedding. We are so excited and we are savoring all of our "last" moments together as a family. Not that Ashley won't be part of the family....but it won't be the four of us together at our house. Of course when Brittany says things like "only two more days", it is not necessarily out of sadness...but relief that she won't have to share a bathroom, etc.

Everything is going as scheduled. My wedding "to do" list is all marked off and we are leaving in just a few minutes to take everything to the reception site, like the centerpieces, favors, etc. Kind of weird letting that stuff go after being surrounded by it for months. We have had two large tables set up in the garage with all of the wedding paraphernalia. Last night we loaded the van and now we are down to one table of stuff that will be taken to the church tomorrow afternoon.

My parents and my niece and her family are on the road now, they will be here about 4:00 p.m. So, when they get here I will feel like the wedding weekend will officially begin!

Say a little prayer for us.

23 years and the best is yet to come!

Tomorrow is my 23rd Wedding Anniversary. To be honest, we have been so busy with the wedding planning that when I received a card in the mail yesterday from my mother, I had to stop and think and figure out when my anniversary was.

Terry went out last night and brought back two dozen roses....since we have made it 23 years and now entering our 24th. Obviously we will be busy this week, so just a simple dinner to celebrate tomorrow and then we we go on our Cruise in a couple of weeks, we will really celebrate then!Last night, a couple of Ashley's bridesmaids...Mindy and Kay, hosted a lingerie shower for her. They decorated really cute and had some fun games and some games that are unmentionable....but Ashley did receive some absolutely beautiful lingerie sets. She is ready for the honeymoon.

Earlier this week, I went out to my flower bed to pull up some of my summer plants that were looking a little weary and do a little weeding. I thought I would post a picture of my huge mum that has just taken over. It came up early in the spring and bloomed then and I cut it back for the summer and then it came back with a vengeance. It looks really nice with my fall decorations.

It's Over - We have a new President!

Well, it is finally over....the months and months of campaigning and news coverage.

I am hoping and believing that now all the divisiveness that there has been over the past months will come to an end. That the ugly e-mails will stop and everyone can just accept our new President and respect him and the office that he holds.

I thought John McCain's speech was very gracious and honorable and I thought Barack Obama's speech was inspirational.

I believe that everyone can agree that we witnessed an historical event tonight.

Regardless of how you voted, whether or not your candidate won....we can celebrate the freedoms that we have in our great county and we can know that this is still the greatest country in the world.

And above all, God is sovereign and these election results are not a surprise to Him. Our future is history to Him. The bible tells us that God sets up Kings and Kingdoms and those who are in authority.

Tonight, I go to bed a proud American and proud of our new President, Barack Obama.

The Ray's Rocked the Vote!

The girls and I went to the poll around 11:30 this morning. We caught it at the right time...only about a 20 minute wait. Brittany went earlier this morning and the line was long, so she came home and decided to skip classes and go with me and Ashley.

While we were there, we ran into Terry coming out....he hung around with us until we finished voting.

Tonight I plan on making flat bread pizzas for us to munch on while we watch the returns come in.

I am feeling much better, but still have a ways to go before full recovery.

Inside my voting booth.
The line....not bad and the weather is beautiful.

Look at the handsome, patriotic man we ran into.

Fall Festival Neighborhood Block Party

Last Friday night we had a Block Party in our neighborhood. Every year on Halloween, we do something special and each year my neighbors have been catching on....this year, we planned a full fledged block party. We blocked off the street and put up a space walk. Each neighbor did something special. We grilled hot dogs, there was one neighbor doing nachos, another with a popcorn machine and cotton candy. My neighbors next door were really adventurous and made funnel cakes and root beer floats. Through donations, we were able to supply one neighbor with prizes and an LSU toss game. Brittany and her friend Sarah dressed as girls from the 80's and set up a table full of new books for children to pick from. We had a great time with many trick or treaters and parents coming through the neighborhood for some treats and fun.

The weather was perfect, but being out in the night air must not have helped me with my sickness...I took a turn for the worst on Saturday and was in bed for the next two days.
I went to the doctor today and am already feeling better after receiving a shot and a Z-pack.

Even though We are still on target with our wedding "to do" list....this week will be a busy one. All of the last minute details.

Tomorrow - big day...elections! I am so ready for it to be over...I am tired off all the news coverage. I'm hoping there won't be lines at our small precinct. I am going to try to go in the middle of day, when people are working.

Brittany and Sarah in the 80's outfits
Neighbors working together

Some of our little trick or treaters