The Bridegroom And His Bride

What a beautiful, wonderful day!


(Photo courtesy of Kate Doriean)

Of Weddings and New Years

 Hello my dear blog readers!!

I must say, that the holidays are certainly the most buzzing time of year... ESPECIALLY for big families... and even MORE especially for big families with a wedding on New Years Eve!!  But these are all good things... After all, we celebrate the Advent, and the birth, of Christ, and we celebrate the beginning of a new year - a new start!  And on top of this we celebrate a marriage... the bringing together of two godly people who partake of a covenant more holy and sacred than most imagine.  It is the imitation—nay, the foreshadow, of the great marriage of Christ to his purified and beautiful bride.  What a beautiful season!! We have the snow, which reflects God in its beauty, and though cold, lays on the hard earth a soft blanket which transforms nature from bleak and hard to displaying a soft splendor unmatched in its beauty by any other element of nature.  I say, we have the snow, and we have the birth of Christ, and we have the joy of a new start, and in the midst of all these joyous times we have a marriage!  How incredibly beautiful!  How much more breathtaking can it get!

So these are the things that have been taking up my time.  My brother was married, and I now have a sister-in-law.  We had a wonderful time with extended families... We hosted the rehearsal dinner at our house, of which I will post pictures. :).... Oh, and I suppose you'd like to see pictures of the wedding, wouldn't you?! Well, what I have, I will post. :)

Preparation for a VERY special cookie... :D

Voila! Duncan created this... the base is a heartshorne cookie, baked in the shape of a heart.  He then baked a gingerbread boy and girl.  He used icing, and sprinkles for most of it.  The tuxedo is made of shredded dark chocolate. :)

We moved the furniture out of our dining room and living room, and replaced them with big long tables and chairs.  We entertained about 40 people.... It was a great blessing to have Mrs. Neubecker's invaluable and immeasurable (I have two people telling me what adjective to use) help and expertise for this celebration.  We are immensely grateful for her, and for the Marino family, the help of whom was vital to the success of the occasion.  We made green salad with creamy dressing, chicken curry with raita, roasted sweet potatoes and warm fresh pitas for dinner... For dessert we had little bowls of mint chocolate chip ice-cream with a little sugar cookie.  It was very pleasant. :)

The tables started in the dining room, went into the living room, turned and went to the end of the living room.  It was quite an arrangement. :D

Peter and the best man... and a blurry mother. :D

This is... Oh, this is me... yes... a short-haired me. :D

And old-fashioned girl at 6 AM ready to go to the Blair Center to get ready for the wedding with her sisters!

The Best Man shines Peter's shoes. :D I think Peter looks just a little excited...

Mrs. Willeke puts the veil on her daughter.  If you can, click on this picture to see Mrs. W's face.  It's so sweet and loving. 

The Flower Girls. Notice Olivia's face.

Two sisters, a sister-to-be, and the sister-to-be's sister... the Maid of Honor. :)

This was where the ceremony was held.

The new family.

Silly faces.

The send off.

These last few pictures are courtesy of Peter Serven, a groomsman in the wedding... but he was able to snap a few pictures. :)

I PROMISE I will have more pictures of the ceremony.  Right now this is all I have... Because most of our family was in the wedding, we couldn't take pictures, and the people who did didn't have a very good view... Anyhow, we will get some up here soon. :)

The Post With No Name

Hey y'all!

It's been awhile since I posted... Sorry 'bout that. At any events, I've found some things to post about....

On July fourth a lot of families met at the Clarkes to have a time of fellowship with each other. Even though the knights in shining armor decided that the damsels needed to be in distress, thereby "helping" them into the cold pond, the damsels were quite forgiving as they readily saw that the knights in shining armor were under-aged and yet in training. :D

Peter agreed to "bounce" the kids on the trampoline. Or, using his weight to bounce them with force high into the air...

This picture was the best yet of the activity... Click on it to see Rachel's expression. :D

Daddy and Mommy found this little baby bunny on a walk. Actually, they were on a walk and Asher the dog "found" it, and they rescued it from his jaws.... It was a cute little thing, although awfully shaken up. She liked sleeping in the pocket of my hoodie, though. The Connor family took her home to care for her. As for as I know she's still alive, and named Miss BunBun. :)

Well... What can I say! Chloe and I were terribly hungry late one night... And would you imagine it? The only thing to eat was ice cream. Unfortunately, the ice cream was unopened.... Problem easily solved: open the ice cream. We at it not be taking scoops, but by shaving off thin layers. Then we carved on the surface: "Chloe and Ruby were here" so that Gabriel, the ice cream police, would not have to go searching through the house finding the culprits. :D

For An Update....

visit here: blahghopkins.blogspot.com

Hmmm...

Yup, this is what we look like when the Clarkes leave their house to us. :)

Hunters Inc.

Dad and Peter, second or third year of hunting, and I think those two does are Nora and Dora. I kinda forget though. :P

The much-belov-ded buck, who has no name. :(

It's amazing some of the things daddy shoots!! :P

Girls an' Guns....

Isn't that just lovely?

But guys an' Guns...

Quite a different matter. :D

This was when we went to the Clarkes for Peter's 20th birthday. We took a friend, Luke Nuebecker, with us. Of course that was about one and a half years ago, but still, it was so much fun and worth posting about. 'Sides, I am unable to post new pictures because our camera is unfortunately broken. :P oh well! Praise the Lord! :D

An Interesting Sequence

The chivalrous gentlemen.

Peter complacently stands by ready to attack, and Duncan stands defiantly unaware, it seems, that his last minutes on earth are inevitable. :P

But now Duncan has finally put a look of painful surprise on his face as the sword plunges, and Peter, still with little effort, still stands complacently.

"Don't you know, you fool, you never can win!"

Unfortunately we didn't get enough pictures! There should have been one of Duncan on the floor, but it was so spontaneous that we didn't plan far enough. :P These were actually taken in August of 2007, and the costumes were made for the Jamestown 400. And yes, Chloe did make them all. :D

Quote of the Day....

Gabriel, "Peter, do you know what I did? I went upstairs with a big black garbage back and said, 'Ruby, can you please get in here? Mommy told me to take the trash out.'"

Peter, "Gabriel, sometimes it's best not to tell the truth...."

I love my brothers!

I Came Across This Picture....

...And I really couldn't resist posting it.