For Those Who Have Asked

2007-12-31T21:25:00.000-08:00

Some of our friends and family have asked us to send them pictures of our wedding anniversary. We have some good news and bad news.

The bad news is that the person who was going to take pictures for us wasn't able to make it. This is ironic because at our first wedding 25 years ago the same thing happened! So the quality of our wedding pictures were not very good except for one or two pics. Thankfully we have those!

The same thing has happened this time! Most of the pictures didn't turn out very well. That's why it will seem like there are too few of this or that. Also, I didn't realize how bad the red eye was on some of the pics before I uploaded them to the internet, so I apologize for their quality.

The wedding was so much prettier in person than could ever be captured on film by amateur paparazzi. I wish you could have seen it in person!

Thanks for wanting to share our joy, though, and we hope you can get a little bit of an idea of what a great time we all had!

The biggest blessing of the entire event was that our family was all together. That's what mattered to us most. Melissa lives in Arkansas now, so we are rarely all together as a family. We wanted to make more memories for our kids and grandchildren! It was such a happy time, and we know we are blessed beyond measure!

Thank-you, God for our beautiful children and grandchildren!

Enjoy the pictures!

Abbey, Granddaughter, getting her hair done before the wedding.

Lauren, Granddaughter, getting hair done before the wedding.

Trinity, Granddaughter, after her hair is done.

Trinity watching her Mom get prettied up.

Abbey and Lauren -- aren't they pretty?

The Bride's Hair. It's all my own real hair, too!

My hair again. I loved having my hair done up so pretty! What fun!

The granddaughters watching grandmas dogs after our hairdo session.

The wedding had a Winter Wonderland Christmas theme. Here is the aisle covered in snow and silver petals.

It was so much prettier in person. I wish the lights were turned down more in this picture and that the cross light was on. It was so beautiful!

Our oldest daughter, Melissa, and her husband, Brent were first down the aisle.

Our oldest son and his wife, Kara, who is great with child! 27 days later Avery Hope was born!

Abigail (Abbey) sprinkles snow down the aisle.

Lauren sprinkling snow. The girls loved playing with that snow!

Trinity took her job as "snow girl" very seriously. She loved practicing and begged to "practice again!" She's a real ham, that one!

My twin sons who have autism, I am extremely proud to say, were able to stand with their dad at the front during the ceremony. They also escorted their nieces out afterwards. I was very proud of them, too. Noah, our 16 year old, ran our sound booth and stood with his dad, too.

Eddie and the Twins

Handsome Groomsmen: Brent, Isaiah, Isaac and Noah.

Noah and his friend, Kayla.

Our oldest son, Jesse, officiated our wedding. I think he had fun and did a great job.

The ceremony.

Somebody got tired during the ceremony and fell asleep! Boy that thumb is GOOD!

Our cake made by a dear friend. It is a chocolate cake and the most delicious cake we've ever tasted!

Our friend made the cute snow people couple on the top. The bottom tiers have motorcycles carrying Christmas gifts and Christmas trees on them. Way too cute!

What? Is that new bling on my finger?

The chocolate fountains were a hit. Most of the people there had never seen one. Remember -- we live in RURAL Indiana!

Melissa is just so beautiful and was even more beautiful than ever that night!

I loved my fountain punch bowl. Everyone seemed to like it, especially the kids! And we all know who the biggest kid of all is. . .

Melissa and her brother, Jesse -- my babies!

Eddie and his beautiful daughter.

Melissa's family. We are so proud of them!

Jesse and his family. We are so proud of them, too!!

We had a slide show during the ceremony and this is one of the last slides. I love this picture. Me and my motorcycle daddy!

THE HONEYMOON
We did not have a honeymoon 25 years ago, so we were really looking forward to getting away all alone for a few days in a real "honeymoon" frame of mind. We went to a resort that had cottages with swimming pools in the room. At first, I wasn't too sure about the place. The bed scared me. I thought John Travolta was going to show up any minute wearing a white suit. . .I kept looking for the disco ball but never found it!

The rooms had a jacuzzi, a steam room, and a pool. Sadly our trip was cut somewhat short because on the third day a dear friend passed away from a massive heart attack at the ripe old age of 56. Still, before that, we had a wonderful time and made a lot of fun and funny memories together that will get us through some of those tough times every marriage has!

No, the bed did not rotate or vibrate. You know you're getting old when you can't sleep in the bed. That bed was not made for sleeping in. After the first night I had to sleep in the recliner because of my back. (Okay, cut out the jokes, I can hear you!)

I could have done without all those mirrors. Maybe 25 years ago they would have been fun, but after 25 years of marriage -- they are just plain embarrassing!

That recliner saved my back! It was awesome -- heated with great shiatsu massage. In fact, I had to put a pillow on my back it was such a vigorous massage.. (Stop those wise cracks!)

Our pool. It was soo pretty -- and heated! Can you see the water fountain coming from the ceiling?

I loved our pool. This is the view from the pool room into the bedroom and kitchenette. We were able to hook our iPod up to the sound system and have our own music piped into the pool room! We played all the songs we had for our wedding. What beautiful memories.

We are so thankful for the life God has given us together. Marriages that stay together are not lucky -- they are a result of hard work, dedication, committment and God's grace! They are nothing short of miraculous. We give God the glory for all we have because we couldn't do it without Him!!

I had prayed all year long that everything would go smoothly and that no one would be upset. Everyone had a wonderful time and no one got upset. Even I was calm which if you know me, is NOT normal! It was definitely a God thing!

In the midst of all the preparations, I will admit, I had second thoughts. But I am glad we did it because I know I would have wished we had.

If you're thinking about renewing your vows -- go for it! You might be sorry in the middle of getting ready, but you are creating wonderful memories for your family forever!

A few things went wrong but I am probably the only one who knows it, so I will not mention them. All in all, I was very happy and grateful for such a beautiful day!

Thanks for looking at the pictures and I hope you enjoyed them!!

Love,
Karla

My 25th Wedding Anniversary

For Those Who Have Asked