Rejoicing!

God is an awesome God! 
I took Russ to the airport to send him on his way to play in the big sandbox, and a great many of the folks he works with were there to tell him bye.  He is very well liked among his comrades and his presence will be missed in the office.  One could tell their sentiments were most sincere.  Once Russ gets to his destination he will have internet access and we will be able to communicate quite a bit. Such blessings!
On the way to the airport my phone rang.  It was another foster mom asking if we would provide respite (babysitting) for her three little ones over the weekend!  Well these are kids we know since they are siblings to one of the kids we have fostered!    We are excited to be able to play with these kids again and to help out another family that needed a break.  And what a great distraction for us!
Then Jonathan, Lex's husband (still getting use to saying that!), had a job interview this morning and got the job!!!  Ok they have to run a background check on him but no worries there!  Then he will have 6 weeks of paid training and then start full time!  They will be able to afford his going to an online trade school now!  Lex is still hunting a part time position and working on her high school courses.
Our needs are being met beyond expectations! 
Well I must go and start getting things ready for three extra little kiddos to be here! 
Oh yes, I never did post about Thanxmas!!
What a GREAT time we had with Russ' family!  We drove up on Wednesday and came back on Saturday.   Thursday was a wonderful day of marvelous food and incredible fellowship.  Even my folks got to come be with us.  On Friday Russ' folks took us out to the movies and we got to see the latest Harry Potter flick.  It was good of course, can't tell you if it followed the book or not though since it's been too long since I read it!  Oh well!  It was still a fun afternoon.  We didn't bother hitting the road home until after lunch on Saturday and just had a leisurely drive home. 
Ok...I really do need to get busy now!

Wedding pix are here!

 Vespers with the stool for my dad already in place.

 A little relaxing and a bite to eat before the wedding.

 The underdress....

 The rings.  Hers has their names engraved on either side of the hearts and his has their names are engraved the inside.

 Playing the stylist...

 the over dress...

 the final touch for her hair.

 the kiss!

 Popo (the officiant) giving blessings

 to both of them.

 Husband and Wife!

 posing again

 happiness is....

 precious photo

 back up the hill

 reception table

 groom's cake

 one of the pumpkins

 their gluten free brownie

 reception time

Classic photo.  The colored beads were a favorite toy of our little Nathan.  Lex wanted him represented and so she tied these to her bouquet.  The Bible was my grandmother's as a child and was covered by her own hands.  My mother's name was beaded on the front, my sister's, mine and now Lex's have joined hers.  It was one of the few TRADITIONAL things I could get her to do.

The ceremony was perfect!  of course there were little details during the course of the day that were missed (like silver sprinkles on the cupcakes), but really the day went off without a hitch!  Lex was every bit the princess and Jonathan was definetly the prince.  It was beautiful and wonderful!  Hope you enjoyed these photos!

HOME!

Russ got home from his month of training on the East coast yesterday afternoon.  We are all glad!!  Today we are getting him recovered and ready to go back to work tomorrow.  We are also at the 2 week mark prior to the wedding!  Goodness but the time is going quickly!  We will need to go with the kids to get their marriage license this week.  Since Lex is still a minor we have to sign parental consent.  We will be getting hair trimmed and nails done next week.  And of course there's shopping for the last minute supplies that I didn't want to have to find room to store for weeks.  Everything else has come together quite nicely and at a fairly relaxed pace. 
We had our puppy Missy spayed this last week and she was up and around within  a couple hours after surgery like nothing had ever happened!  She's doing well at home and not chewing at her stitches.  She doesn't seem to feel pain at all....I don't get it, but I'm glad.
Guess I best get back to life!