Wedding Day

Today is my son's 5th wedding anniversary!  Happy Anniversary Mandy & Jim!!  It was an absolutely beautiful day for a wedding.  Bright beautiful sunlight, warm but not too warm so that my long-sleeved jacket was very comfortable to wear.  It was a very exciting day.  My daughter was in the wedding, my sister and her family, my brother and his wife and nieces and nephews all joined us for the special day.  All except Beth & Karsten.  They were expecting their first child at any time and a trip across the state of Iowa was not recommended.  Jackson will be celebrating his 5th birthday on October 1!!!  I can still remember talking to Beth on the phone from the reception!

They had so many pictures taken at their wedding and for Christmas of that year they gave me a CD of all of them.  I was thrilled to death.  I so love scrapbooking and made a lot of books from all the pictures they gave me.  Another of my gifts that Christmas was a book that Mandy & Jim made up and it means so much to have it.  

The wedding was beautiful.  Jim escorted me down the aisle.  That made me feel so special.  From the pictures you'd think both of us were scared to death (maybe we were) but it's a wonderful memory of their wedding.  From the wedding in Omaha we went to Council Bluffs to the reception.  They had their reception in a beautiful old hall.  Even had a grand staircase.  I had a fantastic time at the reception.  I drank (well I might add), danced and laughed with my family and friends.  It was great.  One of the wonderful things they provided for their wedding and out-of-town family was a trolley that took us to and from the reception.  We arrived in style back at the hotel!!!

We were booked into a hotel with a casino and we all had to visit that for a little while.  Mike was going to show me how to play craps.  I know absolutely nothing about craps (still don't).  I remember Barbie and I having to get the car keys from him (he drove her car back to the hotel before we left for the reception) and we wanted our sandals out of the trunk.  Got 'em!  Barb looked a little ridiculous with her long dress and sandals but she was very comfortable!  She had a dress with a train and ended up holding her dress up the majority of the evening!

We watched Mike play for a bit and then I got bored.  My friend Marilyn was a guest and sat at our table at the reception and she stayed with Barb and I in our room for the event.  Marilyn came down with Glee & Ron and also went home with them, but spent the majority of the time with me.  She's a great friend and it was nice to have someone to be with during the whole event.  When I got bored I sat down at a penny machine near the craps table and began to play.  Marilyn had never played before so when the machine next to me came open I let her have the one I had and took the one next to her.  I always play 50 cents a pull on penny slots and this was no different.  I was talking to her and continued to hit the button on my machine.  All at once she asked me what was wrong with my machine . . . there were coins flying all over the screen.  What happened was I hit a jackpot!  A jackpot of $815.00!!!  Wow!  what a surprise and how wonderful!!!  I cashed that in immediately and had my money.  We played a few more games and finally went back to our hotel room.  We lost Barbie someplace, but knew she could find her way back.  We ordered pizza (at 3:00 a.m.) for myself, Marilyn, Glee, Ron and Mike.  Mike never made it to the room, he pooped out and went to bed.  We enjoyed our pizza and finally decided we should also call it a night.  Barb showed up about the time we were trying to get to sleep!  It was a short night.

The families of Jim & Mandy met in Carter Lake for gift opening on Sunday morning.  Barb and I headed out.  Finally realized we were going the wrong way and finally found our way to Carter Lake and the library.  Jackie had some juices and cake for anyone that was hungry!!  Great breakfast!!  I enjoyed watching my kids open their wedding gifts.  And of course spent some time talking to Mandy's family as well as Harry and his wife.  It was a long drive home as both Barb and I were tired but we got back to Ankeny without mishap.  We took a bunch of wedding gifts to their house and then took a nap before supper time!!  I extended my vacation days one more day and stayed over until Monday and then headed home.  It was a great weekend and will long be remembered.

Many things have happened to all of us since that day.  Jim & Mandy have two beautiful children (Charlotte & Oliver), Beth & Karsten had Jackson the next month and also have a darling little boy, Tristan, that was born a couple years later.  Mandy has a thrieving photography business, Jim has received many promotions within the company that he works for; Barb and I are still with the same jobs that we were when they got married.  Beth & Karsten are rebuilding the farm house they purchased from Beth's grandfather's estate and hopefully will be moving in before the first of the year.  The Baade Kids got their families all together in Des Moines this past summer for a family reunion of sorts.  It was great having everyone together, even if the time was short.  Jim, Josh and Keely had to work part of the time but we enjoyed their company while we were all together.  Hope we can do that again some time soon.  We missed Nick, Danielle & Juno as they are on the east coast in the Navy.  Hopefully another time they will be able to join us. 

Along with good times always comes some bad.  Mandy & Jim lost their twin girls after our vacation time together.  It was a blow for them as well as the grandmothers and grandfathers of the these two wonderful children.  We are all recovering.  Life goes on.  Ruthie Mae and Imogene James will never be forgotten by any of us, they will be in our hearts forever.  Ron lost his father last February.  Mandy lost a grandfather and an aunt.  I've lost some good friends.  I'm getting older and realize that I am going to be loosing more of my family and friends.  The cycle of life!  

We had a beautiful day for a wedding.  The wedding was wonderful and I have great memories of it and everything that went along with it.   Happy Anniversary Jim & Mandy.  My wish for the two of you is that you have many, many anniversaries to celebrate together and more wonderful memories to make!