So today I'm not writing about what happened today that I'm thankful for, but rather I'm going back to the lovely weekend in September when we headed to my hometown to celebrate my little sister's upcoming wedding with a lovely bridal shower.
I love this verse from the book of Ruth so much and it always makes me think of marriage.
I think it can be difficult sometimes to remember amidst all the planning for the wedding day, that it's about much, much more than that. So let's just take a moment to reflect really quickly on the beauty of our faith and the scriptures (especially when applied to our lives). And this isn't just for engaged folks. We can all use a reminder now and again to live out our marriage vows. Read the verse again. Marriage is about sacrifice. Marriage is about choosing to love even when you don't feel like it. And sometimes it's about deferring to the other even when you have other plans. "Where you go, I'll go. Where you stay, I'll stay." Mean it. Live it.
And now we set the scene for a sweet, lovely bridal shower. My mom took care of the food table decor and made the pound cake (she's known for her pound cake! Mmm!), and found some old poster boards with lots of pics of the lovely bride.
Brunch is served!
{picture by my sister Christine}
Chicken salad croissants, a variety of muffins, and a yogurt bar!
Thank you, Christy and Sara (and Kevin, who helped too!) for all your hard work planning, prepping, baking, and putting together the food for the party. Everything was delish!
{I took that picture--crazy, I know}
My sister-in-law, Priscilla took care of the rest of the decor which, as you can see from all the pictures, was stunning! She should really create a business because she is so incredibly talented.
I love all the attention to detail and personalization. The quote is one of St. Therese's (Shannon's favorite Saint)
{picture by my sister, Christine}
She also did a mimosa bar. Cute, yummy, and so elegant.
{picture by my sister, Christine}
Priscilla's lovely assistant who helped her set up.
Yes, that's my little bro who is, of course, her husband.
{picture by my sister Christine}
Of course, the main lady we are grateful for as she prepares for marriage is my little sis, Shannon. We are so glad that you have found a sweet guy who will love you and take good care of you.
The lovely bride-to-be enjoying a mimosa.
And here is my mommy (the lovely mother-of-the-bride) ready to party and join in the festivities
I am also especially grateful for these lovely ladies with whom I was blessed to put the shower on with. My sweet Sophie (on my back) was the perfect little accessory baby during the fun, and my sister Christy (to my left) who helped with food planning and prep and took pictures {this one is from her camera}. The only blond in this crew, Sara, is my sweet sister-in-law and she too, helped out with food planning and prep and was floating around taking care of all the little heres and theres, and had the cake cut and ready to be served as the gifts were finished being opened (what timing!). My sister-in-law, Priscilla, as you read was the creator of all things lovely. It was all so, so beautiful. I was in charge of games, and there were many laughs and smiles, so I think fun times were had. Thanks again, ladies, for all the fun and hard work. It was so much fun working with you guys to shower Shannon with love and gifts.
My prayer partner, Cath (Shannon's beloved godmother) came to the party and was the resident baby whisperer/grandma/keeper of the fun times. Sophie was a fan.
I even snapped a picture of Shannon with her beloved godmother. Thanks for all the love and prayers and for your fun (and always sarcastic) friendship, Cath.
More fun friends, Theresa and JoAnna
And there's the pretty bride-to-be with Barb, who incidentally was the sweet woman who planned my bridal shower about 7 years ago...
Not sure who took this picture since it was from Christy's camera but she is in the back of the picture...
This is a cute one of Shannon and my dad's cousin, Janie.
I'm grateful for these sweet gals, but also for the miracle of life that each of them carry inside. Love you, sweet mamas (and babies)!
Not the best quality pic (taken the day after the shower) because my mom could not (I repeat, could not!) figure out how to hold my phone still and take the picture at the same time. So funny to watch her try though.
Shannon with a few of her sisters/bridesmaids. We love you and were so blessed to be able to celebrate with you and shower you with love.
And here is the category where I get to be thankful for all the fun details and things that don't fit so well into any of the first three categories.
Had the gals break into groups (tables) and one person asked the others for adjectives, verbs, etc to make a fun game of Madlibs to help Shannon "write her vows". There were some laughs for sure.
{photo credit: Priscilla}
{some game prizes}
We also played a fun game of BINGO (lots of winners!) and I read a Left/Right Wedding Story where each table had an item that was passed either left or right every time I read that word. There were many chuckles for this one as well. And we also played a bridal shower game in which you had to guess Who Said It? Shannon and Mark fooled quite a few people, but not Jennie, who answered 11/12 correctly! Wow!
{photo creds for these gift opening pics goes to my sis, Christine}
Isn't she so cute? And I think she looks pretty thankful for all those fun gifts (and giftcards!)
