wedding photo overload!

for those who are interested in the wedding snapshots i took
you are about to be bombarded!
for those who are not interested in seeing photos...
sorry, come back and visit here another time! Ha.

we traveled from north of Seattle, WA
all the way to Chico, CA.
we rented a big van
and eight of us traveled down to CA
and ten of us came back (we took the bride and groom home with us!)

mt. shasta

how beautiful.

the bride 

visiting in our hotel lobby with her sisters and cousin.

we decorated the reception hall

and moved white chairs into the church too.

the bride and groom

a bubble send off from church.

my two grandsons

who held signs down the aisle

saying:

forever starts today

and here comes the bride!

the reception

the forefront is my 

sister in law and brother in law

who drove from Portland, OR 

to see their niece get married!

what an amazing help these two were!!!

behind them are my mom and step dad

who flew from WA to see their granddaughter get married!

my niece which is also my daughter's cousin...

came all the way from Seattle, WA

she did the hair, flowers and was an all around HELP!

she also gave a speech for my daughter

which made my daughter tear up. ;)

first dance.

my hubbie and i

celebrating that we have all three daughters 

 married!

my two daughters and one of my son in laws

doing the 'twist' :)

the light show from the dj!

on our way home from CA

we had a fifteen passenger van

for the ten of us.

we were on the road for

thirteen hours

with a 5 year and 3 year old boy!

we made it

 and actually still love each other! 

my husband and i

hosted a 

dessert reception 

at our church here in WA

for the family who

did not attend in CA.

the couple with my mom

the couple with her cousin from AZ.

my daughter and new son in law.

the Romos 

counting down.

wedding bells will be
ringing very soon.
i can almost here them
ring.

we will be leaving
in the morning at 4am.
eight of us
packed inside a fifteen passenger van.

we will be heading down to california
to be there for our baby girl's wedding
on 1.1.14

our last daughter
to be married.

the van will have
two boys ages three and five.

we are all excited
but, a bit crazy right now.

praying for traveling mercies
and for every one to get along
on the long road trip.

i will be posting pictures
when i get home

but, most likely will
be adding a few on
instagram (melodymaeolson)
if you follow me there...
you might get some sneak peaks! LOL

until after the wedding.

shine!

just breathe

right now

in this moment

i am knee deep in 

wedding planning.

our youngest daughter

moved to california

and wants the wedding there

at the church she met

her future husband.

this all sounds wonderful

until we take into the equation

how far away i live

and how we plan to get to california

and all the travel plans thrown in with the

wedding plans.

what's a mother of the bride to do?

take each day
one at a time.

just breathe.

In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Philippians 4:6

i cannot

and will not let

the planning & the financial worry

take away the joy.

her joy

or our joy.

the daughter that is going to be married

is our third and last daughter.

our baby girl.

i want only happiness

always for her.

so i will

smile.

take each day as it comes

and

just breathe.

beauty. thankful. blessed.

sunday after church
my daughter and her new fiance'
kidnapped me and took me to seattle!

we went wedding dress shopping
and believe or not
we found her dream dress!

she looked like an angel
and i told her that her fiance'
was going to cry when he sees
her walking down the aisle.
yep, she was that angelic looking.
(of course, it may be the mom talking. ahem.)

after finding her dress;
we hopped in the car
and drove to the seattle center
to show him the space needle
and ride the monorail.
we then went down to pike street market
where the first starbucks is!

we stood in line to order our coffee
listen to some cool bluegrass performers
and strolled around the open market.

the kids were here visiting
for  almost a week;
& we had a lovely visit!

they even wound up extending their trip
two days!!

pure. joy!

on early tuesday morning i was
off to the train station to bring them back.

the day before, i had a convo with the two of them
about seeing beauty every day;
how sometimes in life
it is so easy to become complacent.
with family. with our surroundings. with the people we love
with everything around us.
and how sometimes we need to see things with fresh eyes.
sometimes i see mt. baker and i have to pull over
and take a picture, and take time to just 'see' it,
because it is so beautiful and i am overwhelmed.
i shared with them also, about how one day
i was up on stage at church while having worship practice
and my husband was down getting the communion table ready
i saw him walking by, and thought:
wow. he is handsome!
i shared how i had told my husband, and it had made him feel loved and special.

on my way home from dropping them off at the train station
i looked up and saw mt. baker
and let out an sigh and a laugh
because i remembered sharing about this, with tessa & eddie
and i had taken the time to notice
the beauty!

there is beauty in our life.
sometimes it is hard to see
because of the 'clouds' that are in the way
and sometimes we just need
to take the time to notice it.
to look and see it!



may you take a moment to sit and just enjoy the beauty around you.


be blessed.

blessed

it happened.

our daughter who lives in california
came home with her boyfriend and his son
to visit for the fourth.

the morning of the fourth
my husband and i took them
to the bay to build sandcastles
and then to whatcom falls park
to see the waterfalls and go for a walk.

towards the end of the walk at the falls,
he tells my husband and i to hold on a minute;
he has something to say.

he drops down on one knee in front of us...

yep. he did it!
i had a feeling he might do it while they were here
visiting. :)

i am very happy for her
i pray for the two of them
that they will always be as happy
as they are

right now!!

happiness. joy. blessings.

life is good & God is great!

sniffles & sneezes. oh my.

i suffered a headache & sore throat
the whole time we were in vegas
for my brother's wedding.

'the wedding party'

me, my new sister, my brother and my hubs

i love him.

i first thought it was from
the smoky casinos
but, alas it was not.

we arrived home a week ago sunday
and i still had the sore throat and headache.
by early thursday morning
it had turned into a full blown migraine.

when that finally broke
it turned into a head cold.
so as much as i had wanted it
to be just allergy to smoke.
it turns out that even with a flu shot
i have caught some kind of
spring cold/virus. :(

i am now on the tale end of it
and am feeling better.
just sniffles and sneezes now.
phew.

but, this morning i received a
call from my daughter who lives
14 hours away...

she is feeling exactly like me.

she wanted mommy's opinion
on what to eat & drink while
she deals with not feeling well-
it is hard for this mom
to not live closer
to be able to help
her youngest.
her baby girl.

this mama bird
has all her chickadees out of the nest
and even though it is the way
we know it is suppose to be;
for mama birds to raise their babies
to be ready to fly away on their own,
it is hard to be away from them
when they are not feeling well!!!

i did receive one of the highest
compliments just the other day though;
in my favorite coffee shop
the barista asked about two of my girls
who she knew had moved
far away.

she said, you know you
have raised your girls
to be confident and independent
to be able to move away like that!

 :)

i will hold on to that.
knowing we did a few things
right in raising those three
confident christian girls!

have a wonderful monday.

as for me...
i think another cup of tea is in order.

cheers!

what's on my phone? :)

as you read this post
i will jetting off to vegas
to witness my brother's wedding.

his two daughters
her two daughters
my mom and step dad
and my hubbie and i
will all be there to witness this
joyous day. :)

so i am sharing pictures
from my phone.

daffodil fields 

with the grandson

arm bling

farm life

some of my pyrex and stoneware

i wore this cross blouse to

our good friday 

worship night

practicing for good friday 

worship service

shoes on a

coffee date

shoes waiting for the

easter egg hunt

have a LOVELY weekend friends.

may you be a blessing to someone today.

happy leap year~

happy leap year!

funny story;

32 years ago when my

then finance'

 and i were planning

our wedding...

he said, 

"the end of february is the best

time of year for me on the farm"

so what did i do?

i look at the calendar and 

picked the last saturday of feb.

and called our pastor...

i say, 

"we picked a date!"

"feb.29!"

pastor ron says, 

"um, mel... i don't think

you want to get married 

on a leap year!"

ha, i had just looked at

the calendar and picked the

last saturday!!!

so hence,

the picking of

 feb. 22nd

as our wedding date. :)

may you have a 

wonderful leap year day...

as for me?

well this day looks

wonderful

with plans to meet a dear friend

at a

 coffee/used bookstore

 then we are off

to the grand opening of

a new consignment store!

so

coffee, used books and thrift shopping

all with a dear friend?

yes...today is lovely!

blessings to you today!

thirty-two

via pinterest

i walked into a darkened room,

lit only by candlelight...

 down 

an aisle 

towards a nervous but,

 loving & warm face...

thirty-two years ago today

and it is still

 the best decision

i have ever made!

happy 32nd anniversary 

to my husband

mark...

i love growing old 

with you!