Wedding......Colorado style!

Jim and I were invited to his cousin's wedding in Colorado in September.  I blogged about the weekend prior, but wanted to wait to blog about their beautiful wedding until I had a chance to talk about our CCD class about marriage.  I wanted to talk a little about this wedding because it touched me so deeply.

The groom was Jim's cousin. There is a fairly large age difference between Jim and his cousins on his dad's side, because Jim's dad and his brother are something like 10 years age difference. So, when I met Greg, Lisa, and Mike, they were all little people running around -- sitting on Santa's lap and such. It's been fun to watch them grow up from being the cutest kids to being absolutely amazing adults. 

Their parents taught their kids to be go getters, reach for their dreams, and think independently (pretty sure that's why they would never listen to me and go to OSU :).  This has proven to be an awesome game plan for all three of them -- with the exception (for me) that they now live all over and we don't get to see them as often as we would like!

Greg and his sister Lisa had both been dating people for a little while (how would I know how long?  LOL).....when one weekend I got a call that little Greg (haha!) had gotten engaged to the beautiful woman he had introduced us to at Christmas, Cat.  I couldn't believe it!  How exciting that they were getting married.

A week or so later, I ran into Ed at Subway one day and he told me he had something fun to tell me.  When I asked what it was, he said that Lisa had gotten engaged as well!!!  Well, goody!

These two both grew up near us, but chose to have destination weddings as they were getting married in the cities that they now called home (is it called a destination wedding then?)  Lisa was getting married on Labor Day weekend in Seattle and Greg two weeks later in Colorado. 

One look in our checkbook and around at our kids quickly made up our minds that we would only be going to one of the two weddings.  We talked it over with the rest of Jim's family, who all agreed that we would divide and conquer.  It ended up that Jim's brother went to the Seattle wedding (which I heard was beautiful!) and Jim's mom, brother and his wife, and Jim and I would go to the wedding in Colorado.

Silverthorne is a newer town -- a ski town that is growing at a very rapid pace.  Because of that, they were building a brand new Catholic church in town.  With any luck, the church would be done for Greg and Cat's wedding (which it was).  They did finish a little later than expected, though, so although it wasn't planned that way -- Greg and Cat's wedding was the very first wedding to take place in the new church.

We drove past the day before to get our bearings and figure out where the church and the reception was.  We noted that it was at the foot of a mountain -- with a gorgeous Rocky Mountain backdrop.  Breathtaking.

When we arrived at the church on Saturday, we got our first glimpse inside.  What we found was a BEAUTIFUL church -- with a beautiful crucifix as the centerpiece of the altar.

However, the sheer beauty of the church could not have prepared us for the beautiful ceremony we were about to witness.  Not having been around Greg and Cat much, I had not had the opportunity to watch their love grow -- but let me tell you, it was beautiful to watch them express their vows before God and all of us.  I always tell people that I LOVE to see the groom see the bride come down the aisle and see the huge smile come over their face (and Greg certainly didn't disappoint -- it was as if his nerves calmed down as soon as he caught sight of his beautiful bride!).

The thought that they gave to every little detail of their wedding was so impressive -- they left no stone unturned.  However, the thing that touched me most -- dare I say brought a tear to my eye (surprise!) -- was at communion.  Greg was given the body of Christ, and then the blood of Christ -- but then took the cup, and, as his first gift to Cat as his wife, gave her the blood of Christ.  What an awesome gift!  In the end, Greg distributed the cup to his family/side of the church, and Cat did hers.  What a fantastic idea! 

To me -- starting out your married life so ingrained in your faith can only prove to make your commitment to Jesus and each other that much stronger.

The reception following the mass was equally well-thought out.  From the beautiful talks from Greg and Cat (they are right -- we DID want to hear what they had to say about the wedding!) to the nice gesture of handing the bouquet (as opposed to tossing it for any random person to catch) to the next bride to get married.  What a beautiful day!

(As a side note -- the appetizers, dinner and dessert were fabulous.  And while Margaret and I loved trying a few new drinks, we LOVED the water that was on the table at dinner.  I don't know if it was fresh spring water or not -- but I drank a LOT of it and would have bottled it and brought it home if I could have!)

And in case everything else I've written doesn't help you to think this is a beautiful couple, here is one of their wedding photos.  Absolutely breathtaking!

Congratulations Greg and Cat! 

 

 

He's come a long way from the little tyke I met so long ago -- but one that has grown into such a wonderful human being.  And, since likes attract, married someone equally as wonderful as him.  I absolutely cannot wait to see what life brings the two them.  One thing is for certain -- there will be lots of adventures!

Sometimes it's the little things......

I wrote a little last week about our little getaway to Colorado.  I wanted to share with you a few more things about our weekend away.

We went to the wedding of Jim's cousin, Greg.  Now, let me tell you when I first met him, Greg was "little Greg".  I remember him dancing at our wedding like it was yesterday -- crazy man on the dance floor.  He had a GREAT time!

Well, "little Greg" has grown up and created a great little life for himself out in Colorado.  I remember teasing him when he was in high school that he should go to a "good school" (meaning OSU) -- but he chose University of Dayton instead.  Don't tell him, but I think maybe it was a good choice for him!  He found some really great friends there, and got a great education that has led him to be (from what I hear) a pretty awesome management consultant.

Let me back up for a minute.  I want to explain a few family dynamics to you.  Jim's dad only has one brother (Ed) -- and Ed and his wife, Jean, have three children.  They live 5 miles from us, which means their children grew up 5 miles from us.  So, what do you think the odds are that two of their three children would get engaged really close together?  I don't know what they are, but it happened.  I was still excited from the first engagement (Greg & Cat) when I heard the news that the second engagement (Lisa and Jehu) happened!  How exciting!

We quickly found out that neither of the weddings would be held close to home.  Lisa and Jehu wanted to be married in Seattle, where they have made their life, and Greg and Cat chose to get married in Colorado, where they live.  A few discussion between Jim and his siblings and we decided to "divide and conquer" -- splitting up going to the weddings so that our family would be represented at both.

Jim and I decided pretty quickly to go to Colorado.  We hadn't been there before, and the wedding weekend was a little more flexible for us to get away.  We toyed with the idea of taking the kids, but decided this would be an adults only weekend.  His brother, Jeff, and sister-in-law, Margaret, would be going to Colorado with us, as would Jim's mom, Linda.  (His other brother Jerry and his wife Kerstin chose to go to Seattle).

While I know we would have LOVED Seattle, we LOVED going to Colorado!  We felt like kids again -- we dropped the kids off at school in the morning, and our flight wasn't out until 4 pm.  So, we took our time and went to breakfast, and packed the car, and left notes around the house before leaving to pick up the others to go to the airport.

We had a direct flight to Denver, which was nice.....we flew Southwest, which is quickly becoming my very favorite airline to fly.  When our steward came around to take drink orders, I joked with him and told him it was my 21st birthday and asked if I got a free drink.  "Of course, he said!"  I questioned him several times to be sure I wouldn't end up paying an arm and a leg for my drink but it was free -- and so was Jim's.  So, our trip was off to a good start!

We chuckled when we got to Denver, because it is so flat there.  "Where's the mountains?"  LOL  We soon drove into them.  Silverthorne, the town where the wedding was, is beautifully nestled in the foothills of the mountains.  I wasn't prepared for the quick sunset or the quick change in temperature though!  We checked in and said we would go back out afterwards and take some sunset pictures.  Well, that didn't happen that evening -- til we got up to our room and back down -- the sun was gone!  :(  We drove a bit to find something to eat and get our bearings, but returned to our hotel to get some rest for the rest of the weekend.

Friday we spent a good part of the day just driving around and seeing the sights.  We found a great little restaurant for lunch, called the Arapahoe Cafe -- it just looked fun to go into and see what they had.  We asked their specialty and they said "BBQ".  We all tried different things, but everything was so good!

We drove around a bit in the afternoon to find the church and the reception hall, and also where we needed to go later in the evening for the rehearsal dinner.  We saw tons of bicycles, and runners, and boaters....Jeff was looking for elk (we didn't see any on Friday) -- but I did find something kind of fun.  I was taking pictures of a lake and heard this noise behind me in a tree.  I thought it was a bird who was yelling at me to protect her young.  I quickly figured out that I was wrong.  I would hear a noise and then hear something fall from the tree.  I finally figured out that it was a chipmunk in a tree -- and it was throwing nuts at me to chase me away!  :)

Can you see the chipmunk in the tree?

I quickly left her (or him) alone -- I wasn't sure what might happen next!  When I turned around, this is what I saw:

I'm such a sucker for nature shots anyways, but man, I was in heaven!!!  And the beauty just kept coming!

This was at sunset on Friday night -- by the rehearsal dinner.

Here's the beautiful bride and handsome groom (and his brother Mike, too!)  I have lots more to say about their wedding, but will talk about it in my next post -- which happens to be about the vocation of marriage!  :)

Some honeymooners we found along the way

More honeymooners!  (Jeff & Margaret)

Jeff finally found an elk!!!

No, I take that back.  He found about 23 elk!  I couldn't get them all in one frame -- they were too spread out.  I can tell you that I absolutely did not know there were elk in FRONT of that fence as you see here -- I may not have captured as many pictures if I would have known that!  LOL

We had such a great trip.  The families of the bride and groom were such wonderful hosts, the scenery was fantastic, and the company was great!  I can't wait to see where our next adventure takes us!

All kinds of wedding talk....

Sorry it's been a bit since I've blogged, but we've been a little busy around here!  As if working and the kids weren't enough, our new CCD year has started, AND.......<drum roll please!>......Jim and I went away for a few days -- withOUT the kids!!!  (But with my in-laws :)

So, as we get settled back in to our normal routine -- I will tell you that I have all kinds of blogging to do about our trip to Colorado -- from the beauty of the mountains, to the awesomely perfect wedding that we went to.....but I have to edit my photos from the weekend first.

So, until that time, I will catch you up on our current CCD topic -- because I LOVE what we are doing!!!

We are doing a unit on -- "Marriage as your vocation".  Meaning, out of everything you can "be" in this world -- choosing to be married.  And utilizing that vocation throughout your life.  It's so awesome!

We started last week by introducing the unit.  Our class is comprised of the Juniors and Seniors at church.  I am teaching with two others - Steve and Amy.  We have written this class "from scratch" and even after last week I feel like it should be saved and used again (contact us if you would like us to share!).

We started by talking about the sacramentality of marriage -- or, how important marriage is in the eyes of the church.  It is not to be taken lightly, or with a grain of salt -- this is FOR LIFE!!!!

We had some discussion -- did a little bible story, and then had asked Father to come in and talk with the kids about cohabitation before marriage.  He had talked to my class last  year at the end of the year (different kids :) -- and I loved his talk.  So, we asked him to do it again!  He knocked it out of the park!

Tomorrow we will hear from some old married folks -- hopefully in a fun way.  I''ll report on that later :)

For now, I would like to leave you with a really neat article I just read.  Someone "introduced" me to Steven Crowder a few weeks ago (for some really great videos, look him up on YouTube)......but here is his story, in his words, about his wedding and his wedding night.  I LOVE it!!!!

Getting Married the Right Way

Later this week:  update on tomorrow's ccd class, and hopefully an awesome blog about our trip to Colorado!!!  I can't wait to share!