Where was I on getting the wedding covered on the blog? The Rehearsal I believe.

The rehearsal day was filled with getting all of the loose ends tied up. Leslie and I got a late start out to Temecula, but thankfully Mom, Amie, Lorie and Beth were already there working hard to finish the place cards, welcome baskets, favors and all that stuff.


Goodness, a lot goes into a wedding!





























I think this is a good time to confess that I wasn't the best maid of honor. A Maid of honor should be really helpful with all of the organizing and keeping the bride on track and you probably know already that is not my strength. I have a tendency to run around like a chicken with my head cut off and because I sang in the wedding, I had to spend some time rehearsing with Uncle Larry and Jim. Heck, I couldn't even hold the bouquet for the whole ceremony and Amie ended up with 3 while I sang! Most importantly, I was late to both the rehearsal and wedding because Seth and I kept getting lost.

This is why God gave Leslie two other sisters and a mother........ because they are all organized and know how to get things done under pressure.

Me......I just try to take direction and go with the flow.

Aside from having a lousy maid of honor, everything for the wedding was perfect. The rehearsal went well and we had a delicious meal out on the patio of Bailey's full of sweet and funny toasts from friends and family. Temecula is "wine country" and there are dozens of wineries on the outskirts of the town. Downtown Temecula is old western styled town and we had planned to head over to this huge Country Music Bar next door for some line dancing, but we were all beat from the previous night and turned in early.





Two things were evident from that evening. One was how many people love and adore Leslie and Paul and the other was how in-love and crazy they are about one another.


They really are "that" couple.








Looking back on the festivities, we have all noted on how every person there seemed to be having a great time. We were all so very happy for Leslie and Paul even though we knew that them marrying virtually sealed the deal on her not ever moving back home. If you know our family, you know that we must love and approve of Paul a great deal if we are at peace with that.


It was truly a joyous event.

Alright, let me tell you all more about our California trip. I must start with the fact that we did not take our children. We are blessed that we could leave all three of them with Seth's family for five days and know they were not only safe, but happy as well. I was worried about leaving Annabelle because we haven't been a part for any more than a night ( and that was always with Mimi). Aunt Angie said she screamed inconsolably for 30 minutes the first morning but then came to grips with it and was an angel the rest of the time. The boys were in heaven with their cousins Amy and Walker and didn't even consider that they were missing out on anything by staying on this side of the country. So....THANK YOU ANGIE, REBA, JIMMY, AND JOHNNY! You are wonderful!

Seth and I arrived in San Diego around 10 am on Wednesday morning. After getting our rental car, we went out to lunch in La Jolla at George's on the Cove. We ate some delicious fish tacos and gazed at the pacific ocean below from their rooftop terrace. best lunch date ever. Then we met up with Leslie at her house and got to take a run along the beach (which is just a block from her house!). best run ever. After that, Leslie, Amie and I went to the outlets nearby to pick up a few items and I got a sweet bracelet to wear in the wedding.
These pictures are from Thursday night. I spent the day with Leslie grabbing last minute things for the wedding and running other errands.

I went to the mall with my little sister, Leslie, and without my darn kids-------what a treat!

Some of the friends and family were staying on the base at Camp Pendleton in these cool little houses right on the beach. We had a BBQ there with a bonfire so the families could meet and hang out.

Where our family gathers, there will be music. We sat around the campfire and sang our Gillian Welch, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Old Crow covers. It was fabulous. I already said this on FaceBook but.....One of my favorite moments of our trip (and there were many!) was when we sang and played "Wagon Wheel" on the beach in CA. It was weird that half of the folks there not only did not know the song, but didn't know where the "Cumberland Gap" or Johnson City were!




Kiah, Lanie and Lucie did so well through this trip. I felt pretty tired so I couldn't imagine how those little gals were feeling. They were so good and took it all in stride. Lucie LOVES music and enjoyed that night a lot. They love for us to play "I'll Fly Away" so they can stand on a chair and sing.
Paul's roomate's parents showed up and joined in on the music. His Dad, Jim, was an incredible guitarist and played some killer blues with Grayson's friend Mittan. He definitely added a new sound to our music that night. Uncle Larry and I played the song for the ceremony and Jim jumped right in a picked a dirty guitar solo right away. We asked him to join us for the wedding and fortunately he did. It was perfect. I wish we could have played all night long!




A crowd of us went to a little bar in Carslbad after in lieu of a bachelor-bachelorette party.

Fun times there.

Paul is the best guy with kids EVER. No really, they adore him, and he adores them, and they love to get on his back, and he loves to carry them around. These girls had a good time with ol' Uncle Paul!

It was Justin's birthday so we had some cake and sang to him.

This was Wednesday night:

This is gonna be short and sweet, but here are a few pictures that I snagged from facebook to share here on the blog. As more come in, I will continue to post them. The wedding was dreamy. I had four of the most fun days of my life on our trip out to San Diego, CA. I got tons of "Leslie time"and met so many awesome people. We danced and sang and ate good food.


Leslie and Uncle Paul are just about the sweetest couple I have ever met as well. They were both so happy!


The military aspect of the ceremony was awesome to. This is the sword arch as the ceremony ended. The last Marine hits Les on the hiney with the sword and says, "Welcome to the Marines!"

Wow, October flew by. It always seems to be that way for me. The fall colors come and go so quickly that I almost feel like I am holding my breath the whole month taking in as much as I can, knowing the ugly winter will soon follow. We started October with a fever running through the house and are finishing it out with another one. It really hasn't been all that bad, but it definitely put a damper on Annabelle and Adam's birthdays. We spent more time than usual at home to hinder the spreading and catching of germs, which makes us all a little cranky and crazy (the latter is mostly me).

Besides fevers, we had a family gathering where we made some good music and ate some good food. Annabelle and Lucie did a great deal of dancing and rolling around on the floor while the boys played in the frigid creek with the other cousins. It was lovely. The same weekend we went to LEAF where there was more good music and dancing for everyone. The kids loved it as much as Seth and me and I had to drag them away each day. Annabelle especially loved the "dress-up"tent and spent over and hour in this one dress and hat hanging out with the other children and looking in the mirror. I forgot the camera or I would have some great pictures for ya!









Our neighbor, Ben, joined us when we carved our pumpkins this year. He is the only person on earth that isn't fond of attention from Annabelle, so she lays it on him! She entertains the boys by trying to hug and kiss Ben constantly when he is over.






























































These are our trick or treating pictures. I told the boys a week ago that we were not going to spend any money on costumes this year so it was up to them to find something around here to wear. They took it extremely well. Adam came home from the neighbor's house with a football uniform he borrowed and Caleb decided to be a hunter and rounded up some camo clothes for his costume. Annabelle borrowed Lucie's ladybug costume and shoes and we were all set for a rainy evening of visiting the neighbors to collect candy.

We go out early so the boys got to enjoy handing out candy when we got home. Seth took the chain off the chainsaw and cranked it up by the porch as the kids walked up. Caleb and Adam (and Seth) laughed hysterically at this EVERY time. How ironic is that if you remember our Halloween last year? BTW, I made sure they didn't scare anyone under 10 or so.































































Of course, the most noteworthy news around our house is the big WEDDING this week in San Diego. We are leaving the kiddos with Seth family in Atlanta and spending Wednesday through Friday in CALIFORNIA for the festivities. I have never left Annabelle for more than one night so I am a bit anxious....but more excited than anything. We are fortunate to have our sweet neighbors here to watch the house and help out if there are miraculously any showings in our absence. You can count on lots of pictures and posts to fill you in on the details.

Thanks for reading and keeping up with us!