The Ceremony

Wow...there really are alot of pictures! Tessa, you're gorgeous in all of these pictures. You were SO FUN to take pictures of! So photogenic. Bub...well, I'm just glad that Tessa can make you really smile. I have to say that I love the location...it was SO beautiful! I think it's kind of funny that all of the groomsmen and bridesmaids look like they're in pain, though, because of the sunlight in their eyes. Brett, especially, had some fun expressions in some of the pictures. Anyway, I hope you guys like what you see...and feel free to give me direction about what you're looking for if I didn't quite nail the finish, or if you'd like me to try a different look with the raw materials I have. Love you guys! Oh...these aren't all the pics...and they are in no particular order, just putting them up as I finish editing them. Enjoy!

Wedding Preparations

So, the wedding was beautiful! I was so glad that we could be there to celebrate with my brother and my new sister-in-law. It was great to be out in California again too. I always love visiting and enjoying the beach and seeing all the fam. I took well over 700 pictures, so it's going to take a while to sort though and edit all of these...but here are a few for now. These are the "getting ready" pictures of Tessa, the bridesmaids and other various things the day of the wedding. (They are in the order they happened from the last thing that happened to the first). I wish I had had more time to take prep pictures, but as you can see in one of the pictures, I was busy with other preparations...like making my first tiered cake (for the groom's cake) and doing flowers. But, I'm pleased with the prep captures I did get and am looking forward to toying with the actual wedding pictures in Photoshop. Enjoy!

Attack of the Arandas...

Wes has learned to do the motions to three of the verses of "The Wheels on the Bus". Here he demonstrates how the babies on the bus go "Wah Wah Wah". Strangely, though, Weslee's babies cry from their chins or ears instead of from their eyes. And lately, sometimes his babies cry from their chest. It's quite disturbing!

So, two weeks ago, my mother and my sister, Charla were in town. We had SO MUCH FUN! We were all crazy and stayed up until all hours of the night playing board games. Kevin and I got to try out all of our new games and play some old favorites too! Mom bought Wes a red wagon for his birthday and toted him all around the neighborhood in it (which he loved). My sister was deemed "Aunt Psycho" because she made all sorts of crazy faces and was good at making Wes laugh. It was fun to see her interact with Wes as an aunt. This was her first time to really get to interact with him since his birth. (She was on a mission when we brought him home). I captured some pics of them with Wes for his memories (and also to remember them by when we're in England). It's wierd how I'm beginning to look at things as "lasts". This was my last opportunity to just "hang" with my sister for a while (unless she seriously scrapes some money together and comes to England). So, I found myself being sentimental and wanting to milk the week for all it was worth. I sure love my sis...even if she is psycho!

Lynchburg, Virginia

The historic homes here were so beautiful. I couldn't help snapping pictures!


This was such a cool little Episcopalian church in downtown Lynchburg. We stopped and played in the grass and took pictures of it's cool doors. These light blue ones were my favorite. But, it also had red doors on another side.

When I saw this barn, we flipped a quick U so that I could take pictures of it. I LOVE barns, and this one takes the cake. It was so beautiful, nestled in the hills of West Virginia. I could take pictures of cool barns all day...I'm always looking for them. This one was the best I've ever seen.
At the hotel, Wes entertained himself by crawling in and out of drawers with his toys. He often got stuck and would cry for help. And, I'd say a good 2 or 3 bruises came from this often repeated activity.

This was a really old bridge in the mountains of West Virginia. The following are all taken in the West Virginia mountains.

St Louis pics...



So, these are being posted a little late, but I wanted to share a few anyway. At the end of May, we took a trip out to Virginia for Kevin's intensive course for his Master's Degree. While he was in school all day long, Wes and I toured the historic parts of Lynchburg, Virginia where Liberty University is located. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, mainly because it was so picturesque. Wes really loved being in his stroller and going for long walks. I loved all of the old houses and the scenery. Kevin just loved getting to see us in the evenings for a little while before crazily typing out daily papers and cranking out reading until all hours of the night.

The trip itself was also very fun. We stopped off in St. Louis to see the "arch". I had never seen it before. I was so enthralled by it (especially at night all lit up), I made Kevin stop the car on an on ramp to the highway (no one was behind us) and got up in the sun roof to get some good shots of it. Really such a cool sight.

We also took an entire day to enjoy a small country road that wound through the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia. We saw so many beautiful waterfalls, rickety bridges, and old barns. Just gorgeous!