I just have to add… Made you look… 😉

I just got back the official pictures from my third daughter’s wedding. I’m going to talk to the photographers to make sure I can put their contact information here. All I have to say is, these have been the best wedding shots I’ve seen in all three of my girls weddings and then a few others besides.

It is going to take quite a bit of time to see which ones will be printed and put in the album. There were some shots that just blew me away. I will recommend them to anyone I know needing a good photographer. They also did my youngest’s senior pictures and I was very pleased with them.

Show and tell later?

And their dad

Check out the bare feet.

Or the knees…

Or the Alligator… Oops can’t see it in this picture.

The newest bride’s favorite tie is not your standard wedding fashion.

No time to upload and there are many more.

In some ways I can’t believe my third daughter was married this weekend. I’m still in a bit of shock when I think of my older daughters being married. Is this the way of it for fathers?

My job was to walk my daughter down the aisle. Her job was to look beautiful. She didn’t trip over my feet, and she was lovely. Both tasks accomplished.

I was able to visit with some family I don’t often see. Some of my daughter’s (and by extension, my) new family. And of course my daughter made me dance. All of my daughters think it is their duty to get dear old dad to shuffle around a dance floor. They never can get it in their heads that dad doesn’t dance. Oh well, I just use it for some time to talk to my daughters before they run off with their new husbands.

After the reception, I was able to meet with some friends from year gone by. My dear daughter’s cake was made by the same people who ran the coffee shop I talk so much about. I enjoyed the cake, and talking to friends when they came to pick up the cake plates afterwards.

I will be posting a picture or two from this wedding as soon as I get them uploaded.

3 down 1 to go… But that one can wait for a while.

Deep in thought…..

My mind goes back to a day in December some 21+ years ago. A few short days before Christmas when a chubby little blond entered my life. Yes at one time she was a bit chubby. Rolls of skin defined her short legs. And the blue eyes smiled from the first. All this and more in a tiny little package.

Her hair today is not as blond. She really can’t be called chubby anymore. But the eyes can still smile.

I remember the day she found her first frog. We live in the woods, so it isn’t very hard. When she learned to read, she found out as much as she could about the little animals. To this day she is drawn to them.

There were days playing in the mud, while wearing her sister’s clothes. Days playing softball while dad coached from the sidelines.

Days being a child, days being a young lady. Days of very little care and days of hardship.

There was Star Wars both movies and books. There was friends, sisters, pets and family. We had shared a time or two on stage. She sang, I listened. There were the clothes from the boys section, there were beautiful dresses.

All of this and more. 21 years don’t fit in a few short paragraphs. My beautiful blue eyed girl has spent years growing up. And I am proud of her….

In some ways I can’t believe my third daughter will be getting married this weekend. I’m still in a bit of shock when I think of my older daughters being married. Is this the way of it for fathers?

My only job is to walk my daughter down the aisle. Maybe a dance or more. One never knows with daughters.

I wasn’t ready to handle my daughters getting married. I was even less ready being a widower. 3 weddings in just over 3 years, the emotions don’t get easier.

Hopefully the youngest won’t get married in the next year. I’m not sure I can handle 4 weddings in 4 years. I know she doesn’t have a boyfriend yet, but stranger things have happened. I think it runs in the family.

This wedding is a little different than the last two. It starts inside for the wedding and moves outside for the reception. The last two weddings were outside and moved inside for the reception. Having any part of a wedding outside was new to me. When I got married it was below zero all day. You get that in January. I guess that’s why my daughters have spring/summer weddings.

We had birds, chipmunks, squirrels, alligators at the other two weddings, I wonder what kind of wildlife will show up for this one.

Weather looks good for Saturday. Will my daughters be 3 for 3 on good weather? I certainly hope so.

It will be the first time that all 4 daughters have been together since the last wedding. Great times. I really enjoy my family.

More later???

My dear daughters again gave me a 1-2 punch. This was when my oldest got married and my second youngest graduated from High School. My Second youngest is getting married in 2 weeks and my youngest graduated high school today. So, as a family we are halfway there. It has been an interesting 3 years. I was actually reminded today that it is a 1-2-3 punch since both this year and in 2006 I had daughters graduating from the community college. Since they got early graduation gifts for college (they both ‘needed’ laptops), they didn’t really want to do much for the college graduations. I’m grateful for that, but I should recognize that they both got their degrees.

Well the graduation portion of this is finished except for a party or two. It is interesting how the students stagger their parties from weekend to weekend.

The graduation was the easy event of the year. My youngest was able to give a short speech as one of 4 students with perfect 4.0 grade points. That is out of less than 100 young adults. (Yes, this is a small rural school.) It was interesting to hear what the students found to be important in their 4 years of high school. It is also interesting as an adult to realize that what they think is important now may not remain that way in the coming years. They get to experience a greater freedom and less free time as they grow into the adult world.

So here are my best wishes to all the graduates of 2009.

One final thought, the wedding dress is finished. That is a full 2 weeks before the wedding day.

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to see my daughter in her wedding gown. The gown was not quite finished, but she was very beautiful in it. As a father, I am slightly biased when it comes to how beautiful I think my daughter is, but I’m sure most will agree when they see her on her wedding day.

The exceptional part of this, is that the gown is being made by my oldest daughter. We all like to tease her on how long it takes her to finish this project or that project, but we don’t usually complain about the work done. The gown looks to be almost a work of art. I’ll know more when it is finished.

Well this is the third wedding out of four daughters. I do hope the youngest waits a few years (more than 2+). My oldest and her husband are celebrating their 3rd anniversary tomorrow, so in just over a 3 year span, I’ve been or will be the father of 3 brides. I’m wondering if they can think of any other way to torment me. 😉

Count down in earnest.

and results.

My 2nd daughter lives in Florida and is trying to make it to Ohio for her sister’s wedding. The cost of round trip tickets have gone up recently. She called today to see if she could get a little assistance from me for the tickets. Well, we started talking about the ticket prices she found, and layovers here or there. Found out that the major cost of the tickets was always the return flight to Florida.

So I realize it may cost a bit more, but I offered to drive her back down to Fla. This way I get to spend more time with my daughter and I get to see my son-in-law. He can’t make it to the wedding since he just started a new job and does not have any time off accumulated yet. 2 birds, 1 stone. I like that.

Now there are a few hickups in the plan. I was planning on going with some friends to a Cubs/Tigers game. No can do. I’ll be on my way to Florida. Sorry Taylhis and Admin… I will be spending a bit of cash to get the truck ready to go to Florida. I’m thinking I will need at least the a pair of tires. The front tires are in need of replacement. Not bad for driving short distances, but I’m not sure I would trust them for 8 to 12 hours of non-stop driving. Then of course there are the general problems with taking care of the animals while we are gone, but I’ve worked that out before.

I’m really looking forward to getting some time with the Florida family. Can’t wait. I don’t even have to schedule any extra vacation, it is already taken care of for the wedding.

More plans and things to do, but that is the fun of life…. Right?

Can this family have much more excitement?

The current list (as it stands now 😉 )

1) 4th Daughter heads out for Show Choir Competition in April.
2) 4th Daughter’s High School graduation in May.
3) 3rd Daughter’s Wedding in June — Play I was in is going to regional competition 🙁 I can’t make it.
4) Family Vacation???
5) 4th Daughter Starts College in August
7) 1st Daughter’s first child due in September

OK what else is can happen? I’m not sure. With the way this year is going, I’m sure there will be something. My life tends to get more complicated, not less.

Could ‘The Lion in Winter’ Go to State competition? I would love that. It was a good part and I would like to play it again…

Weddings, Graduations, College, Birth. I can remember when that was me. It wasn’t that long ago was it.

Of course, I’m sure there will be more medical testing now that I’m 50. That will take some time won’t it. And the fun part is, I don’t know when or what those will be right now. Depends on how the tests go doesn’t it?

What is life without adventure, it looks like I have my days filled with it.

Well, what can I say? I haven’t blogged in awhile and now I am writing about bad news. No, I was not fired from my job at Goodwill, but we have a leaky ceiling and we are closed for awhile, which means that everyone that works there cannot go to work until they fix the leaks. We closed down on Friday because of it. I didn’t even know about it until I went to go get my paycheck and there was a sign on the door. Later that day, I received a call from the assisant manager to let me know that she would be there for a little while so that we could get our paycheck and that we would be closed for the weekend. That was all right, not great, since I was only working Saturday, Sunday and Friday for the next week, but it did mean that I was able to see the children’s program at church. I thought that they would open sometime early this week, and I would at least be able to work on Friday, but unfortunately I received a call from my friend and she said that we would be closed for a couple of weeks to a couple of months! Thankfully, I have been looking for another job just to get a little more money, by having two part time job, since no one  is hiring full time, because I would really like an apartment so I can get it ready for when Tony and I get married.

It doesn’t help that Tony’s room is getting a little crowded with stuff and I would really like to have a place to live once we are married. It would help everyone out, even though they don’t want to admit it. I have put in two applications so far, and will be wandering around Bryan tomorrow and Thursday most like picking up other applications to fill out. I just really need a job, whether or not I get an apartment, but so I can pay for the wedding. Okay, I will stop ranting for now.