Remember that commercial? About the scooters? Too funny. This guy reminds me of that commercial. He was at a four way stop here in town last week in front of me put’zin through just like he was driving a car. I hope that someday when my kids or nieces/nephews take my keys away I’ll at least still drive around in a rascal.
Saturday night was the hospital foundation’s 2010 Fall Ball. They host this annually to induct person’s into their hall of fame. There is a speaker, wonderful dinner, silent auction, live music and dancing~you name it. We were told of it weeks ago and warned in advance that it was formal but not quite sure how much. Adam wore a suit and I a dress with 2″ heels. A car pulled in next to us and a woman got out with feathers in her hair and we immediately knew that we certainly were not OVER-dressed!
I had ordered my shoes online and had them sent to my sister’s address earlier last week and my 18 and 21 year old nieces saw me pick them up Friday night and asked if this was “uh, like a prom for adults?”. Turned out to pretty much be. And let me tell you….it was awesome.
There were truffles with a cute lil’ go box by our name cards at our table. The room was draped in chiffon from the ceiling to the floor. Live music all night. Prime rib was served and the speaker was LeAnn Thieman~AMAZING!
LeAnn Thieman is a nurse but is also a well-known writer and speaker. She wrote Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul, in addition to many other of the Chicken Soup books. Most interesting, however is that she was one of just a few people that were a part of Operation Baby Lift in 1975 where she helped take 100 babies out of Vietnam to the U.S. She had photos where they literally took babies 2-4 per cardboard box in a cargo plane. Very inspiring.
There was a photographer there that took formals of each couple and I am told we will be receiving this in the mail. It was wonderful to meet my partner’s spouses and the other 270 people there!! As we dress up NEVER, Adam had his camera out OF COURSE and caught me coming down the stairs. Remember when I fell and broke my arm last March. Yeah, well that was the last time I wore heels. This was almost a fall but I caught myself:
And, one final photo of us (isn’t Adam a hottie!)…the night just confirmed even more that we realllly want to take dance lessons. Too bad we have never lived close enough to a bigger community that offers them.
This morning Adam went to get “The Heartland”. This bad girl is none other than the 1962 Whitehouse boat that my baby brother and Adam purchased at a very fine price off of Ebay a few years back. Let me be honest with you, people…the thing was a junker and my Mother and I looked at each other and then back at the boat and then back at each other~well, you get my drift. But the boys spent all summer fixing it up and by August she was a beaut! A bass boat, she was and we took her to Minnesota on vacation~all of us. The great thing is that it was Adam and Jesse’s thing ya know? It is neither one of their boats…it is both of theirs. I’m being honest here, too….it really did turn out nice. Complete with mood lighting, sound system, etc. Many hours of enjoyment have been gained from The Heartland. Here are before and after photos. I cannot find an after photo right now other than this one of the two of them at sunset bass fishing. But the tranquil feeling that you get from just looking at that picture…..yep, that is just how good the boat looks too.
The problem though is that we have had her stored out on a friend’s property. Adam tells me this afternoon that he made a mental “note to self” to not park the boat next to a field next time. Apparently a mouse (this is what Adam says it was….who knows I thinking it could have been anything with teeth!!) ate anything that was of any relation to paper in the boat and left it in pieces. Grrrrrr.
Lastly, who ever knew eating pizza could be so difficult. Once again I struck out on the food front. I have some plastic spoons and forks but that is it and thought, hmmm….frozen pizza; nice and easy, quick too! Until Adam carried them in and literally set them down in front of me like this and then asked if I had any ideas on how we were to cut them!
As you can see my desk is still a MESS so I am sorting through papers like a mad woman to get as much done as possible. Heck, who am I kidding~it’ll be done TONITE as the carnival workers will be here at 8am to take this exact desk away from me so I have NO choice!
A canvas photograph that is from their engagement pictures taken in Glacier National Park....St. Mary's Lake of course!
Linden and Jesse had decided from the beginning to go all out for their reception. On everything. The food was amazing. An italian feast of sorts. Everything was in black and white…gorgeous. They even got the crazy DJ package that included all of the bells and whistles….you know the one with the smoke that comes out on the dance floor? Overall, the DJ was good (would have been better had it not been for the 20 minutes of PURE PANIC when he realized his phone was dead, and “oops, by the way…that is where I have your first dance, father/daughter dance and mother of the groom stored” didn’t happen). Yeah, uh huh…he didn’t get real rave reviews from the fam after that. Simply because that was a bad move at such an elegant affair. Never fear, Adam had the cord he needed in his truck (did I ever tell you the story when I realized I didn’t have any veggies to go with our supper one night and Adam said casually, “oh, I have some canned corn in the car” and went and grabbed me a can”~the guy keeps the strangest things in his vehicles and they always seem to come in hand!
The party was great…we made it to the very last song. My favorite part though was when Linden, accompanied by a grand piano only serenaded Jesse. You see, she has a beautiful voice and is just amazing to listen to…she continued to sing all through college and in graduate school. It was a true gift to see and difficult for her to do, I am sure. The next morning everyone, including the new married couple, had brunch and watched them open gifts before they took off for Fiji. A truly wonderful weekend, I tell ya’.
Big brother Brett and his wife, Michelle
Perhaps Jesse's most profitable dollar dance...Jett flew in from back East. Jesse and he played ball together at PENN. What's up with the skirt, you may ask? Yeah, me too. Supposedly it is just kind of a joke that he does for "important" things. Never fear, though...the guy's a cutie!
Jesse and Linden wanted a photo booth at their reception. It has kind of become a fun thing for people to have photo booths at their receptions but often times the photos are taken just for the couple and if the guests want to they can go on-line later to order their photo. Jesse posed the idea to Adam and being the computer guy that he is…Adam ran with it.
People watching the screen showing the people inside the booth. Also: the big black and white picutre of Jesse & Linden on the side was a surprise from Adam that he was able to get printed through his company too.
He made an awesome photo booth for their wedding. I had no idea what all would go into this project! Someone from the software division in his company helped him design the software for the booth. It is amazing. It has a screen on the outside so people walking by or standing there can see what the people in the booth are doing. Once in the booth you have the option of having your photo taken or taking a video message for the Bride & Groom. It prints out right after it takes your photo…he built a light into the top so there would be enough lighting.
Towards the end of the night...the couple themselves finally had a chance of their own!
Jesse and Linden had a logo that they designed and once Adam digitized it he added it to the photo booth cards so it was basically an AWESOME wedding favor.
The favor was an actual 4X6 photo greeting card size!
Uncle Adam & Calissa Jo
My older brother and his family
The groom's party got ready at the country club where the reception was held so naturally "played" with the booth before the wedding. Jesse, Adam, my older brother Brett and my sister's husband, Rick
me & mine