Birthdays, Bocce Balls and Spoiling Grandmas!

Fall is in the air this morning, but I'm still catching up on posting some summer fun!  Enjoy these sweet faces, taken on a stifling hot day.  This awesome gang was celebrating birthdays, having a blast outside and enjoying some down time with family.

It was wonderful to be with them and a reminder to slow down and enjoy one another.  On this day I was thought back to many special times of my childhood.  I remember how it feels to be in the safety of the adult's circle of conversation, where kids can play, laugh, sit and listen, daydream, snack, and play some more.  It doesn't get much better than that!  I wonder if I'm offering my children enough of that, and I appreciated this wake-up call

. 

My dear friend, Evelyn, is often teaching me things, and our photo session was one more lesson!

What she affords her grandchildren is priceless.   

Love.

Laughs.

Crazy times.

Fun.

And . . . bocce ball!  

I'm always thankful to be part of memory making, and I love thinking about these kids looking back on  these photos with their own children.

It's possible . . .

Last night I found out that it's possible to pull off a secret, surprise wedding.  It's fun, too.

It's possible for the bride and the groom to make the decision to forgo the original plan and opt for the real wedding of their dreams.

It's possible for them to go on a long-awaited trip to Mexico and leave the plans to family and friends . . . to know that it will all work out.

And it's possible for the two marrying to be in touch just before the service.

It might all just be magical . . .

It's possible that the mother of the bride might be sitting at a sewing machine just minutes before the ceremony and that the calm bride might be fixing her hair.

And they just might serve popcorn at the wedding!

It's possible that folks might think so much of this awesome couple that good friends open their house for the event.

And friends will be happily sitting on bales of hay as they await the wedding.

And the bride might just look like this when she catches the first glimpse of her husband to be.

And it's possible that the thankful groom might lean down to hug the father of the bride, as he brings in his daughter.

It's possible that the sun might just begin setting, glowing in the reflections in the windows, as the new day dawns on this special couple.

The bride might round the corner and throw up her hand in celebration.

And it's possible that this bride and groom might be present enough in the moment that they enjoy every minute of it.

It's possible that the love in the air might bring the bride's grandparents to the dance floor all alone and we might just all watch what long lasting love looks like.

It's possible that a bride and a groom might understand that the day is about the marriage to come and not the wedding itself.  It's possible, I know, because I was there.  

I wish Ashley and Peter the happiest of times together.  

You two are an amazing couple!