Post Wedding Reflections

Today instead of going to JC's wedding in Colorado(I'm still exhausted), I went to Newton to help Leah in her classroom.  Here is my beautiful girl in her adorable kitchen in her grown up house.

Here is her elementary classroom.

And here is some of the mess we made trying to clean and organize her middle school classroom.

She filled two large trash cans and made a giant give away pile.  I guess she went through about a third of what is there.  So wild to think she's going to be a teacher!  

On the way down, I had a chance to process some of the intense feelings I experienced the weekend of the wedding and since.  All weekend I literally had a huge lump in my throat as if I needed a big ugly cry and then tears would come to the backs of my eyes frequently.  Scott said he understood as it is such a huge life event but I didn't really understand.  Today I figured out that I feel intense joy and gratitude.  

So Saturday morning I got up at David's grandparent's house and Terri was getting ready and busy and Greg had left to go work more at the wedding site.  So I ate the chocolate croissant that Terri's cousin brought over on the front patio and shared it with a neighborhood cat.  Then I went for a walk on the cool trails in the housing area that I had never been on before.  It was amazing.  Then I showered and got ready.

I ran to Mojos to pick up the salad for the brunch and on the way to get gas, I saw a pretty girl walking.  Then it hit me that it was Hannah!  How strange to see her there in Newton!  

The girls all came over mid morning for a beautiful brunch that Terri had planned, a retro garden theme with quiche, fancy bread, salad and fruit.  The cool thing was, that I got to help with it and served the girls.  Poor Terri's brain was going a million different directions with all they were still doing for the wedding.  I loved helping with the brunch.  Terri had gardening gloves, retro aprons including one Leah had registered for, retro glasses, and tablemats the girls colored on with crayons.  It was lovely and special.

We then went to the house and packed up the rented SUV's and all the cars with wedding and reception stuff, suitcases and the wedding party, and made a long caravan about 45 minutes to the Flying W Ranch.

What an amazing place!  Three cabins including a large one that sleeps tons of people.  It was rustic and decorated with cowboy stuff and deer heads and stuff.  It had wrap around porches with big rocking chairs and a giant hot tub.  More about Flying W later.

Then we all loaded up and went out to the land.  I guess Scott and I also checked in to our hotel, The Grand Central in Cottonwood Falls about 15 minutes away.

At the land, the girls picked flowers for the wedding walking all around the prairie.  

The rehearsal was pretty straight forward, although later I didn't remember anything I was supposed to do!  I liked the officiant, Ruth Harder, a lot.  Leah had already told us that we were both walking her down the aisle and giving her a blessing.  

Leah had also told Joel that he was ushering and standing up with her.  He found out he was also going to take the microphone back and forth a bunch of times.

It really still hadn't all sunk in that this was really happening.  I think I felt numb.  I just enjoyed the family time.