Emily & Josh wedding

One week ago Vernon and I were in Longview, TX, where we witnessed the wedding vows of our niece, Emily Powell, and Josh Lyon. We are very glad we were able to travel there to be with my sister and her four daughters. Emily is the youngest and last to be married. We arrived Thursday afternoon in time for Deb to participate in the bridal shower for Emily. Vernon joined the groom and his attendants at a men's outing: grilled burgers, skeet shoot and pool tournament. During the shower, my sister, Laura's, four grandchildren were cared for in a separate room at the church where the shower took place. So at the end, Laura went to get the children. Here she holds the two younger ones, girls Reece (left) and Zoe. Neither were walking on their own yet. Both are just over a year old and are so sweet. I really enjoyed holding them.
Here the girls' brothers are meeting their great-great Aunt Rhoda for the first time. Owen, on the left, is Reece's brother. Jordan, on the right, is Zoe's brother. Both boys turned 4 this May and July.
Most of us stayed at the same hotel, so we got to see each other more often. One morning before breakfast I got to hold Reece and take some pictures of us while I held her. Not sure what she is thinking about her great Aunt Deb.
My sister, Laura, made a quilt for Emily & Josh called Fragrant Paths. Beautiful, isn't it? She gave it to Emily & Josh the night before their wedding when we went to their apartment
The beautiful bride and her mother before the ceremony
Perfectly beautiful, isn't she?
Radiant mother of the bride, Laura and Deb
I took this of Emily & Josh before the ceremony after their photo session.
Emily's three sisters were her attendants. This is Amy, mother of Jordan and Zoe. Her husband, Cruz, is still in the Army and wasn't able to attend.
This is Katie, mother of Owen & Reece. She is Laura's oldest, too.
This is Kimber, the matron of honor with me. Laura calls her girls priceless jewels and they are.
Katie's husband, Ben, is holding Reece, dressed appropriately after her nap while Owen talks to her. This was taken during the photo session prior to the ceremony. Laura views her sons-in-law and grandchildren as priceless jewels, too.
Vernon felt sick the morning of the wedding and nearly didn't get to participate. He arrived just in time to get in a few pictures with Emily before the ceremony started.
I must tell you how delighted I am with this photo. It was taken with my left hand without looking through the lens because I was looking through the video camera held in my right hand. They left the church in a borrowed Corvette.
And here we are after they left, resting for a minute after all the excitement.
I must brag on Vernon. On Friday, the day before the wedding, Emily's family and Josh's family and some of their friends joined together at the church to decorate and prepare the spaces we would use the next day. Wherever Vernon went, he was a helpful problem solver. That is what he likes to do wherever he goes. One example happened during the rehearsal. Josh's grandmother was going to play a keyboard during the ceremony while everyone sang a hymn. She needed a way for the hymnal to be placed where she could read the music and she also needed the book to stay open. Vernon figured out how to get the music stand in the right place and found some rubber bands to keep the pages open. I knew he would be helpful all day and I often say, "I love being married to a scientist" because he's always figuring out a better solution.

I know you are wondering how Vernon is doing with the radiation. He's had 8 of the 30 treatments that are planned. We are grateful that so far he's having minimal side effects. The skin is a little more red but that is typical, like a sunburn. He might be a bit more fatigued. Please keep praying with us that any latent cancer cells are killed more serious negative side effects don't materialize. There is no radiation on Saturday and Sunday so that the healthy cells have a chance to recover from the previous days of x-ray bombardment. Healthy cells recover much quicker than cancer cells.

In case you are wondering how we were affected by Tropical Storm Fay, we are basically fine after four days of rain. Our front door faces west and it is sticking/difficult to open because it is swollen, I think. I don't think we got even 10 inches of rain while others east of us got 25". No flooding here and we are very grateful. I cannot imagine dealing with the contents of our house if there was water standing four feet deep. I did a happy dance this morning when I saw the sunshine. The typical blue sky and clouds of Florida are above us once again. We continue to have much to be thankful for and we are thankful.

If you wish to see more of the photos I took last weekend, click on the link to view them:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Debrady05/EmilyJoshWedding02