9/3/2012: Wedding!!!

Marking the location

My son, Steven, got married on Saturday, September 1, 2012,  to Elizabeth Bruno.  Elizabeth has a three year old daughter, Ellia, and this blog post is about the special day we celebrated together, as the three of them became a family.

Steven and Elizabeth got married at Heceta Head Lighthouse State Park, about 13 miles north of Florence, Oregon.  The setting was beautiful.  The above picture is of the grassy area where we had a few picnic tables.  The dark, shady spot in the back of the photo was a perfect place to drag a picnic table and stack up all of the picnic baskets, so that the food would be out of the sun. 

The Lighthouse

The Beach

This is a picture of the beach where we spent most of our day.  Steven and Elizabeth invited their friends and family to enjoy a day on the beach, from about 11:00am - 4:00pm.  They purchased 10 picnic baskets and food to fill each basket including fruit, veggies, hummus, cheese, bread, crackers, and chocolate bars.  I baked chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies to add to the basket.  On our way through Eugene, Friday evening, we picked up Steve, the baskets and all of the food.  We barely had room for all of us and all the food in the van.  We hauled everything up to our hotel room in Florence and Carla and I, with Jack pitching in, got up early on Saturday morning to fill the baskets.  They were chock full by the time we got everything into them.  Once most of the guests arrived, groups of about 4 people each grabbed a basket and headed down to this beach to enjoy lunch and each others' company.

Here are several of us, relaxing, enjoying our picnic lunches, and the relishing in the beauty of the day!

This is Steven and my dad, enjoying a quiet moment together, with the ocean in the background.

For entertainment there was lawn bowling...

...and kite flying!

Steven, Elizabeth, Nancy (Elizabeth's grandmother) and Carla putting together a kite.

Elizabeth and her daughter, Ellia

Ellia and her mom, Grandmother, Great Grandmother, and God mother...and Joe Rankin

We had a wonderful afternoon visiting with each others' families and with Steven's and Elizabeth's friends.  I have often thought that it would be a nice wedding tradition to have the party before the ceremony, so that everyone could come together and get to know one another before the couple was married.  That is exactly was Steven and Elizabeth decided to do.  Below are a few pictures of me and my family as we enjoyed our day at the beach.

Me, of course

Jack and me

Steven and his bride, Elizabeth

Steven, Carla, and their dad, David

At about 4:00 in the afternoon we gathered together to witness the exchanging of their vows.  They decided to get married in this grotto that you can see behind me.  Here I am blowing the horn to call everyone together for the ceremony.

Jack, all dressed up for the ceremony!

Carla and me walking to the grotto

Steve, walking with his dad.  He will be exchanging vows with his bride, soon.

After we gathered together on the rocks in front of the grotto, Joe, Steven's and Elizabeth's good friend, welcomed us and began the ceremony by introducing Elizabeth to Steven's friends and family and Steven to Elizabeth's friends and family.  It was a beautiful moment.

Then Steve and Elizabeth read some special passages to us and exchanged their wedding vows...

After they exchanged vows, Steven and Elizabeth had a surprise for us.  We had no idea what it was going to be, but we were asked to wait for them.  Here are a few pictures of those gathered together to share this special day.

And surprise!!  The new family ran into the ocean together!  Here is a picture after their little dunk!

And finally, we took a few photos after the ceremony...

Happy day!!

Steve, Joe and Ray; college buddies from KU that made the trip

Steven's new family with me, Carla, and David

I feel truly blessed to have Elizabeth and Ellia as new members of our family.  I am looking forward to the years ahead of us, as we blend our families together and become one.