Justin's Birthday

Last week I was able to buy my very first 'brother' birthday card, as it was Justin's 25th birthday.
Cara had a surprise party for him at Moose Winooski's last Saturday night where his family and friends from Brantford joined up with our family and friends from Listowel, and we had a celebration.
It was quite the ordeal to try to get him to the restaurant for the surprise. He thought that since it was his birthday that he should be able to pick the restaurant that he wanted to go to, and he wanted to go to the Keg. I finally had to tell him to suck it up, and if he did not co-operate with us (since we were taking him out for dinner) that we would not do anything for him at all. He was kind of being a baby about the whole thing, but I think he maybe changed his attitude when we got there. He said that he suspected something, but ya right....people always say that after their surprise parties.

His actual birthday was on the Monday, but him and Cara went to Darien Lake with his brother and sister-in-law, so we had his family birthday celebration on the Tuesday night.

Omand Family/McLaughlin Family Friend's Shower

Last Saturday I had a shower hosted for me by Curt's aunt Joyce and her daughter Carrie at the Gownstown hall. All of Curt's mom's family was there, along with the McLaughlin family friends, and the wedding party's mother's.
The shower was truly elegant, true Joyce style. When Curt's aunt Joyce plans something, it is truly elegant. The appetizers where catered, along with the desserts and they were awesome.
I received sooooo many nice gifts. We are truly lucky to have all these generous people in our lives. I can not wait to get them all home after the honeymoon and get them into our house. They will all have a special place somewhere.
Here are some pictures of the day:

all the wonderful foodme opening some of my giftsme and my girls, Trisha, Cara, Laura & Jillmom, me and Lois

my bow decor....flip flops & a pashmina

Ryan & Karen's Wedding

A couple of weeks ago Curt's cousin Ryan got married and Curt was in the wedding party.
(short on words today, so here are the pictures)

the guys in the limo on their way to the church
Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin
the most beautiful junior bridesmaid that I have ever seen....Destiny
the boys......Andrew, Curt and Ryan

Cara and Justin

The Morning After

On Sunday morning we woke up and got everything loaded up out our room (and it was a lot, all of the wedding parties tuxes, left over booze, and all of our stuff), and then we went down to have our breakfast.
After breakfast we then went up to the ballroom and had to pack up the stuff from there. By the time we were ready to get in the car to come home, the last thing that anyone really wanted to do was get into a car and drive another 45 minutes, and then have to unload it all when we got home.
We managed to get everything unloaded, and then by that time I was not tired anymore, so I put together a photo album with my mom and my pictures. One for me, one for my mom, and one for Cara.
Cara and Justin are not in the Dominican for 2 weeks!!!!! HAVE FUN!!!!

(Curt forgot to pack is sandals for Sunday, so he had to wear his dress shoes to brunch at the hotel)

The Big Day - 07/07/07

Well, my little sister got married the past weekend. I had heard on the radio a few weeks ago that 07/07/07 was the most popular wedding day of all time, but you would have never been able to tell. Not anywhere that we went did you see another wedding party.
Saturday morning we were up bright and early and had our baths/showers and got ready to go and get our hair and make-up done. We went to a salon in Kitchener, so we were all able to get our hair done at the same time.
We grabbed some lunch when we were finished, and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. I went down to the ballroom when we got home to put all the favours out on the tables for Cara, and to check everything out, before I got ready. The photographer was early, so I had to run around getting ready, and by the time I was ready, I had to re-do some of my make-up and my hair because I had worked up quite a sweat in my hurry.
The day went by soooo fast. I can only imagine what it will be like for me in a little over 9 weeks. It is a blur of events from the time that I got dressed, until the time that I went to bed.
It was the most relaxed wedding that I think that anyone could have been in. From sitting getting papered the day before, to sitting and eating lunch in a restaurant 2 hours before the wedding. It was amazing. I said that they better not expect to be doing that stuff the day of mine though. Since we are doing all the decorating, and the wedding is at my parents, I don't think that it will be quite that relaxed.
I have so many photos of the day, I could not pick just a few to post on her, so I will give you the website so you can check them all out:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35602&l=04e29&id=807100376
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35499&l=4fbd4&id=807100376

Day Before the Big Day

Friday morning I got up nice and early and got some running around done before we headed down to Waterloo for the wedding. My mom came over to pick me up at 11:00, and this is how we found the cake when we opened the back to pack my bag:

Cara reacted very well!!!! I am glad that it happened to her, and not to me in 9.5 weeks, because I am not sure that I would have been as calm as she was!!!!! The other girls headed to Waterloo to get checked into the room, and head to our pedicure appointments, and mom and I headed back to her house so that we could mix a big bowl of icing to mend the cake later on.

After we went to the hotel and unpacked the vehicles, we met up with the rest of them at our appointment, and we all were able to sit and get pampered for an hour.

After our pampering, we went to the mall to pick up a few things, and back to the hotel, and out for dinner. We decided to go the Keg for dinner, and by coincidence only, we had Cara's high school sweat heart as a waiter. It was hilarious to see her face when she seen that it was him that would be serving us. He was a good sport about it, as we told him that it was her last night as a free women, and he treated us to a huge piece of cheesecake at the end of our meal.

After we were done with dinner, we headed back to the hotel, and put the baskets together that went in the rooms of the people that were spending the night in the hotel, and then went for a nice hot tub.

By the time we all got our nails done, our eyebrows tinted, and our messed feet fixed, it was like 1:30, and we all got tucked into bed.....we had to try to get a few hour of sleep for our very big day!!!!!

Rehearsal & Dinner

Thursday night was the rehearsal for the wedding. We all headed down to the Waterloo Inn for 7:00 and had the rehearsal in the room that the ceremony would be in, and then Justin's family had rented a suite for the night, that had access to the garden area, and they had everyone back there for the dinner after. It was very nice and relaxing, as we were able to chat with everyone before the big day. Cara and Justin also gave the people that were participating in the wedding their gifts. Us girls got jewelry to wear on Saturday, a brown feather boa to wear in some fun pictures, and a rock, that had our favourite saying painted on it. They were very nice, and it looks great sitting out on my deck right know.

Engagement Photos

A couple of weeks ago we headed down to Stratford to get our engagement pictures taken by our photographer. I went last night to pick them up, and here is a sample of some the proofs. I tried to get one of each pose that we did:I am having a hard time picking which one is my favourite, all though there defiantly are some front runners!!! I am very pleased with the way that they turned out.

Click on the link if you would like to see them all:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35865&l=fd098&id=807100376

Summer Fun

Well we are almost to the end of another long weekend, and what great weather we had for this one. It was a little cool in the nights, but the days were wonderful. We decided last week that we had enough stuff to do around the house that we would just stay at home for the weekend, instead of head up to the cottage.

Friday night we went to Clint and Trisha's for dinner to celebrate Trisha's birthday and then we went to the outdoor dance in Atwood. It was very cold out there, and I don't think that there were too many people over the age of 21 there. I felt OLD!!! We came home around 11:30 and I got into my warm bed.

We are going to end our l

Saturday Curt and the guys went golfing, and I did some cleaning, got some groceries, did some running around, and then I sat out by the pool, and attempted to write my speech for Cara and Justin's wedding. After the guys come home they went in the pool, and we had a BBQ, and a massive game of boccie ball.

Sunday we were over in Atwood all day for the Canada Day celebrations. There was a parade, a ball tournament, and the beer gardens. We had dinner there, it was a pork chop BBQ, and came home after dinner. We went to the hot tub, and watch a few fireworks in the neighbor hood from there, and then went to bed.

Today was a work day. I finished my speech, got all of the wedding invitations ready to go out, and Curt cleaned the garage, and got the hose reel put together for our garden hose. After he was done he had worked up a sweat, and decided to cool down in the pool. We have to take the water out of it (at least our lawn will get a good drink), and put it away until August know, as we do not have another weekend were we will be home to sit in it, until then. We are just about to head over to my parents place for dinner.

We are going to end our long weekend, with a BBQ....yum, yum!!!!

I hope that everyone had a wonder, and safe Canada Day weekend!!!!!!!!!!!

And the WINNER Is..........

Yesterday was the Atwood Loin's 50th Anniversary for their July 1st Celebrations. For as long as I can remember, we have always been to the celebration in Atwood on July 1st. As a kid you would go and play the games, and see how many neet summer toys that you could win to keep yourself occupied for the rest of the summer!!!!

The Loin's also hold a draw, where they sell tickets about 6 months ahead of time, and each meeting that they have leading up to the celebration they draw early bird tickets that people can win $50.00, and then the day of the celebration they hold an elimination draw, and every so many tickets will be winners of $100.00, and the second last ticket drawn wins $1000.00, with the last one winning $2000.00.

My dad is an member of the Loin's club, so he has to sell these tickets, and a couple of weeks ago he was complaining that he had not sold a winner yet. Well, at the end of yesterday, he was handed 8 cheques, for tickets that he had sold, to deliver to the winners.

For as long as I can remember I have always had a ticket in the draw. When we were younger, Cara and I always had to share one, but I never remember winning anything. Well, this morning my dad delivered this to me:

I guess that makes up for the years that I won nothing. I will probably never win anything from it again, but oh well, it was a good year for the winning to happen!!!! (but notice that there is only one person's name on the cheque.....sorry about your luck Curt, I guess next year you will get your $20.00 out when someone asks you to buy a ticket!!!!!!!)

Strachan Family Friends Shower

Last Sunday our family friend Joanne had a shower for Cara, Jenna and I. Jenna is another family friend who is getting married the week after Curt and I are. There were a lot of people at the shower. Most of the people that were there were there for all three of us, but a few were there just for either Cara and I, or just for Jenna.
We got some wonder, and very nice gift but I was unable to set them all up at my parents place after the shower. It has come to the point that Cara needs to get her stuff out of the basement, and I have to upgrade to the bigger room.
I am not sure what I am going to do with all of the wonderful stuff that I have got, with already having 4 showers, and I still have 3 more to come. I have been told by many people that if I don't have a place for it, they would be more then happy to take if off my hands, but I think that I will manage to be able to house it all, and display, or use it, with pride!!!!!

McLaughlin Shower

Last weekend Curt was away at Justin's stag, and I had a shower hosted for me by the McLaughlin side of Curt's family. It was on Saturday, and was very nice. This was my first shower that I had that was just for me, and I was a little nervous. All the other showers before have been joint with Cara, so I have not had to do all the 'guest of honour' stuff on my own, but this time I did. the hostesses of the day, Curt's aunt Jean, Kristie, his grandma, Laura, and Lauren

my with my grandmas, mom and the pillows that they gave me as a gift

Curt's grandma Marg, with me and the blanket that she gave me

my cake

me serving my cake!!!!!

Thank you to Jean, Laura, Lauren & Kristie for the beautiful shower!!!!!!!!!