The Preacher Who Married Us

Rev. Darrel Hardy must have done a good job when he performed our wedding ceremony, because after 33 years those vows have still held!  Darrel and Winona Hardy are very special to our family.  

They were the pastoral family for many years at the Beaver United Methodist Church when Denisa was growing up.  They organized all those summer youth trips and winter ski trips that were a great blessing for the youth in our church during our teen years.  Rev. Hardy performed the wedding ceremony for not only Mark and Denisa, but also for both of Denisa's sisters.  He drove combine for us in the summer, and worked as a rodeo clown keeping bulls away from the cowboys for years.  On a more somber note, he also preached at Denisa's Father's funeral, and has promised to return to Beaver for Denisa's Mother's funeral some day.


Now he is retired, but like many wonderful preachers he is still a full-time minister.  So last Sunday we made the trip to Trophy Gardens Resort in Alamo to hear his sermon and spend a little time with Darrel and Winona.  Denisa's Mother makes it a point to meet them for lunch every winter, but this was the first time she had ever made the trip on a Sunday to attend their church service.  We had a special bonus to this visit because their daughter Sonya and her husband were visiting them this weekend.  They were celebrating their wedding anniversary weekend by spending it with her parents.  I'm sorry that I didn't get a picture of Sonya!

As you can see, Darrel and Winona still look great!  Since it was the Sunday of Valentine's weekend, they recognized the 15 couples that were celebrating 50th wedding anniversaries in the congregation at Trophy Gardens.  In his usual style, Rev. Hardy gave each husband a red rose to give to each wife--and they were required to present it with a kiss in front of the congregation.  Winona read off the names of the couples, while Darrel coached the kissers.


There were two roses left, so Rev. Hardy sent them home with Denisa and her Mother.

We had time on Sunday afternoon to bike back to the World Birding Center.  Some times we forget that working people have only the weekend to play.  Many of the birds were hiding from the louder families that were enjoying the park today.  But we still spotted some beautiful birds on our bike ride through the park.  

 Here's Mr. Cardinal and his lovely (but not as colorful) Mrs. Cardinal.

 We also got a picture of a green jay trying to blend in with the lime green leaves on his tree.

And finally, the bird trifecta, with three different birds in the same frame.

Just as important, we got some good exercise on our 10+ mile bike ride!  We parked the bikes and hiked down a couple of the trails inside the park as well.

The hawk tower is on one of those hikes.  While standing on the tower, we didn't spot any hawks cruising the breezes. But we did see a border patrol helicopter overhead, cruising the Mexican border just south of where we were standing.