The long-awaited wedding day has finally arrived, and we were blessed with the coolest weather in a month. God is definitely shining down his blessings on Blake and Claire today!
But we must back up and describe how the day unfolded. Being the parents of the groom, we are used to hanging out with the boys. We took this picture in the afternoon, with our two sons--the groom and his brother--the best man.
Mark was up early the morning of the wedding, helping to transport and unload the things that will turn a park into a wedding cathedral. He was also in charge of picking up the groom's cake while Denisa enjoyed a more leisurely morning. Then we all met at the park a couple hours before pictures were to be taken. The groom's party was kept busy with a game of "Oregon Trail" complete with background banjo music and trail mix for snacks.
After a couple hours on the dusty Oregon Trail, we're glad to see that this group cleans up pretty well for pictures.
Blake and Claire gave all the men in the wedding party new socks that appropriately fit their personalities.
There were socks with bacon and eggs, tacos, flamingos, sharks, space cats . . . Mark appropriately got the socks with bananas on them.
Being the mother of the groom gives Denisa the unique opportunity to hang out in both the bride and groom rooms. The girls are not playing board games. Instead, they are wearing matching silk robes, nibbling on dainty snacks, and having their hair and make-up done by professionals. After a wonderful morning of pampering, the bride looks beautiful!
We got the first picture of our two daughters-in-law together on the wedding day.
There were more pictures throughout the afternoon. We liked this one with Claire's parents. There's nothing quite like getting ready for a wedding to make friendly acquaintances into good friends.
We're proud of Blake, wishing him and Claire a life-time of the marital bliss we enjoy.
We didn't take any pictures during the wedding among the massive oak trees in park. You will have to take our word that it was cool and lovely. Both the bride and groom read the vows they had written, and it was one of the sweetest weddings we have ever attended. Then we all made the trip up the hill to the conservatory, where the new Mr. and Mrs. Engelman had their first dance.
Knowing that Denisa loves to dance, she took advantage of this wedding reception to share the dance floor with the groom. She loves the words to the song, "Long Line of Love" that fit this occasion so beautifully.
We enjoyed a bountiful buffet and drinks, while being entertained with more music and dancing. The sun was going down when the toasts were made. We found out that the best man has the talent to go into motivational speaking if he tires of his career as a doctor. He used the old cliche, "you can pick your friends, but not your family." So even though he couldn't pick Blake as a brother, he's now glad to have him on his team any day. He also pointed out that there's a loop-hole in that old cliche--because when you get married, you are actually picking your closest family member for the rest of your life. We think they both did a great job of picking each other!
It was a delightful evening, and we could bore you with more and more pictures. But we're trying to keep this blog short and sweet (or at least sweet). The happy couple left the park around 9:40 p.m., while the adoring crowd showered them with fairy dust.
That's about the time that the guy working at the conservatory let us know that all of our stuff had to be out of the building, and everything cleaned up by 10:00. That was news to us! We certainly appreciated the crowd of friends pitching in to help with picking up trash, transporting decorations, putting up chairs, folding up tables, and sweeping. We looked like worker ants, running everywhere and cleaning up with the speed of light. There are no pictures of the activity because we were too busy for that!
We had everything sitting on the curb to be loaded into vehicles around 10:30. That's when we realized that the wedding coordinator had failed to get everything from the ceremony site under the trees. In the meantime, all the gates to the park had been locked. What could we do?!? Mark and the bride's father (also named Mark) decided to break into the park. It's probably best that they didn't tell their wives. Still in his wedding clothes, Mark scaled a seven-foot fence--complete with spikes at the top. He made two trips, running into the park in the dark and retrieving the lost items. He thought to take a picture of the other Mark, waiting for him to lift the items over the fence. He barely had enough energy to get himself back over that tall fence.
The good news is that no fathers were arrested for breaking and entering into a public park in the dark. The other good news is that no new pants or shirts were permanently torn in jumping over that very tall spiked fence. The final good news is that the wedding was a splendid success, and we now have a great story to tell. Congratulations to Blake and Claire! We love you both!
It seems like we have been driving up and down the highway between Kansas City and Oklahoma since we arrived in May. This is our fourth trip into Oklahoma during the last month. For this 6-hour trip we have a passenger. We're transporting our oldest son's dog back to Oklahoma for the weekend. At 85 pounds, he fills up our entire back seat, but he's a great traveler.
But the real reason we're making this trip is for a very important occasion. Our youngest son, Blake, is getting married to his fiance Claire!
We left the motor home near Kansas City, as we are blessed that Denisa's sisters welcome us into their homes when we visit Oklahoma City. Thanks to Connie and Joe for making us feel so welcome, even with our crazy wedding preparation schedule. We broke curfew more than once! We made the trip to Oklahoma City 5 days early, giving us time to help around the house, and get ready for the big celebration. Mark did several projects, including working on the bridal couple's clothes dryer. He looks particularly handsome, huddled behind the dryer while working on the vent. We're guessing that this big appliance wasn't even invented at the time this house was built almost 100 years ago. He also did vent cleaning, bed frame construction, and helped with moving Blake into the house. He's pretty handy to have around.
As parents of the groom, we are responsible for the meal after the rehearsal. The bride and groom wanted to host it at the home they will share after the wedding, so we had wall-to-wall tables in their living room. Thanks to Denisa's sister and mother, who helped with last minute meal details.
The outdoor ceremony will be at an Oklahoma City park, so we met there for a morning wedding rehearsal. Like the rest of the midwest, Oklahoma has had unusually hot temperatures this month. So we were glad to be meeting at 9:00 in the morning before the park heated up.
Among the huge trees in the park, the shade felt good this morning.
We had some extra guests about the time the rehearsal was finished. Mom and Dad brought their adolescent goslings to the wedding site. Even though they are cute today, we're hoping they won't show up to goose the bride and groom tomorrow.
We had a great brunch back at the house, with lots of time for the entire wedding party to get to know each other. Then there were details like manicures and pedicures for the girls. Even though Denisa is used to hanging out with the boys, it was fun to be included in activities with the girls.
The last project of the day was introducing Denisa's Mother to her newest great-grandchild. We took a picture with the four generations out by the pool. Isn't it fun how our granddaughter just happens to show up in every blog now?
Our road trip passenger (aka their dog) is getting lessons on pool etiquette. He enjoys the shallow steps, but he isn't interested in jumping into the deep end.
We've been shopping and cooking for the last few days. Now that we're finished with the rehearsal brunch, it feels like some of the stress is over for us. But the big day is tomorrow, when we'll be back to the park for the wedding. Prayers have been answered, because a cool-front blew in this evening. We are looking forward to a beautiful wedding day!
Our motor home has been parked south of Kansas for a month now. We have been sharing our time between that new baby granddaughter . . .
and doing some sight-seeing in the Kansas City area. We were here for the Memorial Day weekend, where the metro area enjoyed some record-breaking hot temperatures. Since baby Carter can't be out in the heat, we spent some time inside playing games. Mark is working on his baby-holding skills while playing cards. Notice he is holding the bottle with his chin, and still able to play a game of spades. What a Granddad!
Later that day, we drove downtown for the city's memorial celebration. The World War I museum grounds was decked out in red, white and blue for the holiday.
From the museum, we had a bird's eye view of the grassy area in front of Union Station. The heat has kept the crowds down this afternoon, but the grass lawn will be covered with people this evening for the fireworks display after dark.
Kansas City calls their Memorial Day party, "Celebration at the Station." Inside Union Station is a memorial to area veterans (and air-conditioning to cool us off).
Outside, the Air Force band is setting up for the afternoon concert. With the humidity and temperatures close to 100 degrees, everyone was looking for shade. Later this evening, the Kansas City Symphony will perform in the band shell, but we didn't have the stamina to wait that long in the heat for that. Besides, we had last minute packing to complete back at the motor home.
At our campground, we had noticed new next door neighbors had pulled in. We were curious about their Oklahoma tags. They even have a "OU/OSU house-divided" plate on the front of their motor home. We were anxious to meet these neighbors, as we must have a lot in common. So we were certainly surprised to see that we knew them! This is Rev. and Mrs. Hardy--the pastor and wife in the church where Denisa grew up in the Oklahoma panhandle many years ago.
As we pack for our youngest son's wedding, is it coincidental that the preacher that performed our own wedding ceremony 36 years ago is our next door neighbor? At 85, Darrel is still leading a church during the winter months in south Texas. In the summer they travel in their motor home to spend time with their children. They have stayed in this campground for many years, visiting their daughter and family in the Kansas City area. Besides preaching, Darrel has a hobby--he bakes sour dough bread. Each week he bakes six loaves, and gives away five of them. We were the lucky recipient of one of those loaves this week. Warm out of the oven, it was delicious!
So we had a very memorable Memorial Day weekend. Now we must be packing, as we have another road trip to make!
We have been putting lots of miles on our car lately. Within nine days, we drove 6.5 hours to celebrate Mother's Day; then 4.5 miles to spend more days with Mark's Mother at the barn; then 4 hours back to Kansas City, then 5.5 hours back to the hospital in Oklahoma City, and finally 5.5 hours back to Kansas City. We're now glad to stay put for about week, before we make that 5.5 hour trip back to Oklahoma City for our youngest son's wedding. Of course, the reason we are hanging out in Kansas City is to spend time with our granddaughter. She's so smart that for her three-week-birthday she was holding up three fingers!
We are spending lots of time changing diapers, holding Carter, and feeding supplemental bottles. We are out of practice of changing diapers, and we had forgotten the satisfaction of teasing a burp out of a little body. We are loving this up-close time with our favorite little girl, and her parents.
Instead of hiking on mountain trails with panoramic views, Denisa's view on this "hike" was from behind a stroller, with Mark and the family dog leading the way.
Mark is a brave man, staying outside with both a newborn and a dog while Denisa and Jordan went inside the grocery store. When a woman coming out of the store saw the baby and dog, she commented, "What a cutie!" Mark cheerfully said "thank you" and then added dejectably, "Oh, you meant the baby." As the woman ducked away towards her car, we think she was secretly deciding to shop somewhere else next time.
Even though we are tempted to spend every minute at our son and daughter-in-law's house, we recognize that they need some space. So we are exploring the areas in our new town. We did manage some hiking on a trail at Kemper Outdoor Education Center.
We seem to be snake magnets, as we came across this guy slithering across the trail.
Not far down the road is a pasture with a herd of bison. This hot weather is miserable for animals that are still sporting their winter coats.
The herd of elk is staying in the trees. But this guy was showing off his velvety horns close to the road.
Feeding the animals is actually encouraged here, with signs listing only a few things that the animals shouldn't eat. We almost always have fruit in the car, and this bison was very glad we stopped by with our apple slices
We spent another evening exploring Longview Lake, where we discovered a nice biking trail.
After spending an unusually large amount of time sitting while holding a baby, it felt good to be getting some exercise. We were surprised that one off-shoot of this trail would take us to the Truman Farm Home. We made that turn toward that National Historic Site, but turned back after the second big hill. Denisa really prefers a bike ride along a nice flat lake shore, rather than the hills of Northern Missouri.
Another day we made the trip to Benny's Berries, to pick strawberries.
Hidden among those lush green leaves, were some brilliant red berries just ripe for the picking. It was hot outside, and it was muddy, and this strawberry picking is back-breaking work.
Since we were providing the sweat and labor, one would think these berries would be ridiculously cheap. Quite the contrary, they were four times the cost of the ones we bought at the grocery on the same day. Can you guess which are the store bought, and which are the fresh-picked?
The large ones on the left came from a local grocery, and were on sale for 99 cents per pound. The smaller berries on the right are the ones we purchased for (ahem) slightly more. We used a combination of the two to make a yummy batch of fresh strawberry freezer jam. We can tell you that Benny's berries were definitely juicier. They were also red to the center, instead of white like the ones we are used to buying at the store. Speaking of wonderfully fresh local produce, we also made a trip to the Kansas City Farmers' Market.
In the shadow of downtown Kansas City, we could see the tall buildings behind the fruit and vegetable stalls.
Denisa was on a quest to find spring peas, and she hit the jack pot here! It feels like we have slid right from winter into summer, so we are afraid we won't be able to get these spring delicacies for long. We've had a couple days of record-breaking heat here, with temperatures running 10-15 degrees hotter than usual for this time of year.
So even though we are hanging out in Kansas City because of precious relatives that we know so well, we are still exploring and finding new things to do in our new temporary home town.
