"I have found the one whom my soul loves." Song of Solomon

 LoVe marriage Jesus, sunshine {M&A}cowboy boots LACE  barn tWiNkLe lights  TrEaTs   I do  family  corn hole  boat full of drinks  laughter  tears  friends beautiful kiss cake

 unforgettable

happily ever after starts now...

tomorrow is going to be the best day ever...

We had a great time celebrating the 4th of July at the lake with the L's, we got to bed late and up early to head west for Aaron & Meagan's rehearsal dinner! Yippee, almost time for them to get hitched! The drive to Seattle always gets my heart stirring. We went there for our honeymoon, which was my first trip to Seattle ever. We drove there to meet our baby girl for the first time and bring her home. Both of these trips were in December, when the pass, mountains and evergreens were blanketed in sparkly snow. And now this time, in the summer sun, just as special and monumental as we welcome a precious person into our family, and celebrate with a son that you can't imagine could make you more proud.

Aaron and Meagan asked for a jar of dirt for the wedding {they did register for real presents too;)}. Instead of doing a unity candle, they had the parents bring dirt from home so they could use it to plant a tree. Sweet huh?!

We made it to Puyallup just in time to get out of our comfies, freshen up and go to the Rehearsal. The place they chose for their wedding is gorgeous. Beyond beautiful. We'd been there before to see Aaron at camp, but it was usually getting dark by the time we got there, so I've never seen it during the day, or long enough to really enjoy it!

Flower girl to be...

Flowers for the tables all ready for tomorrow....

Ninny and two of her boys

Ella is using her flower girl bucket as a dunce hat. 

Love birds

Practice makes perfect...

Meagan and her Daddy, love the way she's looking at Aaron.

Not so fast, this isn't official yet!

Daddy and Son

 Aaron and his Moms:) So funny because a couple of times throughout this wedding process, people {including the waiter at Rehearsal dinner} have thought that Ruth and I are a couple when the kids describe us as their "Moms" or "both of my Mothers-in-law."

Papa is the best jungle gym on the planet.

Attempting, as usual, to get a normal picture of the kids.

Then it was off to Rehearsal DINNER, the best part of any Rehearsal:) Yummy food ~ mac 'n' cheese, cornbread, BBQ ribs, baked beans, bread pudding, Coke in Mason jars. They did good picking each other, and the restaurant.

Ok, this is one of my favorite pictures. I know that sounds odd, but if you look at the way everyone is looking at Aaron, it is so sweet. Melts my heart.

So it's off to the hotel pool and then to a very squished sleeping arrangement for some Zzzz's before the Big Day tomorrow!

I stole part of a blog post that Aaron wrote, I wanted to add it here because it gives a glimpse into what was on his mind as he was about to get married...

• Easily the biggest and most important event over the last year and a month concerns a certain young lady that at the time of my last post, we had been dating for month.  You will notice in this blog I have tended to shy away from posts regarding my relationship status, mainly because I wanted this to be a blog that was more about my ministry than a way for my mothers to formulate a possible countdown to grandchildren.  Also, with the blog being in the realm of public access that my students have access too, I thought it better not to divulge into this topic…but now that has changed. In December I asked Meagan to marry me and the wedding is set to take place a week and a half from this blog post…yeah I know, we have been killing it when it comes to wedding planning so that I feel like I can take a good chunk of my day this close to the wedding to blog.  Get on our level.
  

  
  

  This was at a wedding shower…I was hiding downstairs, but the cupcakes were upstairs…so naturally…
• In May, I was nominated for the golden apple award, which is a teacher of the year award for Western Washington.  I was immensely honored and humbled by this nomination, but was quickly disappointed when the nomination packet arrived because the letter read something like this:  Congratulations on being nominated teacher of the year, now write us 5 papers telling us why you should get it!  For those of you who know me you know that I don’t enjoy selling myself in a “I’m really good at what I do” manner.  I prefer to just put my head down, do the work, and let the results speak for themselves, but unfortunately I didn’t have that option this time.  We hear back on the results in October, but truly, simply being nominated by parents and students for this award is a hugely humbling distinction that I am grateful for.
• Right…so on to other business.  Like I said a week and a half from our wedding, family are starting to pour in to help out with preparations, my best man and his family is flying in from Northern Ireland…its crazy.  Not even good crazy…I mean awesome crazy.  Let me use the rest of my blogging endurance to tell you why.  First, I took this job in Orting because I felt like my entire life had been grandly orchestrated and shaped by my creator to be suited for this job.  The tears of thankfulness that I wept when I realized I had been offered this job that God had put into motion so many years ago were some of the best tears I have ever shed.  I am now learning that was just the tip of the iceberg.  Let’s be honest, if you were to look at Orting it isn’t exactly a hotbed of young adult activity.  Families settle here to commute to work and because they like the community.  Teenagers and younger are here because, well, they are a part of those aforementioned families.  In between…not a whole lot going on.  The nearby city of Puyallup has a bustling network of Christian, young-adult, post-college savvy ministries that I could have gotten plugged into but worshiping in the same place I had my teaching ministry was crucial to me.  Through church, Meagan (who had recently returned from studying out of state and was seeking her next step) and I started to hang out along with a small group of other friends and as we starting dating we began to see His plan come to light.   To see that God was not only orchestrating the job that I was made for but also setting me in the place that I would meet the person I was created to love and the best partner in ministry for me….lets just say that first sprinkling of thankful tears feels like a broken, halfhearted sentiment in comparison to the new found appreciation for the cleverness, absolute goodness, deftness and mastery with which God makes all things beautiful in their time…and this coming from the guy who had legitimately pondered a calling to bad-ass singleness for his life.
  Anyway, to finish this rather uncharacteristically cheesy and smoosy-poosy rant (yes, I just made that up) I would have to say that if there was an axiom or idea that summed up where I am right now it would be this:  I always knew my God was good, and I always knew he was worth honoring and serving with how I lived my life…but holy crap has He presented an irrefutable case for how good He really is and it convicts  me to want to double my efforts in honoring and serving.  I pray that I would have the courage and earnestness to do the same in times in which, at least to my human eyes, His benevolence is harder to see.