If you are a regular reader of my blog you know my children live in the beautiful state of Colorado, in the Denver area. Many areas of Colorado have been besieged by wildfires of epic proportions this past month, most caused by lightning hitting extremely dry trees and brush. One of the latest fires of concern is in the foothill areas of Colorado Springs, the second largest city of Colorado, about an hour driving distance from Denver. As you can see by the photo above, this raging fire is extensive, and out of control!
The United States Air Force Academy is located in Colorado Springs, and as you can see by the photo above of the Air Force Chapel surrounded by smoke wafting across the canyon, it may also be in danger if the fires are not quickly put under control.
If you watch the heartbreaking CBS video above (it begins with a brief commercial) you will see that one fleeing resident of Boulder County took only one possession--the American Flag that was his son's. His son lost his life in the military in Iraq.
There are more than eight large wildfires burning across the state, the latest in Boulder County, north of Denver, which was also caused by a lightening strike. Record high temperatures above 100 degrees and extreme drought and high winds have been fueling all the fires and smoke, exhausting the thousands of firefighters on duty, and hindering the more than 100 airplanes and helicopters that are trying to dump water and fire retardant on the flames.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the people and state of Colorado, for their safety, that a good long soaking rain will help quench these fires and prevent new ones I am worried about my children and grandchildren, that they also may face the danger of fires in their area. Please keep them all in your prayers!
I am adding this post to Jenny Matlock's "Alphabe Thursday" weekly blog event -- the letter this week is "F" Sadly the word fire more than qualifies. Thanks, Jenny!
I miss my Daddy every day. He was such a good husband and father. An Army veteran of two wars, he was eleven years older than my Mother when they married, and they then went on to have four children. Quiet and dependable, I remember my Dad never missed a day of work. He loved to go fishing, watch baseball, and read. He often told me that when he was growing up he read every book in his little Pennsylvania town's public library. His favorite stories were James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales. When I was required to read The Last of the Mohicans in high school, we had our first of many "book talks." My Dad loved to laugh and watch comedies on TV, such as Red Skelton, Phil Silvers, The Honeymooners, and Life with Riley. The Ed Sullivan Show and the Million Dollar Movie were hardly ever missed. My Dad smelled of the Old Spice cologne I bought him every Father's Day. He liked to jingle the coins in his pocket, and he often hummed happy old tunes such as Marzy Dotes. One of my fondest memories was the "Father/Daughter Dance" we attended at my all girls high school when I was a senior student. He had to take the day off from work to attend the dance, and I know that was a sacrifice. He bought a corsage for me to wear and a boutonniere for himself for this special occasion -- you can see how we looked in the lower right of the photo collage above. It was such a proud and happy day for both of us! My family lost him tragically the next year. He went to work one day and never came home. How he died is much too sad and painful for me to detail here, but he died a hero trying to save others from his fate. I've miss him every day of the last forty years. This year my Mother joined him in heaven and we had the words "Together Again" inscribed on their gravestone. You were the best Father I could have wished for, Daddy! Happy Father's Day!
Thankfully, I was also blessed with the kindest, most loving husband I could have ever dreamed about. A man who was good a father to our children as my father was to me. A man who never raises his voice in anger, who is hard working and devoted to his family and who loves God and his adopted country. We will be married thirty eight years this October, and each day has been better than the last. My only regret was that he and my father never met, but I know that they would have liked each other very much! Happy Father's Day, my dearest!
Now my husband and I have the added blessing of seeing our son be a kind and loving father to his own two sons. The shining examples of how his father raised him is evident in all he does. Our grandsons could not have been given a better father and we pray that they will one day be the same for their children. The legacy of a loving fatherhood will hopefully be passed on for many generation to come. Happy Father's Day to our dear son!
Happy Father's Day to all the good daddies everywhere!
For a chance to win a $1,000 gift card Sweepstakes please comment on my prior post about where you would like to visit in the beautiful state of Connecticut at this link.
I've shown you my daughter and son-in-law's beautiful Brooklyn, New York, wedding ceremony on this post, my candid photos from their professional photo shoot in Brooklyn Bridge Park on this post, and their wedding cocktail hour and following reception on this post. So to finish the joyful sequence to their marriage I thought I'd share a few photos of where they spent their honeymoon, in the Cancun area of Mexico the Excellence Resort Playa Mujeres. Many friends recommended this resort to Lisa and Joe, as they are noted for their top notch service and accommodations. When they looked into the "all inclusive honeymoon package" they were sold!
They had a gorgeous suite overlooking the Caribbean Sea, that also included its own privateroof top pool and jacuzzi. As part of their honeymoon package they were pampered with breakfast in bed (which they chose to eat at a table on their terrace), had couple massages, and were served a romantic dinner on the beach. They felt like they were in paradise! They went para sailing, snorkeling, rode jet skis and enjoyed the relaxing sun filled days. On the last day there was an early morning rain shower and afterwards they saw a beautiful wide rainbow in the sky.
It was a wonderful honeymoon, and a memorable way to begin their marriage .
"And now abide faith, hope, and love, these three, but the greatest is love. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13"
Thank you for your congratulations and best wishes to the new couple and for following along as I've shown you photos from their special days! The last few months have been a whirlwind of activity and planning and now I look forward towards enjoying summer and having "life back to normal." What are you looking forward to? Do you have any special summer plans?
Linking up with Blue Monday on Smiling Sally's blog today! Enjoy the color blue!
I've already showed my daughter's wedding ceremony, which you can read about on this post, and also more photos are on this post, so now, as promised, I want to show some photos from the wedding cocktail hour and dinner reception celebration that took place afterward. All of the photos are a conglomeration of many photos taken by family and friends, all of which I have been enjoying immensely while we wait for the professional photos taken that day.
The wedding ceremony was followed by a cocktail hour, held right off the veranda of the catering hall where the ceremony was held, both outside and indoors. The string quartet we hired played a selection of songs during the entire hour. I loved this photo of my daughter and son-in-law enjoying their antipasti selections...my daughter has a napkin neatly tucked into her bodice to protect her dress.
The cocktail hour was an Italian "abbondanza" buffet, as in addition to the usual cocktail hour hors d'oeuvreselection we added on a "Tuscan Table" of an assortment of Italian cheeses, sausages, olives and breads, plus pasta selections, and a roast suckling pig. We also had a deluxe seafood selection of lobsters, shrimps, mixed seafood salad, oysters and calms on the half shell, with an open bar of premium liqueurs. My husband and I hardly ate anything, as we tried to walk around and greet everyone, but we were very pleased that our guests were enjoying all the food. My grandsons were very good, as were all the assortment of young nephews and great nieces and nephews. There are so many children in both families that my daughter and son-in-law felt they couldn't chose one ring bearer or a few flower girls, so none of the children were part of the ceremony, but they were all happy guests.
After the cocktail hour our guests were called up to the main dining area for dinner and dancing. As you can see from the photos above the room has almost floor to ceiling windows taking in Brooklyn's fabulous view of the East River, and both lower and mid town Manhattan and the Williamsburg Bridge. One of the table centerpieces is shown in the upper left of the photo collage. They were a full blend of white and purple springtime flowers in a square glass vase, surrounded by square votive candles. The wedding cake was on display, and was also decorated with purple and white roses and flowers.
After the parents, and bridal party was announced by the DJ and entered the room one by one, my daughter and son-in-law were announced and made their entrance to the applause of the guests.
They then begin their first dance as husband and wife. Their wedding song was a beautiful Blake Shelton song: "God Gave Me You," which you can hear on this link.
My husband gave a speech welcoming everyone, and the best man and matron of honor gave their heart felt toasts to the new couple.
At this time the bridal party was called back outside to take more photos and the girls took the opportunity to change into the purple sneakers my daughter had given them as gifts, so that they could dance the night away.
It made a fun photo!
The sun slowly set...
.....and more dancing began, as the music played in between dinner courses....
We all had a wonderful time!
Later in the evening there were the very touching and special father and daughter, and and son and step-mother, dances....
..... followed by the cake cutting ceremony. My daughter and son-in-law chose a chocolate and raspberry flavored cake with whipped cream frosting...it was very delicious! We also had a three tier tray of fresh fruit, cookies and assorted pastries set on each table for our guests to enjoy.
One of the last dances of the night was the traditional Italian Tarantella! If you can not see the video above you can watch it on this Youtube link. My older grandson was trying to swing around with me so exuberantly I had to pick him up at the end of the dance so we wouldn't fall down. It was such a wonderfully fun and celebratory party!
By the end of the night the city was ablaze with twinkling lights.
It was the end of a beautiful day...
..and a beautiful wedding!
Our little girl who delighted in trying on my wedding dress when she was four years old was now all grown up and herself a beautiful bride, and we couldn't be more pleased and happy for her. Thank you for sharing our happy and blessed day with us and for all your best wishes to the new couple!
I'm linking this post to Jenny Matlock's "Alphabe Thursday" -the letter this week is "C" and since this is a continuation post about my daughter's wedding I thought I'd join in!
So where does a girl and a guy who were born in Brooklyn, New York, go to have wedding portraits taken? Of course they go under the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn Bridge Park! My daughter and son-in-law wanted to have this iconic landmark as part of their wedding shots, even though they now call the state of Colorado home.
Their professional husband and wife photography team went to great lengths to get their shots, and we were so happy the weather cooperated with us.
I had brought along my point and shoot camera and was able to take these photos while we waited. In this shot my daughter is waving to people cheering their congratulations from a Circle Line Sightseeing cruise passing by in the East River.
Because we were in Brooklyn Bridge Park on a beautiful day, we were sharing our photo opportunity with quite a few park goers. On the other side of the park were picnickers and Jane's Carousel in full use. I've blogged about this wonderful new addition to the park on this post.
The bride and groom -- my hope is that the construction fence in the background isn't seen in the professional shots!
I captured the bridesmaids having a good time as they waited.....
...and one of the groomsmen took this photo of me with my son and husband.
Just look at this spectacular view only surpassed in beauty by the gorgeous line of young women standing in front of it!
At one point I caught my son and daughter-in-law smooching--I'm sure they were thinking about their own wedding day almost eight years prior!
The photographers moved us all into the historic ruins of the Civil war-era Tobacco Warehouse in the park. It is a another popular place for photos, as you can see by my daughter glancing at another bride and groom having their photos taken.
Our photographers had the bride and groom stand still while the bridal party had to run, jump and leap behind them. I'm sure these will be fun shots to see!
Of course I could not take my eyes off my darling daughter and handsome son-in-law.
I also took the opportunity to take some more candid shots of my son and husband and daughter-in-law.
Finally, always being in a blogger mode, I couldn't resist taking this artsy shot of the Manhattan Bridge through the window frame of the warehouse.
I'll be back soon to show the wedding reception in my next post. To see the marriage ceremony click here. Thank you all for your wonderful comment and best wishes -- my family has been reading and appreciating each and every one! It has been a busy few weeks, and it has just about slowed down to a normal routine around here...bring on summer!
I'm linking this post to Jenny Matlock's Alphabe Thursday --the letter this week is "B," Seasonal Sunday on the Tablescaper blog, "Sunday Bridges on the San Francisco Daily Photo Blog.
