Monday, December 21, 2015

The weekend I was hugged by an angel... & was adopted by a family ... & had my phone taken away


I couldn't even begin to post the title in one short sentence...

it was THAT busy of a weekend.  Like BUSY.... x's 20....

But it was wonderful...

& I got lots of pictures to document... so I'll try to keep it basic & quick but let you see how fun & busy the weekend was.

Friday, I got home only to turn around & travel up to another part of town for a wedding rehearsal for a wedding that I was shooting on Saturday.

I about gasped when I walked in & saw the trees at the front of the church... GORGEOUS!!!!


... plus 10,000 rose pedals down the side of the aisles!  OH MY WORD!

This made me so excited for this wedding.  Not to mention that this gang is just THE BEST! Like THE BEST doesn't even describe this family properly. Just a hint of that - at their rehearsal, they all dressed in ugly Christmas Sweaters.... & the father of the groom even wore reindeer house shoes the whole time.

I headed home & knew Ricky wasn't home - he had gone to a surprise birthday poker night for our buddy Ryan who is turning 30 in the next few days... which gives me an ulcer to think about.  We met Ryan when he was 16.  How he is 30 & a husband & a father... I can't deal... or wrap my mind around it.

Anyways - I had run into a friend at the grocery earlier (Actually I ran into 5 DIFFERENT friends at the grocery - it must have been in the air to go to the grocery) & she reminded me that the church in our area was doing a Live Nativity - & since most of the people were some of my favorite kiddos from youth ministry, I knew I had to stop on my way home - especially since I had my camera with me....

I was so glad I stopped by... it was so gorgeous.



Made me stop & really grasp & get a great remembrance of what the Reason For the Season is....

& made me miss these kiddos so much....  when I walked up, I had all the kids yell, "REBECCA" & a few of them ran out of the nativity to come up & hug me.  Even both of the angels.  I told them that being hugged by angels HAD to be a blessing - right?  I know I'm right

Needless to say, I drove home crying for many reasons.

I had an early wake up call with the wedding on Saturday & it was such a beautiful drive.  The sun was rising, I was playing Christmas music & I was excited for a gorgeous wedding day for my bride & groom.

It was so cold - well, not really freezing - but we're used to 60 & 70 degree temps so the day bombing to 40 degrees, it felt colder then it should have.... but this group was just the best. No one was complaining & everyone was great troopers.  I did my best to keep them indoors as much as possible - but the area around the church was so amazing, I had to run outside with them...

But I gave them direction on what was going to happen before we went out the door, & told them we'd move fast.   I felt like it was all of my years in youth training, directing van full of kids at youth conferences put into full effect here.



It really was so much fun being at this wedding because there were so many familiar faces - a past bride & groom, friends that I used to go to church with, a family I did their baby's pictures - even the grandmother from a past wedding that Chasity & I both ADORED.  When I saw her, I was like GRANDMA!!! & ran up to hug her!  .... I'm telling you - I love love love my wedding families.

But this wedding - this family?  Well, Chasity & I were just trying to figure out a way to make it IN their family.  Obviously, we are both married - their sons are married - so we're taking the basic road of adoption.  Just adopt us. We want to become official members :)

So it was so funny when the family was doing a family picture & they told Chasity & I to jump in.  We thought they were joking - they weren't.


Chasity & I laughed so hard & they told us they really did take us as family.  I told them they're going to feel funny if I showed up at their door on Christmas morning :)

I told Ricky that it's so good to see such good families in the world that love each other & every one around them....

They have one more son that is young, but they told me that when he gets married, his future wife has to know the photographer is already picked out.  Preach it parents!

Sunday - I was up bright & early - before the sun.  For some reason, the day after a wedding, I am EXHAUSTED.  I say it every time - weddings are harder on a body then a marathon.  It's a whole day of limited liquid & minimum nutrition for 24 hours. Like, when your body doesn't even need to pee all day, that says something... so I usually collapse in bed every night... but I can never sleep long. I think its anxiousness - because I just want to upload pictures.

But I wasn't even able to stay around for long because we had the Vincent Christmas.  Something I always look forward to every year.

This year had a strange feel with the memories of a loved one not being there.  It's crazy to think about Michael being there last year with his son.... & there was that sweet boy another year older... without his dad.



But I was happy that everyone was in good spirits & with that precious boy, everyone just couldn't help but be happy & full of smiles.

It was funny because after dinner, Ricky's sister Pam came out with a basket & told everyone to put their phones in it - no phones were allowed for the day....


The looks on everyone's faces.....

Luckily, I brought my camera with me so I told everyone I'd be the official Vincent photographer & take picture & send to everyone...

The funniest part, Evan was a little concerned.  He even said, "How are you going to take pictures?" ... tell me kids don't know how this world works...


But after Pam told him that she wants her family to talk to her, he seemed to be OK with that... especially when a few gifts were pulled out under the tree.  I mean, when you're nearly 3, toys & gifts settles any questions of life.


So our first Christmas is in the books... & now, we're just going to go into picture overload...




One LOVED little boy!!! ....





Uncle Ricky is always up for playing with trucks himself... never grow old for toys!



.... but Uncle Ricky, you can't KEEP the truck!  I love Evan waiting anxiously for him to send it back...



I love hearing stories about their dad.  Melissa (Ricky's sister) was telling a story about her playing with her dad's hair when she was little - she's the baby of the family - & basically did a little hair trim on him playing beauty shop. Oops.




My nephew & his girlfriend... they looked so cozy... makes me sleepy seeing them



Let me tell you - Ellen Degeneres hasn't seen any kid dance until she's seen my nephew....
DUDE HAS MOVES!!!






Before the phones were taken, me & my niece took some selfies... so luckily, I have this picture to prove I was there for the Vincent Christmas :)



Everyone remembered to pick up their phone on the way out...

I have to say, I didn't miss it - mainly because I had a camera in my hand the entire time... but I was curious to see what I missed on my phone while I was up for a few hours.

A good lesson to put it up & away more often...
Just have a camera in my hands in the mean while...

So it's Christmas week.... & I'm heading to a dental appointment today (BOO!) ... & I still have shopping to do (BOO!) ...& I'm going to be stressing out because I want to edit these wedding pictures quick for this amazing family (BOO! on stress) ....
BUT... its Christmas week (YIPPEE!!!) ... & its Ricky's birthday (YIPPEEE!!!) & I'm off work for the next few days (YIPPEEE!!!) ....

needless to say, the week is going to be just as busy....

'Tis the season!

Did you have any Christmas celebrations this week?

Got a busy week planned ahead?



14 comments:

  1. Praying all goes well at that dentist today. Hope you have a wonderful week off and that Ricky has a great birthday.

    Merry Christmas!!

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  2. Oh my gosh that aisle they had for their wedding was stunning!! Good luck at the dentist today!!! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  3. nooo dentist appts shouldn't happen Christmas week!!

    What a busy weekend!I love that nativity scene! How pretty? That sure will stop you in your tracks!

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  4. Sounds like an amazing weekend with all the family and friends! I love that the phones got taken away while everyone was at the Christmas celebration :) It really is nice to unplug for a bit and just connect with each other.

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  5. What an amazing wedding! The bride and groom looked so happy and how fun that their family involved you guys, too :) Love the idea of putting the phones away for the party, that is something I want to do for myself this coming week during all of the Christmas festivities - just be present in the moment!

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  6. Wow! Your weekend sounds so tiring but also so wonderful! (And I LOVE your nephew's girlfriend's lipstick!) I'm so glad you were able to celebrate and hang out with so many wonderful families- including your own!

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  7. I love the idea of taking phones away for Christmas! Good thing you had your camera. Also I love that they wore ugly Christmas sweaters for the wedding rehearsal. That's awesome.

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  8. ew dentist. i hate going but it's one of those evil necessities. you took some amazing photos!!

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  9. that is a brave idea of no phones!! the young ones in my family would pass out. lol. but it'sthe way it should be, right? another great (and tiring)weekend for you. i secretly wanted a christmas wedding, esp if it looked like that!

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  10. I love the no-phones idea! Love it! We have our extended family party on Wednesday - since I'm not the hostess, I can't do the no phones rule but I'm going to make a point to leave mine out of sight and be more 'in the moment'. Thanks for the reminder and hope all went well with the dentist today!

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  11. haha love the dance moves :)
    love the no phones idea - we didn't have phones when we were kids and survived just fine! okay, i might have carried a book everywhere with me but still!

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  12. I love that Ricky's sister took the phones away. That genius! I tried that before with my High school students and it didn't go over well...lol.
    Anyway, glad you had a great family celebration! Enjoy the rest of the week!

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  13. I love that Ricky's sister took the phones away. That genius! I tried that before with my High school students and it didn't go over well...lol.
    Anyway, glad you had a great family celebration! Enjoy the rest of the week!

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  14. Ok those Christmas Tree's in front of church are really really beautiful. PERFECT back drop for a wedding!! I love love that they were amazing family and that photo with them is priceless!!

    I love the no phone rule. My kids would be the same how do you take photos .. lol

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