Friday Evening-Rehearsal and Dinner

The rehearsal and the dinner that followed was a complete ball. We're blessed with the funnest and most helpful friends ever! Above: Henry and JJ struggle to stay perched on the fence. (the best place for observing all the commotion)
Beth, looking charmingly Chinese...These little precious' look adorably unsure of what to do, LOL... Looks like Eden and Elizabeth have got the itchies, poor babies...The beautiful Whiddon ladies with their beautiful music-their skillful playing was one of the highlights to me. What a joy!
William with his Friend Favorite-ist. ;D The child looks like a millionaire from the 30's here. "And this is my charming daughter, Angelina" he said in dignified tones, after steadying himself with his gold-tipped walking cane. "ah, is there a powder room near by? My chauffeur couldn't find a single reputable place to stop on the pilgrimage out here."The groomsmen walk up...One more run through, men-fear not, dinner will eventually come!Becka looking very sweet. :D
Mr. Rick and Mrs. Angie did an absolutely incredible job of directing and coordinating the wedding. We cannot begin to say what a blessing this was. Above, Mr. Rick leads a dozen little girls and a few sweet and watchful mothers down the 'path' that they'll walk down tomorrow...
And here comes the Bride to be!! With her precious Daddy.

With two little sisters behind her, and a journalist, too. Must have bribed the guard... ;)
"Look, Joe!"So sweet. Practicing the procession...And the vows.
Wait-actually, no. Just where to stand and the like. :) The idea was suggested, though...Enjoying the process...
William with his AbulitaOh, y'all, the footage Cleve got is awesome... It's been such a blast to watch. Love Campbell and Gabbriella's expressions here...
Processing out...Dorothy and Noah welcoming new arrivels...or maybe he just spotted a camera... ;)
Wesley waves to all of his fans...Such a fun brother.So chic, dahling! Love the way Gavido is watching...and Nana in the background holding one of her grand babies-just precious.
On the way to dinner, the groomsmen grabbed Noah and carried him to the house. :D

The Sanders family had a fantastic dinner of BBQ, cole slaw, chips and baked beans all made up, with red gingham cloths and sunflowers on the tables. An evening of visiting, special songs, gifts, and dancing followed, lasting late into the night. Noah and Dorothy started off the dancing as they danced for the first time together, with everybody standing around in the candle light, to the song Noah had sung to her earlier in the evening. (a modified version of “Love Never Fails” by: Scott Powell) It was so pure, so sweet. It was beautiful. Ah.

Well, we all can't wait for tomorrow!! Before we went to bed, Mama and Aunt Lisa prepared baskets of petals for the flowers girls, and some of us sat on couches and chairs in a big circle with Noah and Dee, and (while a few of us made wreaths for the flower girls) played a multi-author-story-game-type thing. Beckah started it, and it went around the room, taking odd turns and darting twists, only to end up "all as a dream" in the end. :) Too bad, because those organic cherry slushies sounded pretty good...

Goodnight, all. What an excitement-filled day this has been!

Love, Adeline, for all 'de folks here at Calathora

Friday Morning...

...found Dorothy, Mama dearest and 9 bride's maids over at our dear Grandparents house, enjoying a huge and very delicious breakfast! What a special time to be together and relax.

Grand Daddy gave Dorothy a very precious and encouraging talk about marriage and life before he left the house full of women to go over to our house for some guy time. :) I know Dee was so blessed by our Grandfather's words of wisdom. (Mama, Martha, Grace and I, who were picking flowers and arrived quite late, missed hearing it. I almost started crying when I heard I'd missed his departure and his talk, and him saying "Come on in this kitchen" when you come in-ah, he is wonderful.... :)
A dear lady down the next road had planted a stunning border of sunflowers, zinnias and marigolds and when we asked about buying some for the wedding, she said 'Just come pick all you want' . So, Friday morning found some of us picking flowers in the cool morning air. It was a beautiful sight, all those blooms.

We had a complete blast eating, drinking coffee, telling stories, rubbing and painting toesies....Dee gave all of us the cutest flip flops to wear tomorrow, and some beautiful jewelry she put together for us. I simply love all the pretty things she chose. Thanks, dearest. :)


Right before we left for home, we went around the room, each of us praying for Dee. It brought tears to our eyes. To be talking to Almighty God, all together, the day before she steps onto the threshold of married life-right before she takes on the beautiful responsibility to represent, to the world, the very Bride of Christ. When we were done, Nana dearest spoke to us, encouraging us in the Lord, and praying for us, and for Dorothy as she becomes a married woman. What a blessing she is. Then we all stood in a circle holding hands, and sang Amazing Grace. We hugged all around, and then stuffed into the Sub and sang our way all the way back home...This time will be one of my most precious memories.
Had to get a picture before we left...

"OH-my-goodness. Ahhh! My toe nail just chipped. This cannot be happening to me. No." *quiet sobbing ensues*
Just kidding.

Poor child was standing there, smiling in an ant bed. Our little party, except Mama dearest, who had to step out to town for some things after a little bit. She was missed very, very much by her girls.And all our finished toes. (I love seeing every body's different kinds of flip flops. It makes me smile...)

Thank you Dorothy for such a special time. And many thanks to our wonderful Grand Daddy and Nana, for putting it all together.

Of the Days Preceeding

Good afternoon, y'all!

How are you? We're all well...It's hot outside-a good, steamy hot that feels good to breath in. (that is when you're going back inside shortly, LOL:) Blue skies today, with little lacy clouds....I brought a cinco de mayo rose in from Dorothy's garden, and it smells so good. It reminds me of GrandMama, summer time, and Dorothy. We're really missing Dorothy. We're all in good health, except for a summer's worth of poison ivy that certain of our number are hosting...bless their patient hearts. They're bearing it all with out complaint, though, sweet dears, and it seems to be tapering off.

Oh! Guess what we just had delivered to the new garden spot? Tons and TONS of compost. Literally. Cool! It was amazing watching them unload it.

Well, I do believe I keep quite a tardy blog. A thousand apologies on the lateness of all posts wedding-ish, yon readerlings! But, better a late recording, then no recording at all. So, from now on 'till I'm done, I now give you:

The Exceptionally Blessed and Wondrously Exciting Events That took Place on a July Day at Calathora, And of the Days Preceeding

And here is the preceeding part. :)

Ah-well, the week before the wedding. I can hardly believe that it's already passed. I do believe preparing for a sibling's wedding is among life's most delicious activities. :) And the time is also among the very sweetest, stressful,(for whom?) most exhausting, incredibly invigorating, THE most excitement-filled (to overflowing!) and enjoyable times in one's life. It's amazing that so many different aspects can go into one 7 day period, and go into each so fully, LOL. But they do, and it's wonderful.
Good afternoon, friends. Jeanine, here, tag-blogging with Adeline. You will get one of the sister's and the mother's perspectives - interesting, no?

And our Church family is wonderful. We are blessed, Beyond words.
The love, excitement and help of the local church is one of the sweetest parts of a wedding. Working together on the plans, and living through the experience together is a relationship-building time par excellence. And it's so much fun!!!!

On Monday, our precious friend Amanda came for the week, and did all of the cooking and kitchen cleaning. I can't begin to say what a blessing it was to come down from some wedding-ish project to find the table set, and a huge, hot meal, with fresh bread and all, waiting for the whole family.
Yes, this is secret #1 to a happy/stress-free wedding - a kitchen/culinary expert who moves in and takes over the kitchen! I always tell my girls - we don't 'do' special events instead of our regular work, but 'in addition to' our regular work- and with a house full of hungry sons and guests , to know that the meals will be there, served up with a smile, takes the stress off and releases the ladies of the family to tend to the preparations for the wedding. Amanda's dear grandmother, Harriett, stepped in to Amanda's place at home, so we are so grateful to the D. family and the P. family for letting Amanda come over.
Amanda not only tended to the meals for the entire household three times a day, she even remembered the afternoon snacks , milkshakes and coffee !!!!!(and gano) that is quite the tradition in the Morton household.
On a side note, she also served as secretary to one non-stressed mother of the bride/event planner who almost lost it ordering pizzas. :)
Wednesday afternoon found our wonderful grandparents over to throw all the July birthday girls and boys a pizza party-they are so, so sweet! :) Amanda made salad, and here she is, getting the buffet ready for the hoards of hungry munchies.
We have the most awesome grandparents. And here's Grand Daddy, being adorable. ;)
Dakota also came over Monday and stayed 'till Tuesday night, doing everything under the sun-cleaning, polishing, errand running-what a huge blessing he was!
Ah, yes, secret #2. A Man Friday. The mother of the bride must have a strong helper. We called Dakota in and he agreed to come and help. This young man served us so kindly - he toted bamboo, raked yards, moved furniture, did all manner of hard and heavy jobs, and all with a smile.
Poor man even chauffeured 5 women on an all day shopping trip Tuesday. Now that is service that nears one to sainthood.
Yes, now that was luxurious - having a chauffeur!! "Drive on, Roster."
"We must have cappacinos, Dakota. Pull over!"
Dee darling with some of her favorite loot! Coffee, new shoes, and a diamond on her finger-does it get any better?
A note to all the mothers - remember taking the time to run outside and look at the clouds and lizards and roses your daughter wanted to show you when she was little?
We need to remember to make time at this special time for fun trips and outings and hikes and meals and snacks with the daughter who is, now, fixing to leave home. This was a fun day.
( for those unversed in southern-ese, 'fixing to' means 'about to')

On the long drive home, us girls, asleep in the back, were wakened by Mama and Dakota yelling about raccoons in the front seat. "Oh no. The shopping's finally gettin' to 'em." After I was fully functional, LOL, we looked, too, and saw an entire family of raccoons huddled on the edge of the road, waiting to pass over! It was so cool. We turned around, all exclaiming now, and got a few pictures. Making their way across...
This little fella at the bottom of the tree stopped and posed. :) Very obliging specimen.Tuesday night, Willie Roberts dropped the Roberts girls off for the night. They were so sweet-they came bearing bags of chocolate and junk food, to eat while we had a special time with Dee.
One of the dearest groups of friends in the world. We're going to miss Dee so, so much.

Campbell looks especially excited about the whole chocolate thing.It was inhaled at a disconcerting pace. ;)They stayed the next day, and were invaluable assistants! (we worked those poor darlings to the bone!) Here, Daisy hems a curtain,
Norma works in the kitchen with 'Manda,
And Campbell irons oddles of clothes. Marty helped Dee pack and was like her right arm.

Ah, yes. Secret #3. Lots of help. So sweetly given by the Church family. And again, so much fun.Mother dear typing. She is incredible.
All these dear daughters and friends make me look good, don't they?

And today, Wednesday, me and Norma went up to all the gates and but wraths on them , with big white bows that moved around in the wind...they make it look so wedding-ish!!!

More on the week's end to come...

Some incredible pictures!

Good morning, y'all!

Just wanted to put a link up for some luscious pictures of the wedding-Noah's Aunt is amazing!! Visit her blog here.Today is a CSA day, so this morning finds us preparing vegetables for the bags! :)

Sunny day outside. Beautiful blue sky. It smells like a hay field, which is charming.

Had a simply wonderful time with the Davis last night for dinner. I just love them so. I've missed them so bad this week. At times my heart overflows with thanksgiving and joy at the goodness of the Lord, in giving us a local Church Body to walk with. It is among our very greatest of earthly blessings.

Have a very wonderful day, mon cheri!

With piles of love,

The Mortons

They are now Mr. and Mrs. Noah Edwin Sanders!

Good Morning, beloved readers!!

She is married!!
Dorothy Jeanine in married.
She is now a Wife, a Helpmeet.
Oh my goodness. This is incredible. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
We are just praising God, and thanking Him, for this joyous event in her (and our) lives. I have been fairly bursting with eagerness to hop on here, sort though pictures and visit with you-so many wonderful memories to write down, so many thoughts swirling around-but, precious life has been swirling too. Life is full, and God is good, all the time. It's been a long, hard, very good week. So many changes, so many things to tie up, sort through, put back in place, to rejoice with. It's been good.
Oh, guess what!!? We heard from Dee and Noah day before yesterday!! Can you believe that!? ;) What dears to call us. They're up in the mountains and doing great! It was so good to hear from them.
OK dah'lings, enough verbiage-now, on to pictures! Only, wait! Stop-small disclaimer-before you go on and notice a serious lack of Noah and family, know that until the pictures get in from our incredible photographer, I am almost picture-less, except a few fun ones here and there. (and, of course, these bridal shots of Beautiful Dorothy that were taken weeks ago) So, in a week or two I hope to do a massive post with an obnoxious amount of writing and tons of pictures. :D

So there. And now, here is Dorothy.

"I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." Is. 61"...and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." Is. 62Well, have a wonderful day, everyone!

Much love,

(Adeline for) The Morton family