The Wedding!

I will have to wait a few weeks until Justin and Sarah are back from their honeymoon but I have a few photos from friend's cellphones that I can post for you.  The wedding was held on the sand at a lake/lagoon area in Irvine (Orange County) and we were fortunate to have a picture perfect afternoon and evening.  The wedding began at 6:30 pm so it went from a warm glow of a setting sun to little white lights at night twinkling over the water.  Everyone agreed the setting was lovely and most appreciated the casual nature of the wedding.  Here's a photo of the new Mr. & Mrs. Mills.  It gave me a start when I heard that!

Sarah is an avid reader so all of the bouquets were crafted of flowers made from book pages.  Very unique! Here's a photo of Sarah with her flower girl, niece Gabriella, who looked adorable!

Ryan and Jacob were the ring bearers and here's a photo of them along with Justin and Jessica who was one of Sarah's bridesmaids.

Sunday night, they left for their honeymoon in New Zealand, Tahiti and Bora Bora.  While at LAX, they ran into Elijah Wood who was on the same flight as Amy, Sarah's sister who is living in Australia.  Here's a photo of Amy and Frodo himself headed back to the Shire no doubt.

I will try and post more photos as I get them.  I always like to track their travel itineraries as Sarah is such a great travel planner.  She finds the most interesting places to stay.  For example, for part of their time in New Zealand, they are staying at Kamahi Cottage billed as New Zealand's only 5-Star Farm Bed & Breakfast Boutique.  Yes, it's a sheep farm and Sarah is determined to hold baby lambs.  Their travels to Tahiti and Bora Bora will have them staying in one of the fabulous over-the-water huts which I always say is on my bucket list!  

All of this going on in the middle of a kitchen remodel which has actually gone to a worse state then the photo I last posted.  Walls are even gone now so they can do all the new electrical and plumbing!  We are also dog sitting Justin's dog, Sierra, so I have 3 dogs, 3 cats and 2 grandsons all in a house filled with plumbers and electricians.  Luckily, the boys return to school on Wednesday.  Jacob is beginning Transitional Kindergarten as the cut-off date for kindergarten is now September 1 and he won't be 5 until September 22. I'm the one who needs that Bora Bora over-the-water hut!

Wedding Plans

Things are moving right along with the wedding plans.  Sarah already has her dress and they are looking at a late August wedding.  They are thinking about having the wedding at the lake in Irvine where Sarah lives.  If you remember, we took Ryan and Jacob there a couple of summers ago because they have a mini-waterpark there with waterslides into a pool-like area.  They have a couple of  large gazebos that you can rent for occasions.  The area is very similar to Westlake which is near us.  Here's a photo I took when we were at the area in the past.  There is a big lake where you can sail and ride on non-motorized watercraft off to the left.

As I mentioned before, Sarah's main emphasis will be on the honeymoon rather than the wedding.  She is such a world traveler so they've agreed to have a 2 part honeymoon... Justin wants to go somewhere luxurious like an exotic beach so they will do that and then they will go to something more unique to satisfy Sarah.  Justin said he didn't want an all Third World honeymoon.  Interestingly, our plans to travel would be in early September as well for our 40th Anniversary.  Justin said maybe we could meet up somewhere but I said I doubted they would want their parents on their honeymoon!  He said with the hectic travel schedule Sarah plans, there wouldn't be time for romance anyway on her part of the honeymoon.

As usual this time of year, Jeff and I have been busy seeing all the potential Academy Award nominated films.  I'm writing this before the Golden Globes on Sunday night but that should give us more of an idea of what's likely to be nominated.  So far we've seen Gravity, Captain Phillips, Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle.  Coming out on DVD this week is The Butler so we will rent that.

The other fun news is that Ryan and Jacob have both signed up to play soccer.  They went to tryouts on Sunday and their games will begin next Sunday so Jeff and I will be going to their games and cheering them on.  We had such fun for many years going to Jessica's softball games.    

The Proposal

I never asked if it was okay to post this but I don't think Justin ever looks at my blog anymore so shhh!  The video and color is not good because the room was a little dark but you can hear the words.  The recording didn't begin until a minute or so into his proposal.  What you missed is how he began by telling Sarah how beautiful and amazing she is and how smart...too smart as he put it... she is.  I'm so glad we have this recording!  Thank goodness our cousin Matthew had the presence of mind to grab his cellphone and begin recording once he realized where it was going!

Christmas Miracle

Just kidding... not really a miracle but a long time coming!  Justin and Sarah are engaged!  Saturday night at our family Christmas party, in front of all our loved ones, Justin proposed to Sarah and she said yes!  Justin had told us a few days earlier so it wasn't a surprise for Jeff and I but we kept it quiet not even telling Jessica.  Sarah's parents were at the party and they knew, too, as Justin had gone to their home the day before to ask for their blessing.  Everyone was very moved by Justin's proposal and cousin Matthew had the presence of mind to pull out his cellphone and begin recording a video once he realized where it was going.  He says he will try and get the video to me so when I get it, I'll post it if it's okay with Justin and Sarah.  They just had their 2 year first date anniversary this past week so I think this is good timing for them... long enough to know each other well but not too long to wear out Sarah's patience.  Here's a photo of them taken a little after the proposal.  You can spot the ring on Sarah's finger... it needs to be resized as he did all the shopping on his own.  I'll try to get a better photo of the ring when they are here Christmas Eve.

   Happy Couple!