Yes, my husband was a handful. He is 11 years older than me and all my life his two younger sisters were my closest friends. I grew up hearing about his wild and crazy antics. His poor parents. But I admired him from a distance anyways and always wished he would notice me.
Oh, he probably noticed me alright, but only as the bratty little kid that hung out with his bratty little sisters! When we were small enough to fit under the bed, Rhonda and I would spy on his phone conversations with his girlfriends when he was a teenager.
All through my 20s and 30s while Jerry and I had our seperate lives and own set of problems, my ears would perk up each time I heard his name spoken. Of course, all those years I hid my secret admiration in my heart, not even his sisters knew about it. Occasionally we would see each other at his parent's house after we became adults and my heart would flutter. I even caught his eyes following me around the room. I was too shy to let him know about the butterflies he caused my tummy to feel, and he treated me like a kid sister all those years. Sigh.....
Then one day he did let me know that he noticed me and asked me for my phone number because he would like to take me out to dinner one time when he came into San Diego to visit. He was living 6 hours north, in central California at that time. Would it be ok if he called me??? Would it?? I about shouted YES!!!!
And now here we are 3 years later, happily married and wondering why we didn't do this much sooner? It would have saved both of us a ton of headaches and heartaches all those years. We really are a good match if we must say so ourselves, and it feels so right, so comfortable, so natural. You really do know when it's true love and meant to be.
Here are some pictures from our wedding day. I am sorry some of them are so dark. We had a wedding breakfast with the family in the morning: the table with the trying-to-look-angelic little girl are my grandkids - Christopher, Miranda and David. Yes, Miranda really is an angel although her mom might dispute that on some days!
If you look way in the back of this picture, that is us exchanging our vows. My son, Kyle, officiated our wedding ceremony. Here in San Diego County you pay $50 and you can have anyone you choose to officiate your ceremony legally for that day only.
I know, super dark picture. I am posting it only to show you what I mean about how dark most of the pictures came out. We had a very nice lunch following our ceremony. Jerry's sister Rhonda and her husband Bill did the cooking and serving. They were wonderful, I don't know what we would've done without all their help, talent and time (and they paid for most of the luncheon ingredients, too)! We can never thank them enough!
My youngest baby, Kyle and his Ashley, no, our Ashley. Jerry and I call her "our little Ashley". They are another great couple together. Ashley is really sweet and Kyle just adores her. They are just beginning their adult life and have so many plans. They have their heads on straight, much better than Jerry or I did at their age.
Miranda is going to be a great fund raiser. She has no fear about approaching anyone to donate money. She thought up this money tree all by herself and went around with it to our guests.
Ah, yes, the cake. It was so good. There is just something about wedding cake that makes it taste better than any other cake out there!
All of our wedding pictures turned out dark. There were many others I would've liked to have posted here of all the family and friends, but only we can see who is in the pictures because we know who they are. This picture is of Jerry and his baby, Jennifer. She is such a blessing to have as a daughter. Jerry's childhood friend, who I mention often in this blog, Bruce, is sitting next to Jerry in the green shirt.
My son Jeff and his girlfriend Kayty. Jeff is a wonderful son, he is my baby #2. I like the political conversations we have, he is very intelligent! He has always had that sunny smile! Jeff is the kind of cook I wish I could be. He can go to a restaurant and taste their food, and know exactly what kind of spices were used, go home and make an almost perfect copy of that dish. He is a very caring young man, and hard working. His boss did everything to hold on to him as an employee. Jeff is very respectful and very much respected.
My babies #1 and #3... Kym and Bonnie. It was hot the day we were married. Jerry had moved from Central California to the High Desert region to take care of his dad. We were married at the mobile home club house where his dad lived at that time.
Rhonda's husband Bill, a fantastic brother-in-law to Jerry and I. And my son-in-law, Adam, Bonnie's husband. He is a great guy, too. He takes good care of my daughter and their son, Chris.
Adam is very smart, has tons of manners and dresses sharply, too! His parents did a great job raising him and his sister.
Standing with my grandson David on her feet, is Rhonda's daughter Becki. She graduated from high school this year and she is a very sweet young lady, very together, too. We are very proud of her! Sitting in the chair is Jerry's daughter Christina. Her daughter Linsay has her back to the camera. Christina and Linsay are two gorgeous gals. Christina is a strong young lady, both mentally and emotionally. Linsay is so sweet you could just gobble her up, she is a very kind and giving young lady, also. Christina is doing a wonderful job raising her. The picture I have of Jerry's son, Troy, and his family is so dark you would not be able to see it. Troy is a great father to his 6 kids, he and his wife, Rachelle, are both amazing individuals. We are proud of them.
My daughter Bonnie, with her brother-in-law Mike. Mike is Kym's husband and he is an excellent daddy also. He has so much energy it wears me out!!! He takes good care of Kym and is the kind of husband other women wish they had -- he tells her to go have the day for herself while he watches the kids!! Very true.... and he enjoys his time with them, too. He's also an excellent cook.
My grandkids outside enjoying a cool treat. Left to right: Chris, David and Miranda. The outside pictures turned out so much nicer... we should have had an outdoor wedding!!!
My sister-in-law Rhonda. I can't say enough positive things about this wonderful girl. She taught me to ride a ten speed bike when we were younger. Rhonda and I spent a lot of time as young kids talking, laughing, and sharing life's ups and downs. She and I used to play duets for special music at church as teenagers, she on the organ, me on the piano. She has so many talents it would take a volume of books to write them all down. I may be 9 months older than her, but she is tops in intelligence and go-get-'em-ness. A real inspiration to me!
And finally, there was not enough room in the refrigerator with all the luncheon leftovers for the cake leftovers, too. My kids gladly volunteered to help this situation by reducing the amount of cake that needed to be stored! From left to right: Jeff in the striped shirt, Mike sitting in the chair, Kyle in the orange shirt, Kym looking like she is guilty of blowing her diet (she looks wonderful weightwise - what a motivator she is to me!), and Bonnie who inspires me and Jerry both, especially since she has now been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I am so proud of them all.
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