Micah and Kayla's Wedding

The week before the Smith wedding was just crazy. Smiths had asked us to do the rehearsal dinner, which was no big deal as it was just going to be Little Caesar's pizza. We still had some prep work to do, though, like making a couple cold salads and carrot cake.

On Tuesday morning, June 9, we received the news that a dear friend of ours, Andy Weisenfeld, had suffered a massive stroke. The doctors deemed the damage irreparable. We spent the whole day in shock, fighting back tears and praying.

Wednesday, Nate bought a plane ticket for Dad to fly out to Denver. Dad really wanted to be there as a support to Abby (Andy's wife) and their daughter, Jackie. Mom and I quickly got him picked up and that night he flew out. 

People talk a lot about unsung heroes. Well, my dad is one of those unsung heroes. He spent 3 nights and 4 days at the hospital with Abby and Jackie, often staying up the whole night. He was a huge support to their family, acting as middle man, praying, counseling, and comforting. Along with Dad, Nancy Draves spent most of her time there, too. 

Since Dad was gone, the rest of us had to take charge. It was kinda scary knowing that we had to serve a dinner without Daddy. 

Mom and I left Friday morning for Holdrege. Abi and Sam stayed home just in case our cow had her calf. We arrived shortly after lunch and went straight to the church where the dinner was to be served.

The dinner went off very well! Ryan and Kelsey helped us out, which was a big blessing!

Dad told us Friday that Abby and family had decided to pull Andy off life support. We spent a good part of our day just praying for peace for the family. Heart wrenching...

The next day (Saturday), we had until 7 pm. to wait for the wedding. With a long day stretching before us, we decided to visit a coffee shop that Kiley recommended, then do some sight seeing. While at the coffee shop, the lady working that day told us about a POW camp located in a small town not too far from Holdrege. Someone else told us about another one that was just outside of Holdrege. We went to visit the first one, but it ended up being a historical marker ( we call them "hysterical" markers). A big disappointment! Next stop was the other POW camp, only to find out that it was closed. *Sigh* Finally, we thought it would be best to just play it safe and go to the Kearney Arch because we knew that was open! :)

Saturday morning, we received the news that Andy had slipped quietly into the waiting arms of Jesus... In someways, it was a relief to know that the suspense was over, but also extraordinarily sad. The plan was that Mom would leave Sunday morning for Denver from Holdrege to join Dad and stay until the funeral on Tuesday.

When we arrived at the bed and breakfast where the wedding was taking place, we got to watch the tail end of the family photo shoot. Ry and Kels had asked us to babysit, which we gladly agreed to do. It would be fun to actually get to sit through a wedding, granted the babies didn't cry. After a bit, Sheila asked Mom if we'd seen Stacy (a lady that helps at the AppleSmith) to find out what we were supposed to do. Uh, oh. So, we went to see Stacy about our surprise help. We found out we had to help get everything set out, keep filled, and do drinks. Stacy told me that I was assigned the ice tea and water station. Hm... News to me! :)

I saw very little of the wedding as I was watching Doughy. But I saw plenty of the reception! They had a soft serve ice cream station with all the works, s'mores, icies, cupcakes, fudge, iced coffee, water and tea. Wow!

Well, I'd better quit writing before you get bored, oh, unless you are already. :)

The reception dinner was held at the North Park church.

A LOT of pizza!

Carrot cake

Since Micah and Kayla would be living at the Axtell house, we obviously couldn't stay there. But, we were able to stay at a guest place located on the grounds of the Mosaic, a place serving people with intellectual disabilities. Of course we joked that this was the best place for us! :) Oh, Kayla and Katie Jo joined us for the weekend. They sure added a nice spice to the weekend! :)

Somehow, Mom's bedroom door got locked and we couldn't get it opened. So Nate and the girls tried to break in. It didn't work. Mom had to call Lucas to help us. :)

This place was creepy at night! There were so many rooms, corridors, nooks and spaces that you never knew who or what could be around the next corner. When we first arrived, I looked up, and there in a room, was what I thought was a human. I gasped, "There's someone staying here!" It scared us all for just a minute until we realized it was just a practice dummy for students. :) Saturday night after the wedding, we were all sitting around in the living area. Everyone was back except Josh. There was a patio door there without a curtain. I looked up at one point and saw something moving toward the door. It freaked me out! I all but screamed, scaring everybody else. It was Josh, but since it was so dark out, all I could see was his white shirt. :) 

This was at the coffee shop... ;)

At the Kearney Arch

They had wax figures throughout. This was a cafe' waitress.

The receiving table...

Instead of a guest book, they had a puzzle. Each guest wrote a note on the back of a puzzle piece. I thought that was a really clever idea!

The gift table... Or rather, bales.

This was part of the indoor reception area.

Aw... The sweetest couple around!

Aunt Haley and Niece Katelyn

Trying to get this many people arranged was quite the task! Now try to get them to smile at the same time...

These are Kayla's siblings.

Lynna was being wild...

Nate and Josh were valets. Yes, they had valet parking!

Aw!

He was absolutely, positively, utterly, adorable!

Iced coffee and tea and water

They also served glass bottles of Coke and Dr Pepper.

Ice cream!

That's the bridal table under the tent. They actually didn't use it. Someone told me that they put it up as a matter of form and tradition.

:)

The theme was country chic. It was very cute, but tastefully done!

Notice the Wipies? :)

Just about everyone thought these were hot dogs, but on closer inspection, they turned out to be the wooden handles to roasting sticks. :)

The decorated cake was foam. The cake they actually cut is in a box in the lower right hand corner. On the cupcake and fudge table, they arranged pictures of the great grandparents, grandparents and parents from both sides.

There were about 9 different flavors of fudge. There was a lot left over, so the Smiths sent it home to us. Ugh! That was a lot of fudge! We need up giving a good bit of it to Martins. Thanks for helping us out, guys! :)

Caramel Macchiato 

Strawberry Lemonade and S'mores

German Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cup, and Vanilla Bean

Stacy and I arranged the cupcakes, which, in my opinion, was the yummiest job! :)

We went to Smiths' for church Sunday. After lunch Whit gave me a little gift bag saying, "This was for your mom, but since she isn't here, you can open it now." She also had one for Sheila. I wasn't sure what to do, but I opened it anyway. Inside was some Granny Smith Apple chapstick with a note that said, "Please give this to Sheila." Sheila opened her's and found these cookies inside. I started stammering, "Kels, are you pregnant?!" We couldn't find her, so we all started yelling for her. She was hiding around the corner with their camera, videotaping the whole thing! :) Yep, you guessed, Ryan and Kelsey are expecting again! They're due in early February.

While Mom and Dad were in Denver they went out to eat with Weisenfelds and some other friends. Mom thought this was funny. :) We like sweet tea!

Mom and Dad didn't get home till Wednesday afternoon, June 27. That was a long week for Daddy, but we heard nothing but praise and thanks from Abby and Jackie. Praise the Lord!