Ooo...Ooooo...Witchy Woman...

I was recently in Salt Lake City for my daughter's wedding. I actually spent 2 months in preparation for it. I also made her dress, but that will be another post. There's a wonderful place called "Gardner's Village" and it was decked out for Halloween. The theme was witches...witches EVERYWHERE.  I should back up and tell you that it's a little village of shops and there's a restaurant and a bakery, fudge shop, kiddie  book store and spa and the shops are each unique in their own way. You can find clothes, home decor, quilts, jewelry, costumes and Halloween goodies coming out the....well, you get my drift. They have a night when everyone, store personnel AND patrons dress up as witches and they say it's INSANE!  Packed with witches! I swear next year I'm flying back there just for that. They have hay rides, bobbing for apples, etc.  So, without further ado....meet the witches!

I think she had a little trouble with her landing gear.

Kira, my daughter, with a trio.  They rotated in a circle.

Such manly hands!

Such a pretty setting.  I'm not sure this one can be trusted.

Uh OH...she's gonna blow the joint up!

Hoola Hoopin' Wild One!

She's calling for help with that painful wart on her knee.

Could that REALLY be her child?

This was inside of my favorite shops. Not a very good photo.

Just strolling through the grounds.

                                                            This needs no explanation! :)

My bff, Margo, a former "Hooters" gal.

This was on top of the most awesome quilt shop. Not a typical fabric shop, but beds covered in them and furniture.  HUGE shop. This village used to be some kind of mill, so some of the bigger shops actually have parts of the mill in them. I wish I had taken pictures, but I was so overwhelmed and in awe.

These two actually moved.  The one in the front "flew" back and forth on a wire and the one behind her moved her arms up and down directing her where to go.

This was my favorite.  Her legs pedaled and the bike went back and forth on the wire.

Ok...so this was another favorite.  She had no shame. When ya gotta poo, ya gotta poo!

Fun hats hanging on the porch of one of the shops.

The faucet's green water actually moved and "steam" came up from the caldron.

This restaurant has won awards and I had the best hot open faced turkey sandwich. Just got old home cooking.

Fun decor on a porch.

 The shop inside Archibalds. It was huge. Upstairs and downstairs. This building was actually part of the mill. Very cool inside.

Antiques mixed with the new.

I would love to have this in my yard. The flowers were beautiful all over SLC.

This shop had clothes. I bought several scarves there.

*sigh*

There goes mom and dad's insurance premiums!

Outside my favorite quilt shop. The porch was full of Halloween quilts and decor.

A babbling brook.

LOve!

Nothin' like a dog and a brew.

Thanks for stoppin' in. I'll see y'all for Witches Night Out!

Stress, Drama, and FUN!

The 3 components of any family gathering...stress, drama, and fun.  At least that seems to be the case in our family when we all come together.  It's not a bad thing.  We may butt heads, complain and cry, but it never lasts long and our love for each other always prevails. Not to mention the laughs. Gut wrenching laughs.  Pee your pants laughs. All this brings me to my son's wedding weekend...

Scooter and his fiance, Tracie

April 9th was the blessed day. Family started rolling in the Tuesday before and all were here by Thursday.  We had a house full, the youngest being one 2 yr old charming grandson (she smirks)!  Let's just say he's not skipping his terrible twos.  Love him to pieces...every ounce!  We have two other older grandsons, who are equally lovable.

Rooster, our smart and funny redhead

Blake, our adorable little monster :)

My husband, who happened to be our son's best man, decided to have a bachelor party at our house on Thursday night. The plan was to bbq, play croquet, and then poker.  The girls now had to decide what we were going to do. We tossed around dinner, the movies, hanging out at Aunt J's and locking ourselves in my bedroom.  I had spent the day with Kira, my daughter who is getting married in September.  We looked at wedding dresses and couldn't find one that screamed her name.  She found one from a NY designer, which was ridiculously expensive, so we decided I would do my best to replicate it.  Yes, that's right.  I AM making her wedding dress!  We found a shop that carried exquisite bridal fabrics and lace. There will be more on that later, but I will say this...French lace is IT! The comparison between domestic lace and French lace is as different as night and day.  Ok, so I went off track a little...by the time we got home, we were pooped and just wanted to chill.

So, the guys showed up and all of us girls locked ourselves in my bedroom.  We crowded on the bed and in chairs, had the tv on and pigged out on our stash of goodies: cookies, chocolate, chips, and drinks. We laughed and laughed and had a great time. The guys were doing their thing on the back patio, which included smoking nasty cigars..cough, cough.  Then the wild poker game began.  The house was filled with loud raucus...the sound of cards shuffling, chips sliding across the table, drinks being poured, kids running through the house and one HUGE MESS!  I absolutely LOVED it!!!

The groom with that "nasty" thing in his mouth

Scooter and his cousin, Jeff

Crazy uncle "Mac"

Hubby, the mastermind

Now we moved forward to Friday and the wedding rehearsal that afternoon.  That was a quick run through at the chapel and  then it was off for a dinner at a local mexican food joint with the wedding party and grandparents.

I think there were 25 of us

 After we were stuffed to the gills, we continued the party at my sister-in-laws.  All of the family,that was not included in the rehearsal dinner, was there for a bbq and celebration of her grandson's 2nd birthday.  There was food, drinks, cake, bocce ball and 8 little rug rats running all over the place.  I love these family gatherings.

Piper focused on the necklace Tracie gave her for being in the  wedding.   It had a  SS charm with their initials engraved and their birthstone.  It came in a cute silver  jewelry box. The girls were in awe and beaming with the biggest smiles.

Scooter and his "soon to be bride" sister, Kira.  My sweet kids!

Kira with her new "sister" Tracie

Tori, my step-daughter...always smiling!

Emma, another sweet flower girl

Gamp doing his famous Donald Duck impersonation. The kids LOVE it!

Harper, the youngest one there and little sister to the triplets. She stole my heart!

The 3 flower girls.  Kennedy and Piper, in the pink are part of a set of triplets and  Noah, in the green shirt, is their brother.  Ben is the birthday boy and his sister is Emma.  Proud jammy (grandma) stand in the back.


The wedding day has now arrived. These photos are taken from cell phones and personal cameras.  I'm still sorting through 700+ professional photos trying to decide which ones I want to order.  Needless to say, it's OVERWHELMING!

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Nix with proud parents!

Jer and I with Scooter and Tracie

She was a stunning bride!

Our immediate family:  Scooter's 3 sisters, Adri, Tori, and Kira

Jer and I 

Who is this goofy guy with Kira and I?

Me fixing Kennedy's bow in the bride's room

Fixing Piper's hair before she got dressed.

~~~~~~SIGH~~~~~~until next time!