Sunday Snapshot

It was a beautiful fall today here in upstate NY,  although the colors are not as vivid as usual due to all the rain we have had since summer.  Still it was fun to drive up and over the mountains and see the beauty down below!!

Dear Mom and Dad

Dear Mom and Dad,
There have been many days during the last years that I have missed you both so much.  But none as much as yesterday the day of your grandson Paul's wedding  .  Friday night we sat at the restaurant at the rehearsal dinner and we talked about how it would have been  your 55th wedding anniversary.
I woke up yesterday morning....and immediately thought how I wished you were here.  Remember Mom, when I used to take you for your radiation treatments and I would bring Paul along.  He was less than a year old but he made everyone around him his friend, the doctors, the nurses , the waitresses when we stopped for lunch.  He was a people person then and he still is. It was evident yesterday by the amount of people who came to celebrate his joyous day.
Paul stopped by yesterday morning to tell me that he had gone to the cemetery. He wanted to know that he was thinking of you on his special day!!  He told me that he knows you would have been proud of what he has accomplished. He wanted you to know how much he loved his soon to be wife..  To tell  you the truth , it was me who was so proud of him.
The wedding was beautiful. Tim and David were the best men, Sierra was the flower girl. Beth my sister and Deb sat next to us at the church.  Dave  my brother played his guitar and sang a beautiful song. The wedding party started coming in.  Sara , Tim's girlfriend led the way.  Your granddaughter Jamie and our god son Jeremy were also in the party. Jenn was stunningly beautiful as she walked down the aisle. And at the altar waited Paul.  I watched his face...saw him smile when he saw how beautiful she was.  He looked so  happy.
  And Mom...as he walked back down the aisle,when the ceremony was over, he stopped to give me a hug .  It was an incredible moment and so greatly appreciated by me!I can't begin to tell you how  much fun the reception was.  All Paul and Jenn's friends, and family dancing the night away. Dad, your brother Perry was there  dancing away even though he just turned 85 a few days before! Many people mentioned how much you both would have enjoyed it.  We remember how much you liked to dance!!  And the food...OH MY!!  Simply delicious!!!!!!!!

Mom and Dad...I so wish you were there to see it all.  I have to believe you did...somehow you witnessed the absolute joy of the day,...  somehow you saw what wonderful men my boys have grown up to be......  somehow you saw the granddaughter you never met, who got to ride in a limo and had the time of her life.  Somehow you  could feel the love that Paul and Jenn have for each other......and somehow you knew how very much I missed you and wished you were there!! It was a day I will never forget and I so wished I could have shared it with you!

Love you always,

Kathie

Paul and Jenn

Sierra with Mohonk in the background

Sara and Jamie

Love this picture! 

My three special sons!

On the way to our room at the end of the night!!!

Wedding bells.......

So things are getting pretty exciting around here.  On Saturday my middle son, Paul, is getting married!!!
It is going to be a beautiful wedding and a great party after!!  I can't wait to post pictures.  The other two boys are in the wedding and Sierra is the flower girl.  I can't wait to see how beautiful Jenn will look walking down the aisle!!  And all my guys in tuxes.......WOW!!!  What a joyous day it will be!!

Moments to treasure

A few years ago, before we traveled to China to bring Sierra home,  I went to visit my sister for a long weekend.  One of the things we did was to  go kayaking near her home.  I had been in canoes and rowboats but never a kayak.  I had so much fun.  I loved being so close to the water.  I loved how silently the kayaks moved you through the water, so silently that you were able to see creatures that otherwise might have been scared away.  I came home and told Scott how much I enjoyed kayaking.  We live in an area that has m any water ways so i knew I wanted to get one.  Scott surprised me a few months later with my own kayak.  And since then, my one requirement for camping, is that the place must have a lake that I can kayak on.
  About 5 months after bringing Sierra home. we went camping.  She loved climbing in the kayak with me and going for a ride.  She is tiny so she could sit right in front of me!

Every time we went camping she came kayaking with me.   But as she got bigger it was getting a l ittle tight.  She s aid "its OK Mommy" every time I hit her in the head with the paddle.  I started researching kayaks for children and found one the seemed perfect. I ordered it from Dicks.  It was small, but could hold up to 135 pounds, it didn't tip easily and.....it....came....in....PINK!!!

So over the weekend , we went camping.  Sierra got to try out her new kayak.  And oh my,....I was not prepared for the strength of the feeling of joy that came over me as I looked to my side and saw my daughter paddling next to me.  She did awesome.  She had perfect control..... and she loved it!! 

I so look forward to many more enjoyable times on the lake!!!!  I am so blessed to have this girl in my life!!!!