At Last...

Nicole and Joe's wedding day finally arrived and it was a beautiful affair. St. Joseph's church was exquisitely decorated and Nicole walked down the aisle on the arm of her father with a radiant smile. Goose bumps crept up my skin as the St. Louis Cathedral Boys Chior sang during the ceremony - their voices were angelic. They were young boys that looked liked they ranged in age from 6 to 10 or 11. My camera was acting up and I was unable to get as many pictures as I would have liked but I will post what I was able to take.
Father of the Bride
Bette and Leon
Douglas, Drew, and Angelle
Jimmy, Don, and Leon
Mom, Lisa and I
Our neighbors, Cindy, Bob, and Amanda Thorn
The most beautiful cake
Drew escorting Mom down the aisle
Don and I with Msgr. Kern (my cousin) who married us 26 years ago!
Don and the boys

Bridal Luncheon

Today was Nicole's bridal luncheon which was for the ladies only so Don had a day of rest for which he was very thankful. I think he over indulged last night at the rehersal dinner and he was up quite a bit during the night so a day of rest was good for him. The luncheon was at Ralph's on the Park and everything was beautiful. Lots of talking and laughing as we celebrated Nicole's last day of being single!!! Joe's mother, Salwa, his sister, Aline, Kathy and Nicole
Can you spot the former Dominican Deb?
The Vignes girls

Nicole, Kathy, and Leah

Rehearsal Dinner

Joe & Nicole
Doug & Leah
Drew & Don
Don and I
Kristi, Nicole, Leah, & Elizabeth


Larry and Drew



Tonight we attended the wedding rehearsal and dinner afterwards at Commander's Palace, one of the most well known restaurants in New Orleans. We had a wonderful time and at our table enjoyed the company of our niece and nephew, Leah & Doug Harris, their son, Sam, Leah's friend Kristi Boudreaux and one of Nicole's bridesmaids, Elizabeth (whose last name I cannot remember to save my life). While we ate the delicious food, turtle soup, Ceasar Salad, fish with crabmeat sauce, beef tenderloin and bread pudding or cheese cake we listened to a three piece ensemble playing wonderful music. The evening could not have been nicer than it was.

The Wedding Festivities Have Begun

Our niece, Nicole is getting married this weekend to Joe Salloum who she met in Nashville, TN. We have been looking forward to this wedding since they set the date back in December. Drew is an usher in the wedding and picked up his tuxedo today. I asked him to try it on so I could see how he looked. Here he is, not to be outdone by his cousin, Sam "The Politician" Harris...

Some Favorite Summer Pictures

This song, The Sweetest Thing I've Ever Known is Loving You by Juice Newton, is the song Don and I danced to on our first date, December 31, 1981. It has always been special to us.

Never a Dull Moment.

We were enjoying a quiet, empty house today when Drew came home and said it was time to bottle the beer he has been brewing. The next thing I knew there were hoses, buckets, hops, and beer bottes all over the kitchen. His friend Keith came over to join in the bottling and those boys kept Don and I entertained for quite a while. I wonder if the kitchen will every be the same!

Good News!!

Don had an appointment with Dr. Regenstein today and the doctor had wonderful news...Don's blood work showed that his cancer marker went from 55,000 down to 3,600! That was great news to hear. He also looked at the CT report from Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola and said it may show some changes from the CT done here in May. He wants us to get the films from Pensacola so he can review them himself. Doctor Regenstein seemed very happy with these results and if he's happy, we're happy. He is going to redo the procedure Don had in Pensacola, and reband the varices once they have had a chance to shrink. Once they shrink, the original bands tend to shrug off so he will replace the original bands with tighter ones that will stay put. That procedure is scheduled for October 2. Thank you all for your prayers, they are being answered!