An Autumn Of Memories

It's been a while, hasn't it? I've missed you! Two and a half weeks away from home for my son's wedding in California and our 40th anniversary Hawaii trip--the longest I have ever been away. Eight plane rides + nearly 11,000 miles flown = one bad head cold. I hadn't had a cold in nearly two years, but, thankfully, this one reared its ugly head after our trip! And at least now that I'm retired, I can rest here at home, drink lots of water and eat my chicken noodle soup... Anyway, I've been asked by many of you if I could share some wedding photos so I'll do just that after I show you my latest finish...

I blame this one on the squirrels--the trio of gray squirrels romping around the lower left border reminded me so much of those in our yard this time of year that I just had to stitch this one!  I'm sure you'll recognize it as a Prairie Schooler--it is from "Autumn Samplers" (Book No. 66) which has three gorgeous fall-themed beauties. I'd love to stitch the others some day, too. 

Prairie Schooler "Autumn Sampler" finish

This one is stitched on 40 ct. country mocha Newcastle linen using the suggested DMC threads.

Just love those squirrels!

I have to admit that those leaves were starting to get to me after a while, however I just kept plugging away! But, I loved the saying and the fallish colors, too. Oh, how I wish Prairie Schooler designs were still creating new charts--they are so timeless!

Aren't the fall colors perfect?

Being away for 2 1/2 weeks, I missed most of the really good autumn color here in Pennsylvania. When we left on October 18th, the leaves were still green--very unusual for that time of year. But, when we returned many had turned color and fallen, although there are still a fair number remaining. After the frigid weather that is moving in this weekend, though, I doubt many will hang on too long! Anyway, I hope to frame this one (famous last words!)...

Another Prairie Schooler checked off my "must-stitch" list!

When I got back from my travels, I was thrilled to find two little gift packages waiting in my accumulated mail.  My long-time blogging friend, Cindy, sent me two beautiful gifts to help me celebrate my retirement. Just look at this gorgeous needleminder and needlecase--and in blue, my favorite color! I love that pretty sunflower card, too... Thank you so much, Cindy--you  have been a special stitching friend through all these years!

Retirement gifts sent from Cindy

And Tawny (in New Jersey) sent me two cute charts to thank me for sending her a chart that she couldn't find. Thank you, Tawny--I look forward to stitching them!

Thank you gifts sent from Tawny

In other stitching news, I did get a new Christmas ornament stitched while in Hawaii, but I'll wait until it's finished off to share it with you. 

♥♥♥ So, the wedding ♥♥♥... It was such a beautiful day--in every way... I'm sure every parent of a bride or groom feels that way, but my husband and I were just beaming the entire day as we watched our oldest son and our now daughter-in-law start their life together...

The wedding was held at a lovely old mission style church in Oceanside, California on a day that couldn't have been nicer--sunshine and blue skies abounded! I loved the simple style of this church much more than the grand cathedrals I've seen in my travels. The ceremony was bilingual... since my new daughter-in-law is of Mexican American heritage, the priest spoke in both English and Spanish.

St. Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Oceanside, CA

I'll just share a few more photos...

The new couple made their way to the reception in this vintage auto.

Relaxing at the reception

My youngest and middle sons congratulate the happy couple and welcome their new sister! They were co-best men and did an outstanding job on their speech at the dinner. The middle gave it in English and the youngest in Spanish so that all of the guests could understand their words.

Blue and orange flowers complemented the bridesmaids' royal blue dresses

I just love this photo of my son and the three sweet flower girls. Although they didn't know each other previously, the little girls bonded and held hands and danced together throughout the evening. Just adorable!

The groom's proud parents--we clean up pretty well (although it looks like a vine is growing out of my head!). It's hard to tell in this photo, but my dress was a beautiful dark amethyst color.

The reception was held at Green Gables Wedding Estate in nearby San Marcos, CA. It had such great backdrops for photo taking with the old schoolhouse, chandeliers hanging from trees, a gazebo, and a turquoise vintage truck

The dessert table included traditional cakes, cupcakes, and an assortment of Mexican candy!

One of my favorite photos taken by a co-worker of the bride's

People asked me if I cried--oh, I got a bit teary eyed, but I honestly didn't cry. Well, that day, anyway! The day before the wedding I saw the following post on Instagram and it just set me off... Tears and so many memories swelled up in me as I read these words that were originally written by Tabitha Studer on her blog way back in 2011 in a post called "25 Rules For Mothers of Sons." This is her Rule Number 25: 

And my sweet new daughter-in-law understands this so well. The morning of the wedding she gave me a gift bag filled with a framed photo of herself and my son, some charms (one of which read "Thank you for raising the man of my dreams"), chocolates, a lovely blue and white handkerchief, and most meaningful of all--a beautifully handwritten note about her love for my oldest son and assuring me that I "wasn't losing a son, but gaining a daughter!" How blessed I feel to have this wonderful young woman in our family!

I am out of time today--my poor head is aching from this cold.  I need to go through my Hawaii photos before I can share them with you... so until next time, my friends! Thank you all for taking the time to visit and maybe even taking the time to leave a comment... Each and every one means so very much to me! Bye for now...