Fall Football

I'll admit that generally I am not a huge sports fan.

Unless I have a personal connection to a team, I really don't follow sports.

I do happen to have a connection to Navy football.

We have USNA season football tickets and we have a tailgate spot on Admiral's Row.

Here's a peek at what our football weekends look like....

Just in case we can't remember where our spot is....

Caroline with her pre-game cocktail...

We had two extra tickets and took Jack's RVC travel volleyball coach and one of his teammates.

 Mother-daughter time...

The dudes...

 One of the BEST parts of attending a USNA football game is the march on....

I've probably seen it 100 times now, but I love it every time I see it!

 The Mids...

 Can't have a football game without the goats...

 Our seats are on the "away side"....there is a method to our madness...

we are on the "sunny" side of the stadium, which is where you want to be for the COLD games.

After the midshipmen are all on the field, 

they turn to greet the "away" fans.

And they tip their hats.....love that part!

 LOVE the bagpipes....must be my Scottish heritage.

 They play the song "Danger Zone" from the movie Top Gun as the players run on to the field.

 Lots of energy in the stadium and lots of pride.....

 Love our seats.....great view.

And it was a win against ECU 45-21!

Great game with the family!!!!

Speaking of football....I have to brag just a little.

Teddy is on the Deep Run Junior Varsity football team

and he is the starting Junior Varsity quarterback (as a freshman) for the Wildcats!

Proud mama!

That would be Teddy with the ball...

 Number seven.....

Could not be more proud of him!

He started football in 7th grade and warmed the bench for the season....

He played in 8th grade and was a defensive end and the punter.

He wanted to be a QB, and worked his tail off all winter, spring, and summer, 

and it paid off....big time.

So those are my football teams.....Go Navy.....Go Wildcats!

I will include Virginia Tech since Katherine is there...so Go Hokies!

Happy Anniversary....Blending our Family

Today is D's and my fourth wedding anniversary.

Sweet D is driving down from DC just to take me out to dinner tonight.

January 23, 2010
I like our anniversary date...0123!

Happiest Day!

After we were engaged, I spent A LOT of time thinking about our wedding.

It being a second wedding for both of us,

my first instinct was to have a very tiny ceremony in a church,

without a reception or any "wedding" type events.

I scoured all of my etiquette books, looking for how to have a "proper" second wedding.

Fortunately, ALL of our children were super excited about our engagement.

And they were SUPER excited about the wedding....

a wedding that was not the type of wedding that I was thinking we would have.

D and I talked about it, and decided that we were blending our families, 

therefore we needed to have a celebration that the children would all feel a BIG part of.

So we had a wedding...a REAL wedding.

At the United States Naval Academy Chapel.
Here is our wedding celebration in pictures...warning...this is very photo heavy!

Our wedding at the USNA Chapel.

My Michigan dad escorting me to the chapel...

My daughters, Caroline and Katherine, were my bridesmaids.

D's oldest daughter, Laura, was my junior bridesmaid.

D's youngest daughter, Grace, was the flower girl.

D's son, Kimo, was his Best Man.

My sister was my Maid of Honor (here with my girls).

D's youngest son, Collin, was the ring bearer...he is a ham.

and my boys escorted me down the aisle...they look so little!

Three of the sailors (still D's closest friends) who were on the boat in 1986
 when the jacket incident occurred were groomsmen for D.

I found a classy but simple ivory silk wedding dress and had the train cut off,
and the girls all went to my dress fittings with me and helped pick out their bridesmaid dresses.
The boys were fitted for tuxedos, and the twins especially LOVED wearing a tux...lol.
We tried to include the kids in all aspects of planning the wedding...
right down to selecting the songs for the DJ to play.


I will remember this moment forever.

Just Married!

One of the BEST parts of the night

 was when I pulled out THE sailing team jacket that D loaned me 24 years ago,

and put it on outside the chapel.

He still had it after all of these years,

 and I secretly gave it to my sister to have handy after the ceremony.

He was speechless!

D and I with my Virginia parents

I love this picture....

Our new blended family!

We had a formal dinner following the ceremony at the Naval Academy Club,

and invited all of our close friends...AND their children.

In fact we almost had more children than adults!

The menu selections included chicken nuggets...

and Shirley Temples were the most popular drink request at the bar!

The rat pack...my boys, their cousins, and  their best friends were all there.

Midshipman tradition of cutting the cake with his sword...

HELLO...the look on my face says it all! 

The children surprised us and had written their own toasts to us...

there was not a dry eye in the room.

My Michigan mom with new granddaughter, Grace, and my sister. 

My sister with (who at the time, we were hoping him to be) my brother-in-law. 

D's Weapons Officer from the USS Texas serenaded us! 

D and his beautiful sister...it truly is a blessing to be a part of his family.

All of the children truly had a wonderful time...they still talk about it! 

My beautiful sister! 

Crazy dancing kids

This is EXACTLY what we were hoping for at the reception...

no one wanted the evening to end!

It was an AMAZING night and our wedding celebration

truly blended our family together,

creating very special moments, silly stories that we sill laugh about, and cherished memories.

I may not have followed "proper etiquette" for a second wedding,

but D and I did what was the right and proper thing for our family.

Oh....and the jacket in mine now...D gave it to me to keep....forever.

All pictures posted were taken by our Photographer, Jennifer Cody, of Egomedia

as well as a few that were taken by my brother-in-law, of Two Twisted Trees Photography.

And if you are just dying to see more wedding pictures, 

you can visit this website.
To be honest, I have not looked at our wedding pictures in quite a long time,
and it was fun to go back and select the pictures for this post.