Rome

For those of you who have been waiting here are some pictures that Keith
e-mailed to us today. We hope you enjoy them.

Keith in front of The Temple of Saturn

Roman Forum Ruins

Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum

It never fails to amaze us the opportunities that the Air Force has given to Keith. This is the 10th Air Base that he has worked at over the last four years. He has been places like Vegas, the Gulf Coast, Salt Lake and now Italy. We just wonder what adventures still lay ahead for him.

Holiday Weekend

We continue to stay busy as there always seems that something needs to be done around here. The gardening keeps us going and it seems the lawn needs to be mowed every other day. With all this we did take Sunday off to relax and enjoy the day. Two the Kris' friends' Stacey and Karen, were down with her and Charlie for the weekend so Sunday night we had them all here for a cookout. We all had a good time talking about things that went on during the wedding an reception and all the fun everyone had.

Keith was going to Rome for the weekend but we have not heard from him yet. We are looking forward to seeing any pictures he took and hearing about his adventure. When we receive any of these we will post some to share with our readers. He is scheduled to come back to South Carolina on June 4 th. We are sure this will have been a trip that he will never forget. I wonder were his next TDY will be.

Still Looking At Pictures

Somehow we just don't seem to have any more time now than before the wedding. I guess the yard work takes up a lot of our free time as it seems that the yard needs to be mowed every three days or so. Who was the dummy that put weed and feed on the yard anyway? Well at least we get to enjoy some of the flowers that continue to bloom around the house. These are some of the early blooming Iris that we planted two years ago.

When there is some free time we continue to look at pictures but still have not printed that many as we are not sure what we want to do with them. We did print some and put them in a frame to take to Mom at the home. We wanted to make sure the folks there got to share the memories with her. It helps keep her focused on the present.

We also are working on and off on the scrapbook that we have been keeping for Keith since he went into the Air Force. It has not been worked on for a year as it was put aside for the wedding as well. Now with the wedding and the pictures he has sent from Italy it was decided we better get at this as well since we do not even have pages completed for his move last May..

Kris is as bad as we are. She wants to put an album together but still has Thank You's to finish and both her and Charlie have been working a lot of hours as well. They also are working on some home improvement projects that were put off for other things as well. Maybe we will all be caught up sometime this fall!! Then when someone asks to see pictures we actually can show them without going for the laptop.

Trieste

For those of you following along with Keith's travels he just sent us these pictures from Trieste. Trieste is on the eastern side the Adriatic Sea along the border with Slovenia. Just another tough day in the Air Force.

He also has found a couple more PEZ. He bought 3 Mickey Charity Edition tubes at a rest stop while out sightseeing.

View of the Adriatic Sea

Trieste

Miramare Gardens

Castello di Miramare

Roman Theater

Venice

Keith sent these pictures tonight. I hope you are enjoying them. I guess it's as close as many of us will get to Italy.

San Marco Plaza

Basilica di San Marco

Florence

Just received these pictures from Italy and hope you enjoy them.

Florence

In front of Baptistry

Campanile di Glotto

Campanile di Glotto from the top. It a long way down!

Keith Called

We received a call for our world traveler tonight so for those of you who are interested in what he has been doing in Italy just keep reading.

His group has been working second shift and has had every weekend off since they arrived in mid April. They are staying on base at the base hotel so he has his own room but he does have to go to the lobby to use the Internet. Because it is one of the few wireless spots in the area he does not use it much. He said that it is very slow because so many people are using it. He is going to try to use it to send us some pictures tomorrow. We can't wait to see them and if we do receive some we will share them here.

Last weekend he and some friends traveled to Venice. He actually said they were disappointed as the city seemed dirty and there was a lot of graffiti everywhere. Today they traveled about an hour to the city of Florance. They did a lot of site seeing and visited some of the museums seeing a lot of Michelangelo's work including the statue of David. They enjoyed this city so much they are planning on going there again tomorrow. Actually they will be leaving in just a couple of hours as it is already Sunday morning there.

He has also done some shopping and of course purchased some PEZ on European cards. We knew he would be looking for some of these. Since he is now over 1000 dispensers it's our guess we are now starting on the road to 2000!

The Newlyweds

Kris and Charlie swim with the fishes

Charlie and Kris returned from there Honeymoon with some great pictures and I am sure wonderful memories. They were swimming with stingrays and dolphins. They did a zip line in the jungle and a lot of just plan sightseeing. And as with any cruise enjoyed a lot of great eating and entertainment.

They did however have a luggage problem more than once while on their trip. Their luggage was lost on the way to Florida and they did not get it until 3 days later when it caught up with their cruise ship. On the way home they flew to Philadelphia while their luggage took a flight to Baltimore. Oh well it's all good now!

Now for those who would like to see some pictures from the wedding you can use the link here to watch a 10 minute video made from pictures taken by all the photographers that day. Enjoy

http://uncutvideo.aol.com/users/dad17370/9583818c19f3596abac7fb2d6cdcf5a0?index=0

Italy

We just got a note from Keith. For those who know him he is a man of few words and so was the note. For the most part they are just working. He did say they drove up to the Alps last weekend and he sent us a few pictures. We figured we might as well share them so here are a couple of our favorites.


We are not sure that after two months there he will want to come back to the states.

We wanta go...and we wanta go now!!!!!!!!!! Any one out there with us?

Largo Di Barcis

Claut

San Martino

Things To Do

We continue to be busy around here even when you think that we should have some free time. We did get to spend time with Kris and Charlie for the first time since the wedding. We went to Lancaster on Sunday and took Charlie out to supper for his birthday. After that we went back to their house we we downloaded all the wedding pictures to my laptop. Now I get to go over all these pictures to see which ones we think are the best ones. After a little work taking out all the duplicates we have it down to a little under 900 pictures to look at. From these we have picked about 100 or so that we think best captured the wedding and the reception. I am now trying to put these into a video that we can share with our family and friends. Since I was also given some audio files from one of the photographers I hope to cut these in with the video as well.

So keep watching. Hopefully we will have this video finished soon!!

Made It To Italy

We got a short e-mail from Keith today. The trip to Italy was fine and he did not lose any luggage. This is noteworthy because Charlie and Kris had luggage problems flying to Florida and back again. We are not sure how much we will hear from him as we don't know how much he will be working. We just hope he has some time to do some sightseeing. After all how often do you get an opportunity like this?

For those who are interested Keith is in the Pordenone region. This puts him close to Germany, Switzerland and not far from France.

A Couple More Shots

Still Busy

We still don't seem to have a lot of free time even two weeks after the wedding. I guess that some of that is because we now have the yard work that needs completed. In fact we needed to mow the yard again Saturday night.



We did get more pictures this weekend when we went out to supper with Dave and Donna. They gave us a disk with 170 pictures that they took at the wedding. It is fun to see that each photographer seemed to have a different perspective and no one seemed to duplicate what another had done. This is one of the many they took from the balcony. We still have to see the 3D shots that Hillary took and look forward to see what she has done with her talent. While we are on the subject of pictures if anyone happened to take pictures at the brunch and would like to share them please let us know. We all seemed to be so tired that morning we forgot to take any. As soon as Kris has time to make some decisions on her pictures we will be sharing more of these with everyone. We hope you look forward to seeing these as well. I did see one were two lovely ladies (who happen to be neighbors) were giving everyone their "Beauty Queen" wave from the carriage. I am sure Kris will be sharing that one.



As for our world travelers Charlie and Kris returned home Sunday night from their cruise. They had a great time and have many pictures from their travels. I am not sure we will ever get through all of these. Just as they return home Keith leaves tomorrow afternoon for Italy. We just put another clock on our PC that shows Italian time. He will be six hours ahead of us so I guess most of our communications will be by e-mail. I hope he sends us some pictures as it will give us something to do!!!

Home Alone

Although things are getting back to normal here it also seems very quiet. Charlie and Kris left for their cruise on Saturday evening and Keith went back to SC Sunday morning. Kinda like an Empty Nest all over again.

But we got right back into the grove doing some lawn and garden work on Sunday afternoon. The flower gardens have been cleaned up and the lawn has been mowed for the first time this year. Many of the spring flowers are beginning to bloom and we have seen a lot of our annuals pushing through the ground as well. Now if the weatherman will just give us a little more warm weather we would be truly happy.

We have also been going over some more of the wedding photos. All I know is that after a week I still find pictures I have not looked at before. I guess Kris and Charlie will have a lot to do when they get home. Knowing her she will have hundreds of pictures from the cruise as well. It may be a while before everything gets printed.

Party Time

We continue to look through the pictures from last weekend and thought that you might enjoy some from the reception. I don't know of anyone who did not have a good time. Somehow the 5 hours we were there seemed more like 5 minutes. I still can't believe how fast it was over.

We hope you enjoy these shots.

A Look At The Rehersal

Here is a sneak peek at what we were doing on Friday night. As you could tell on Saturday everything went very well. What a great group of people Kris and Charlie had for their wedding party!

More Photographers Report In

We continue to receive photos from the Paparazzi and are enjoying every one of them. We hope you enjoy them as well as we will continue to post some here over the next few days. These were taken by Kris' other parents John and Jackie.

Karen, Josh and Jackie with Kristin before the service.

Everyone got into the fun!

Can you find the Bride and Groom among all the photographers!

Krysta and Brett's Grand Entrance

The Wedding Is Over

After getting up last Friday morning at 7 AM and going to bed sometime Sunday night we managed to survive one of the greatest weekends any parents could hope for. Charlie was handsome but "Sorry Charlie" Kristin was Elegant!

Everything went as planned and in fact even better that we had expected. The day started with all the girls coming to our hotel room to have their hair done. The on staff hair designer, an old(sorry about the age remark) and dear friend did a great job making all the girls look great. After a quick lunch it was off to the chapel. The service was beautiful and the chapel was the perfect venue adding to the overall feeling of the day. When we finally arrived at the reception it could not have been better. Kristin's vision was fulfilled and all the hard work over the last two years became but a memory.

The best part was that all our family and friends had a fantastic time celebrating with us. Everyone had said the day would go by quickly but for us it was over way to fast. We were glad that we had planned the brunch for the next morning. It gave us a chance to again thank everyone for their love for Kris and Charlie and say goodbye before they all headed for home.

Now we sit here after two days of sleeping as much as we could realizing that there is nothing for us to do with these creative juices that we had flowing for the last two years. This could lead to depression. But then again Kris has been given over 1200 digital pictures that she needs to look at and decide which ones are the best. And this total will rise as not all the paparazzi have sent us their pictures. Maybe there is some work there for us yet!

A great looking group!

Can you spot yourself?

Got the moves!

Last Pre-Wedding Post

As we draw to a close this will be the last chance to post before the wedding. Tomorrow morning will begin around 7am and should end sometime around 12pm on Sunday. We have a full list of must dos to complete before we see all of you at 3:30 on Saturday.

Tomorrow will begin with a final trip to the florist. After that Keith and Alan will load the truck with everything for the chapel. Then it's off to pick up their tuxes and get the room at the Eden. After unloading everything that stays there it off too the chapel to begin the decorating.

Meanwhile back at home the girls will be finishing the floral arrangements. After that it's off to do whatever girls do to get ready. We will all meet up for the rehearsal at 7pm. Then back to the hotel for any final projects. From what I can tell Saturday will just be a blur. I am glad there are lots of friends around to help!

We hope you all have a safe trip and look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday! Till then....

Less Than Three Days

Today we took all the decorations and favors to the Eden and completed the final arrangements for the reception. This has given us over half of the spare bedroom back. On Friday the rest leaves for the chapel and the room will be empty!

Kris printed the programs today and tonight they were folded and are now ready to go. One more last minute item completed. Tomorrow we start on the flowers. This is the last major project that needs to be done!!!!!! I'm loving it.

Keith arrived home about 7 PM. But don't worry he will not be sitting around with nothing to do. We have him lined up to help with the flowers tomorrow, chapel decor Friday and other little things on Saturday morning. In fact we have many friends set to help with last minute items on Saturday. Without them we would indeed be going crazy.

Still Not Completed

Just when I was thinking that everything was completed some last minute changes caused some last minute work. I guess I can't complain since I was the one who came up with the idea. Well with this completed I hope we are now ready to take everything to the Eden tomorrow. I sure in my old age I will forget something but at least we will be making that trip a few more times before Saturday.

I also have to stop at the bakery tomorrow to drop off some supplies for the cake. We are sure it will look great and take it from all of us it will taste wonderful. I think we all had more than enough samples of her work before we made the decision.

I also will be making a stop to drop in on Mom and make sure that all the arrangements are in place to get her to the wedding. The Home has arranged to have her transported to and from the chapel as long as there are no health problems that day.

I am sure after tomorrow there will be things to add to the list but we will deal with that when it happens. Till then it time to relax for now.

List Gets Smaller

As the weekend gets closer the list is somehow getting smaller. Today I finished the last decor item that was waiting for me in the shop. We have also started to pack up everything that has been stored in the spare bedroom for the last two years. Tomorrow many of these things need to be taken to the Eden when we have our final reception meeting. The rest will go to the chapel Friday. We hope to have all the decorating there completed before the rehearsal that night.

Guests have begun arriving in the area as early as today. Ryan is flying in this afternoon from California. Keith will be leaving Columbia tomorrow morning to drive home. And some friends have told us that they have begun packing for their travel this week. We are all excited to see everyone and wish you all a safe trip.

With all the people who are arriving early it looks like the party may get started Friday night. We plan on meeting everyone who is in town at Wedding Central (our hotel room) that night after the rehearsal diner. A good time should be had by all. We look forward to seeing all of you this weekend.

Almost Ready

More details were completed today as we had our last meeting with Rev Ronald Lausch before the rehearsal on Friday night. Alright it was more like Easter dinner at Uncle Ron's but we did get some final details completed. The service is set and the programs are now ready for Kris to print. Our next big day is Wednesday when we have meetings set with a couple of vendors to finalize there roles for the day.

As we close in on the last few days we want to again thank all our family and friends who have helped bring all this together. Many of them will be taking care of the little details on Friday and Saturday that you just don't think about when you start the planning. Without them our stress level would have been much higher. As it stands now we know we will all be able to just enjoy the day. Now if I can just get the on-staff hair designer to come up with a new way to do a comb over my day will be complete!

Sneak Peek

Since we are less than a week away from the wedding we decided to give you a sneak peek into the decor. Like the frogs we posted earlier this year you need to look around at the ceremony and reception to find out where they are used. Hope you enjoy the peek into the wedding.

What? Did you really think I would put entire pictures up for you to see? Were would the fun be in that?

Enjoy The Feast

As we approach the final days of the wedding planning many final decisions still remain to be made. One of those is completing the arrangements for the reception including the final guest count and menu selections. After the final guest count was completed we decided to add a little to the evening's celebration. We have decided to enhance the Hors D’ouvres, add something special to the traditional Wedding Toast and give guests more than just Wedding Cake to finish off their meal. All in all it should be a great time for family and friends as they share in our joy.

The seating arrangements have been completed with very few problems. Although we have all heard horror stories about not being able to place some guests at the same table or even at adjacent tables we have no problems like that. In fact in our case our only problem was most of our guests could all be placed at the same table. This should make for a great party!

Off To Europe

Keith has been informed that he will be spending 60 days in Italy beginning sometime in April. He has not received the exact dates yet but at least it will be after the wedding. He will be assisting in some upgrades to F-16's based there. He is hoping that he will have some time to travel to France, Switzerland, Germany etc as they are all a short train ride away. It sure is a great opportunity for him to see thing that most of us can only dream about.

To add a little more one of his buddies from SC is going there as well. This will give both of them someone to travel and hang out together with while there. Although I am sure they will make new friends it nice to have someone you know with you as well.

Getting Closer

It's getting close to crunch time and we continue to both get things completed and add to the list as well. Over the weekend Randy and Deb came to the house to take pictures of all the decor items that have been created over the last two years. This will give Kris and Charlie a permanent record of everything they had for the wedding. After they finished that we spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up some small floral projects.

This week is being spent finishing up the plans for the reception. We have been going over the RSVP's to make sure that we have everyone listed and the right meals in place for everyone. We than have to get all the table cards created using this information. Hopefully the few missing RSVP's will show up this week which allow us to complete this task.

For those of you who were keeping score the Petite has won by about 3 to 1 over the Salmon. I was thinking about getting one of each for myself just to make sure they are both good. But I guess that might be a little much!

Back To Pezing

Among all the wedding planning we can not forget to keep up with the new Pez releases. In February we were hunting for crystal hearts and found all but three of the 39 we needed. Today we received all 7 of the new MLB releases. These include the BOSTON RED SOX, ATLANTA BRAVES, CHICAGO CUBS, SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS, LOS ANGELES DODGERS, BALTIMORE ORIOLES, & NEW YORK YANKEES. Now my only problem is that we have all these Pez, along with some NASCAR from last year, that need to be entered into the data base. Hopefully I can find time between the RSVP's and the last of the craft projects to get this completed. One thing is sure, this will put Keith collection at over 1000 dispensers. It's a good thing the wedding supplies are leaving this month because at this rate we will need to expand the Pez Museum into a second room.

Busy Weekend

Today was Kris' Bridal Shower which was hosted by her Bridesmaids. Because many of her friends live outside the area we decided that our house would be the most central place to hold the event. Our only task was to clear out the furniture in the family room so we could put 20+ folding chairs there to accommodate the guests. The girls planned everything else including food, games etc. They did a great job and everyone had a wonderful time.

Meanwhile Keith called tonight to let us know he is going with some other airman from his base to Utah for a week in early March. They will be helping with a training exercise that will include fighters from his former base in Idaho. He will return before the wedding which is a good thing since he is one of the Groomsmen.

This And That

First some news from the south. Keith has put his name on a list of Airman willing to go to Italy for three months this summer. They will be there to assist with some aircraft upgrades. There are seven names on the list and only five will be going. Let's hope that he gets to go. How often do you get a free trip to Europe.

Wedding plans are still on track with little things continuing to be checked off the list. All the plans are set to get Grandma from her room at the Health Care Center to Sell Chapel. The social workers have arranged for one of the home's vans to transport her. Being able to have her attend was one of the reasons that the chapel was chosen so we all hope that this works out.

From Far And Wide

As the RSVP's arrive we are glad to see that friends and family will be coming from all over the country to help us celebrate. In fact some of Kristin's friends are arriving from as far away as California while Charlie has family coming from places like Virginia and Michigan. It is going to be a great time to see old friends and make some new ones as well.

Even some of the people who have agreeded to help are traveling a long distance to Lancaster. Ryan the ceremony reader is flying in from LA. Maybe he should get a special prize for most miles traveled. Teresa our family hair stylist has about a two hour drive. We are so blessed to have friends like these.

The Little Things

They say the little things add up and I guess that it's true. Things that we did not really think about six months ago now need to be completed within the next few weeks. It's many of these little things that will make the day so special for everyone. What little things you may ask. Well how about making sure everyone is served the meal they are expecting. See if you can figure out how that works when they drop that favorite dish in front of you. Then there are the final meetings with the DJ, the Eden coordinator, the cake lady etc. Add in the fittings for dresses and tuxes and you see that there are not a lot of free days between now and March 29th.

Even with all this going on we still took time out on Sunday afternoon to meet Kris and Darlene, an old friend from Danville, for lunch in York. A local Greek church holds a Greek Fest every February and all of us enjoy the homemade food. Good food and good conversation always make for a wonderful afternoon. Can't wait till next year.

Well enough of this I have RSVP's to get entered into our excel file. By the way the Petit Filet has taken a 4 to 1 lead over the Salmon. Of course the final tally is not in yet so check back for updates. We should have results by early March.

There's Music In The Air

Yesterday Kris and Alan spent the afternoon working with the organist to finalize the music for the wedding. It took about two hours to make all the decisions but with the help of a very talented musician the process was a very plesant one. The pipe organ in the chapel is a wonderful instrument and will add so much to the service.

While we were there we went up to the nursing home to begin the process of trying to have Alan's mother attend the service. Since her health is in question we will not know if she can attend until that day. However we need to have all the plans in place since she will need special transportation to the chapel and back again. Although it is only 1/2 a mile away pushing her there and back is out of the question. Alan's brother and sister-in -law will accompany her that day if she is able to attend. Let's hope all goes well. She just turned 90 and this is her only granddaughter.

Weekend Off

We took a break from wedding planning this weekend and spent some time doing some of the other things in life. On Sunday we joined Kris and Charlie in Hershey for the town's Community Days. Since it was such a nice day our first stop was at the zoo. While there we ran into an old friend who has been working there for over 30 years. Kris took some great pictures of the residents and I even got a couple of good shots.

After that it was off to the Auto Museum. None of us had ever been there and again it was just nice to get away from planning for a while. We ended the day with a stop for a mid day lunch before heading for home.

Meanwhile Keith is in West Virginia with a group of guys from his base. They took a few days leave, which they planned last fall, to hit the slopes. Not quite the same as out west but skiing with friends is always fun. We just hope that they found some snow at the resort and that the slopes are not all just ice covered.

Early Election Results

In keeping with the election year theme and with 15% of the votes recorded, Petit Filet and Chicken hold a 3 to 1 lead over Salmon. Remember however these are early exit poll results and it is still to close to call. So make sure you cast your vote with your RSVP. As Mayor Dailey used to say in Chicago "Vote Early, Vote Often". ( OK I'm dating myself with that one...I saw it on the oldies channel )

In other news plans continue to go forward. Our friends Donna and Dave have agreeded to do a unique suprise project for us at the wedding. I could tell you more but then I have to have Keith........well you know the rest. They are joining a group of family friends who are helping us make this a special day for for Kris, Charlie and all of our guests. We thank them all for what they are doing. Without everyone's help we would have lost what little sanity we have left.