The Thorpe/Roy Wedding - Lake Guntersville State Park, Alabama

This part of the adventure started out with a call from our dog sitter, Jeannie, (whom I had contacted about a month ago and recontacted about 1 1/2 weeks ago to confirm) saying that she couldn't do this for us because she just found out that she was pregnant and her husband didn't want her coming out here and staying.  There were quite a few texts and phone calls but finally, late Thursday night, she put us in touch with her best friend, Jordan, who said that she would be happy to help us out.  It was a tense night because we didn't know anyone around here and it was such a last minute thing.  We were very lucky to get Jordan-she couldn't have been more perfect for us or for Boo!  She even sent us pictures throughout the night and next day to let us know he was doing fine.

How cute is this?!!

It's hard to know how to begin to describe what a fabulous experience this wedding was!  Jim drove me down to the lodge at the park on Friday morning where I ran into Chandler and his pals and was thrilled to be able to get to know these wonderful young men over lunch.  Chandler was delightful to me-was careful to introduce me to everyone and made sure I was included in the conversation.  Julie and her sister, Carol, and Kathleen were all at a bridesmaids' luncheon and returned around 1:30.  We hung around the lodge for a LONG time, waiting to get into our rooms and our nerves (not mine so much but the wedding party, in particular) were getting fried waiting.  The Thorpes got in around 3:45 (they had about 15 minutes to change and get down to the beach pavilion to set up).  Jim had gone to pick up Patty in Huntsville, after dropping me off.  They returned and shortly afterwards, Athena and Josh arrived and at about 4:30, we got into our chalet.  No time for showers but the weather was so atrocious (hot and humid!) that it really didn't matter how we looked-frizzy hair, droopy make up-you get the picture.

The resort was just lovely.  Lake Guntersville lies in northeastern Alabama.  It amazed us all in how ever present and huge (6,000 acres) the lake was.  The lodge sits high above the lake with fantastic views and the chalets, where we all were staying, commanded the same views.  Unfortunately, it was foggy, humid and a little chilly much of the time.  There are many miles of nature trails and Donna, Patty, Boo and I walked, even in the rain.  (Boo ended up having about 4 ticks on his body!  Yikes!)  It is still fall here and the leaves are multicolored, like New England.  We shared a chalet with Patty and Josh and Athena-the only "dog friendly" accommodation.  There was no sofa bed, so we gave A and J the room with the king size bed and we shared a room with two double beds with Patty.  It was pretty hilarious.

Unfortunately, the weather really didn't cooperate for
wonderful pictures of this beautiful place.  This was taken
from the lodge, but we had the same view from the chalet.

Friday evening Chandler and Lauren had requested an outdoor picnic dinner at the beach pavilion, right at the lake.  The pavilion was huge and well protected from the elements.  We met Jordan and her friend, Carmen, there.  They elected to stay on the grounds and took Boo for walks and basically kept him occupied elsewhere.  The food and drink were wonderful.  The family welcomed us and then had 3 couples from each side of the family (Jim and I included-we were more than flattered) give a short speech about Words of Wisdom.  It was pretty interesting:  Ryan and Mindy Thomas did an hilarious routine, talking about how it all can come down to what you are having for dinner.  Boy, could we relate to that one:  we have one chicken breast, a carrot and two apples-what can we make out of that!?  Wes and Anna Roy (Lauren's brother and sister in law) spoke, as did her parents and an uncle and his wife.  Their speeches stressed the importance of God and the church in marriage.  Kurt and DawnEllen Whited (Julie's nephew and his wife) had a sweet and funny talk, too (no picture).  Lots of good advice and stories of mountaintops and declarations of love.

Ryan and Mindy 

Wes and Anna

Julie officiated and other parents and the bride and groom
stood in front.

Jim and I, of course, did our usual talk around the bottle of champagne and shared stories about our relationship with Tom and Julie and Kathleen and Chan Man.  It was a lovely evening.

Next day, we had breakfast at the lodge;  we took walks, showers, did our hair (to no avail) and got ready for the wedding.  We drove the length of the lake to Scottsboro at the St. Lukes Episcopal Church.  We were a little nervous about how fundamental the service might be, but were more than pleasantly surprised.  It was a beautiful church-small, well appointed and the service was led by an incredibly funny and personal speech by the lady priest.  Julie looked absolutely gorgeous and happy; I cried my eyes out; Chandler reminded me of Jim, smiling and happy at the front of the church; Lauren was absolutely the most beautiful bride.  Everyone was so very happy.  Afterwards, we threw rose petals at the bride and groom and then returned to the lodge for champagne and visiting for an hour before the reception began.

Kathleen and Tommy

Julie looked gorgeous!  And how
about that Chandler!

Carol Roy (Mother of the bride)
 and her son, Wes

Adorable Rhett, Ryan
and Mindy's son

Love this pic of the best man,
David Cunningham-love his name!
He sure had the stature of an Air Force guy!

Lauren looked absolutely
breathtaking and she and Channy
smiled at each other so beautifully.

Mr. and Mrs. Thorpe
Captain and Mrs. Thorpe

The happy couple

The flower girls were Zoey and Birdie
in the most amazing dresses

On their way to the reception

 Josh, Athena, Me, Julie and Patty
at the champagne reception

First dance

Mother/Son dance

Eric and Kurt, Julie's nephews

Donna's kids:  Heather, Max and Ariel

Julie Thornton

Love these pics of these two!
Kurt and Dawn Ellen

Beautiful and yummy cake

Theenie and Josh

There was dancing and toasts and cake cutting and much fun was had by all.  The most incredible part of the whole night was the highly emotional testament of love that Chandler gave to the whole crowd.  He talked of his appreciation of his parents for their sacrifices, of Lauren's parents for the party and for raising such a lovely woman and to all the friends and families that showed up to support his marriage.  I've never heard anything like it!  It was so heartfelt and sincere.  Tears flowed all around.

We were all too exhausted to close down the party, but we came close.  We certainly did our share of dancing!  Back to our chalet to thank Jordan and Carmen, to love up Boo and to sleep-not very soundly-we were sharing a double bed (all three of us!).