Say Yes to the Dress(es)

If you've seen the show "Say Yes to the Dress," you know that it's totally over the top with diva brides and their mothers.  I knew that Rebecca would be nothing like those brides - she is so totally practical that it would kill her to spend any money at all on a dress.  So with that in mind, we had to have her try on some of the dresses that were in the family.  First this one worn by Lisa and Katie and ruled out because it is strapless (Rebecca just doesn't prefer strapless).  Notice the crowd that came to give helpful opinions.

Next was Aunt Ann's dress, a 1970s classic handmade by our mom:

Hey, at least it's not strapless.  Not pictured, my Mom's dress, shown here.  She did try it on, but it's awfully yellow:

And my dress, shown here (I think the sleeves are a bit too poofy):

I didn't seriously expect her to wear a hand-me-down dress, but it would have appealed to her frugal nature, that's for sure.

When we shopped in the stores the first time, one of her out-of-town bridesmaids surprised her by popping in.  That was so sweet, and for some reason I did not take a photo of her. :(  Here were our favorites from that day.  She didn't say yes to any of them.  

Our next shopping trip was in Arkansas, and her aunts and cousins came along.  Rebecca could tell that it was an expensive store and since the prices weren't even shown on any of the dresses, she just modeled some for our entertainment.  

My favorite:

Um, seriously?

I liked this one, but it is  . . . strapless:

The Greek look:

We tried another shopping trip in Knoxville - this time her brother Noah showed up to give opinions.

None of those worked for Rebecca either.  So she ended up ordering a dress online and a puffy skirt to go on top - two dresses in one.  Her she is modeling it in our kitchen.  It looks so good with the fridge in the background.!  It arrived while I was out of town taking care of my Dad in hospice.  I was sad that we didn't get a moment together finding the perfect dress, but it turns out that was more my thing than hers.  

In the meantime, I found a dress quite easily at Dillard's.  

Holidays with the Hogs

Our Christmas trip to Arkansas was going to be the first time for most of my family to meet Joseph!  First, we planned a surprise engagement party with everyone:

We played a version of the newlywed game and then made sure Joseph got full exposure to the word games and board games that we love during the holidays:

And impromptu family jam sessions (featuring Caleb on his new guitar!):

We even made sure he got a chance to see the Hogs play Tennessee - a special treat!

It was a fun game that went into overtime, but my Tennessee fans were not too happy.  All agreed it was a great environment to watch basketball in, though. And it's OK because Tennessee went on to have a great year.

A mix of orange and red

Christmas 2018 - Changes in the Core Group

Most of my friends and family know that I really like the sitcom "The Middle."  This year is it's final season, and I really related to the show at the beginning of the season called "The Core Group."  Here's a clip from the end of that show where Frankie (the mom) makes one last "toast" with the core group:

I've been keenly aware the last few years that our core group would be changing.  It's a good thing, but it is a change.  The last several Christmases I have reminded the kids that this might be the last Christmas with "just us."  They were pretty sick of hearing it, actually.

Well, this year things changed!  With Rebecca getting engaged on Dec. 1st, we have now added Joseph to our core group.  He was there for the traditional Lego building:

And for the stocking hanging:

And evening for Christmas morning, when he got his knitted beard along with everyone else:

Yep, things they are a changing:

Holidays in Knoxville

The Seaman extended family celebrated Christmas on Friday, December 23rd.  We had lots of fun conversation - some of it centered around hearing Rebecca's engagement story and talking about wedding plans (date not set yet).

Highlights were our family gift exchange

And this cheesecake (which Papa already requested for next year as his only gift!):

Recipe here.  I feel like I have finally taken my cheesecake to the next level.  Rebecca and Joseph say they want cheesecake for their wedding, so I may be just in time!

He Put a Ring on It

On December 1st, Rebecca attended a Military Ball in Virginia with Joseph (apparently actually called a "Dining Out" - which sounds really lame to me).  I had a hunch that he would be popping the question at this event, but Terry (who had given permission already) didn't think it would happen until the New Year.

I began to think Terry was right when we hadn't heard from Rebecca and it was getting quite late in the evening.  We went to bed, and Terry fell promptly to sleep.  I was still awake when I got a text from Rebecca asking if she could FaceTime me and her Dad in a few minutes.  Turns out female intuition rules!

Joseph designed the ring himself.  Isn't it pretty?

Terry had a hard time sounding excited because he was half asleep.  I was thrilled, and we got her brothers to come upstairs and join the call.  Noah one the prize for the most enthusiasm!  He looked something like this:

Rebecca and Joseph tell the story from their point of view on their wedding website.

Thanksgiving Memories 2017

Seems like on Thanksgiving, the food takes center stage.  We are "mighty thankful" (to quote my Pa) for it:

We must be creatures of habit, because the food signs Rebecca made a few years ago can mostly be re-used.  This year's excitement was Nana's dressing catching on fire in my garage oven!  It was totally black, and I really wish I would have taken a picture.  We all mourned a little.

I like these pictures contrasting the regular homemade rolls (with one eaten out of the middle - just for testing purposes):

and the gluten free ones:

One thing I have to be thankful for all the time is that my body seems to be able to handle gluten just fine!

And last, but not least, we did have one photo with people:

Other Thanksgiving festivities involved decorating for Christmas.  I even gave Rebecca and Joseph a "couples project" to light the front porch.

Another thing I'm thankful for this year is the fresh coat of paint on the house, and my new shutters.  It makes a huge difference!

One last Thanksgiving activity was a great game of disc golf.  Joseph even made a hole-in-one!