The Wedding

Tony and I have been lucky enough to see Jenna marry Jon and live a happy life together.  And then, Tony Jr., married Marie and they too,  are very happy.  So, it was a special moment for us to see David marry Brenda and smile like a man who was finally joined with the love of his life. 

 

Bok Tower is a beautiful place for a wedding.  It was built in the early 1920's by a Dutch designer, first as a bird sanctuary, and later with intricate gardens.  Edward Bok, wanted to build a tranquil place--and he did.  The Tower is  295 feet tall and sits on one of the highest points in Florida.  It is surrounded by a moat and its bells chime every 30 minutes.  

 

Brenda was absolutely beautiful.  She sparkled under the afternoon sun and late into the evening. 

Enjoy the photos of Mr. and Mrs. David Swegle:

The Vows

 

 

Brothers and Sisters--Tony, David, Brenda, Andrea

 

 

The Parents

 

A very cute sign bearer...Here Comes the Bride (the other side said, "And They Lived Happily Ever After!")

 Coming Down the Isle

Just like Coleton joined Tony and I at the alter for our vow renewal, Anthony joined Daddy for a closer look at the ceremony

 

 

The newest Mrs. Swegle with her groom

Sisters

Three guys and a beautiful woman

A very far away picture of us with Brenda and David

 

The other cute sign bearer

Four tiers, four flavors

Grandma Ramirez, Brenda and David

When our nephew Chris got married, the Swegle women performed....here we are again... Marie, Katie (our niece) Donna, Me and Rose

Coleton and Aunt Rose

 

The beauty of Bok Tower

Polished, colored marble around the sun dial

Clouds reflected in the moat chasing a fish

Rehearsal night...when the boys first saw us, Coleton ran to Tony, yelling, "Papa!"  Anthony ran to me, yelling, "Momo!"  What a great moment that was

The day belonged to Brenda, but Marie radiated beauty at the rehearsal

 

 

 

Next up....our visit to the Dali Museum.   

 

 

Matthew Is Coming To Town

Well, you would have to live under a rock to miss the news coverage and  information on Hurricane Matthew.  I read somewhere that this is the biggest storm the south has had in awhile.  

Tony brought the generator into the lanai in case power goes out and he told me that people at the grocery store were making a run on water and bread.  He also moved the furniture to the center of the lanai so it may get wet, but it won't go anywhere.

 

I will be at the hospital all weekend.  We are on lockdown from Friday at 7:00 p.m. until whenever on Sunday.  That means I get to sleep and shower there, oh boy!!  But, the money is good and the building is strong so it will be OK.  The other ladies I will be working with are calling it a big pajama party!

 

We were at the beach this week and took Dixie.  The first time we took her to the ocean, she was afraid of the noise and the waves.  This time she had a blast.  I think she was still afraid of the waves, but she loved chasing the birds and getting petted by kids on the beach. 

 

We also discovered a new winery.  Only service dogs were allowed in, but since we were the only people there, Dixie got to visit the indoor waterfall.  It was fun and we will be going back again. 

 

Here are some highlights:

 

Our first stop, big surprise

 

The sign says, only service dogs with papers were

allowed in....they didn't count on Dixie visiting!

Nice wall decorations

Dixie stating her case to be let inside...."see how cute I am?"

 

If these dogs could come in, so could Dixie!!

Chard on the patio

The indoor waterfall

 

THE BEACH!!!

Our first attempt at reintroducing Dixie to the waves

She's thinking...

 

 

And then meets a friend on her level...

And another one...furry, this time

A bird spies Dixie....

 

And she spies the bird!

Getting lunch

Checking the weather

Matthew is "graying" up the day

Dixie tells Daddy, "I'm a beach dog, not a bitch!"  She'll be back

 

 

 

 

Up and Coming!

It's been awhile since I blogged...in part, because Jenna changed her blog page and took off other blogs (including ours) and I had to figure out how to access it without just clicking on us from her page.  But, I was able to figure it out  (OK, it took me awhile) and here I am.

 

In general news, Tony and I went to see the movie, "Sully," the true story of the "miracle" on the Hudson River, staring Tom Hanks.  What a great movie!!  I remember the real incident and being glad about the outcome, but this movie really grabbed me.  I sobbed in some parts and chuckled too, because while I  knew the outcome of the flight, the mastery of the movie made me forget it and, in that moment in time,  I was afraid for the passengers.  It's not a long movie, but definitely, a gripping one. 

 

As of today, THE wedding is 20 days away.  We went to Tampa a few weeks ago and visited Brenda's parents, talked wedding with "the kids"  and spent some quality time with David and Brenda.  This is, in my opinion, a real "power couple."  They have a life plan, career plans and they are the real example of a couple.  The other's happiness is top of mind and it is wonderful to see.

 

Another big event is Anthony's 2nd birthday party on October 1.  Tony and I did another Snapfish book--this one being an alphabet book that I hope Anthony enjoys.  Tony did the illustrations and I did the words and coordinated the "real life" pictures of the family.  I think it turned out well and I hope Tony gets to read it to Anthony while he is in Charlotte for the birthday party.  (Big surprise, I'm working!)

 

I am getting older by the minute--I have Rheumatoid arthritis in my left knee.  I could hardly walk after the 9 hour drive to Tampa, but, I am slowly trying go build up strength in my knee so I can walk and slow down the progression.  Walking is good--sitting for hours at a time is really, really not good.

 

We had tons of rain today...hurricane Michael?   Not sure, but I am sure of the rain.  I didn't drive to work today, I hydroplaned!  Fun, but a bit dicey!

 

Dixie and I are on our own while Tony is in Charlotte.  Two bitches in the house...oh geez, what will we get into? 

 

I am on official wedding countdown and look forward to pointing at Brenda Ramirez Swegle and saying, "see that high powered, attractive, well spoken young woman?  Well, that's our daughter in law and we are proud that she is in our family."

 

I hope that everyone we love is feeling loved today and is at peace with the world. 

 

 

 

The Fountain of Youth

Let's face it...at our respective ages, we're tired.  We can't party like we used to, stay up until all hours, eat whatever we want and not gain an ounce or not get out of bed without some twinge of pain.  Joey's father used to call doing that, "making my father's noise."

 

But that all changes when kids are in the house.  This past weekend, we had Tony, Marie, Coleton and Anthony stay over.  The kids were a blast.  We found energy we didn't know we had and played like kids in pre-school.  Hugging them was like jumping into the fountain of youth.

 

Unfortunately, I worked a lot while they were here, but Tuesday, I had the day off and was able to sleep in...sort of!

 

As I was laying in bed, in that nether world of sleep and distant awareness, I heard Coleton, who was two feet away from me, yelling to Marie who was in the kitchen, "Maw-Mee, Momo is still sleeping."  Um, at that point--no I wasn't!

 

So, I rolled out of bed and Coleton immediately handed me three pictures of airplanes that he and Tony worked on.  Tony did the design and Coleton did the coloring.  I wonder how NASA and the Department of Defense would feel about blue, yellow and pink war machines!

 

But, I did think they were beautiful--and so before my first cup of coffee and with only one eye open, we hung them on the refrigerator.  They look wonderful and it was certainly worth getting out of bed to hang them.

 

And then there was Anthony--or Mr. Smiley, as we call him.  He is getting to be so big.  And, he has found his voice.   He can say, "NO" and "NOT NOW," really well.  When you take his picture, he squeezes his eyes shut so he doesn't see the flash...so here you have this cute little man saying,"cheeeeeese," with a nice smile on his face and eyes scrunched tight and closed. 

 

They went to our pool and to the beach with Mommy and Daddy and they all went by the battleship, "The North Carolina," which, Coleton informed me, does not move anymore but used to have airplanes on it. 

 

All of the Swegle men even spent time in the kitchen (I would say, "where they belong," but I'm afraid Tony would stop cooking for me and I would starve!)

The days went quickly by and soon they were in the backseat of their car, yelling, "Bye, Papa, Bye Momo, we love you."

What a nice visit. 

We are off tomorrow to Tampa to see David and Brenda and get some wedding updates.  I'm so excited to see them. 

I'm off work until September 15!  YIPPEE!

My beautiful fridge--A Purdum Calendar and artwork by Coleton

A Pink Airplane...well, why not?

Yellow, maybe it makes the plane invisible!

 

The blue Enterprise

One of my birthday presents from Coleton

Anthony and Coleton--Coleton decided to get into the closing your eyes for photos game

Anthony and his pretty Mama

Anthony and Anthony

Momo, Papa and Anthony

 

Making cheese pizza

A job well done

 

Dinner's Ready!!

 

At the beach

 

New Stuff

David and Brenda's wedding draws closer and closer and we are getting so excited...OK, I'm getting excited, Tony is happy in a reserved, guy,  kind of way.  I love Brenda's dress and shoes and I know the venue is going to be great.    We will be going to Florida next week for a "meet the parents" moment.  The movie keeps running through my mind.   I keep wondering if we are the Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman or Blythe Danner and Robert DeNiro characters.  If you recall from the "Meet the Parents" movie, Barbra and Dustin were the groom's parents...free spirits, enjoying life (and sex) and really cool people.  Geez, I hope that's Tony and me!!!  We have seen pictures of Brenda's parents and they look like really nice people.  I know one thing for sure, they have raised a wonderful daughter that we are thrilled to be adding to our family. 

 

I have been working a lot again.  We are still in need of people because of maternity leave, vacations or long term disability.  I worked part of the day today and then went to a doctor's appointment.  I was hoping for another cortisone shot, but had to settle to a topical skin cream and a prescription for my knee, which is arthritic. 

 

Tonight, it's pizza and rain.  The pizza is a Friday night staple, but the rain, holy cow....this is remnants of the hurricane and it is massive.  I was at work by 6:30 a.m. today and didn't register a patient until 9:15 a.m.   It was that bad.  No one wanted to venture out in the rain and high winds.  What we did get, for once,  were true emergencies. 

 

Offices all over were closing early and it looks like the same for tomorrow.  I work 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. tomorrow and I'm guessing we won't be busy--unless of course, we get a ton of car accidents. 

 

Tony, Marie and the kids were planning to come up this weekend, but now, with the weather, I'm not sure what is going on.  Tyson, Tony's boxer, is as old as Ben.  I have a picture of Jenna holding Tyson and Tony Jr. holding Ben when they were both so, so little.  It's cute.  I hope Tyson is around for a long time.  He is a good dog and very loyal to his family--especially the kids!

 

We took pictures of the rain and a video....I know I can upload the pictures, but I never have much luck with the video.  If I fail again, just look at the still photos and make rain and storm noises...you'll get the drift!!

 

 

Puddles around the front yard....

Water getting higher near the lanai

Rain, Rain, Rain

 

Rain water gushing from the down spout....

 

 

I hope Dixie can cross her legs and hold on....this storm is going to be around for awhile and she hates going out in the rain!