Friday

Ahh, Friday....the day before THE DAY, rehearsal day, girls outing day, family and friends arrival day. It was a FULL day with lots to do and first on the agenda (after a quick trip to ShopKo for some amazing shoes!) was a get together with all the girls in the bridal party and having a last little fun-filled outing while Helaine was still single=) We each picked up whatever we wanted to eat and met at the park for a picnic lunch.It was fun to meet all the other girls in the bridal party, because I did not know any of them before last weekend. One girl, Shawna, I met briefly at Helaine's graduation over two years ago. But I met Brittney, Paula, Jessica, Jessica (yes, there were 2 of them), and Juli for the very first time. They are all friends of Helaine's from Northland that she has been close to for a long time so it was fun to meet them all face to face. Also at the park were Jenna (piano player for the wedding and friend) and Jodie (also a friend as well as a cousin not to mention a Jesse-wrangler for me=). And since they are all so special to me here's a picture I'd like to share....

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Now, I'm going to interrupt the wedding tales to go on a quick little side trip and tell you something about Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Long, long ago there was a man - I don't have many specifics - that wanted to get more people to move to this area of northern Wisconsin so he began spreading stories about a 'monster' he discovered in the woods. He called it a hodag! Hunters and tourist began coming to the area to catch a glimpse of this previously unseen creature, only to later learn it was a hoax. However....since then the hodag has become part of the town and it's history and is the local mascot for just about everything. The kids were quite fascinated and Jesse was really hoping it wouldn't eat his head off. And here, my friends, is a picture of the wild, dangerous, threatening - yet fictional - hodag.

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And now back to the wedding. From here on out I'm not real happy with my pictures and keep thinking of different things I wish I'd captured on film. But, oh well, these along with my stellar memory will have to do! After the park lunch we went back to our temporary residences and got dressed up in preparation for the 3 o'clock rehearsal. During lunch the guys had fended for themselves and ended up going out to eat at a restaurant as well as picking up some hemmed tuxedo pants (yet another interesting side story but I wouldn't do it justice).

At the rehearsal we waited a bit for a few last minute arrivals - as soon as we all got lined up and in our places up front 'the brothers' arrived and a few of us disappeared from stage and ran out the back door to give hugs to Lincoln, Chad, and Kendrick. Just before their arrival our grandparents and aunt and uncle arrived from Maine. Helaine was sooo glad some of our family from 'back home' were able to make it to her wedding!

Kendrick and Jenna sang "Draw Me Nearer" and did such an amazing job - the funny part is that in this picture below taken at the rehearsal Kendrick is learning the song for the first time!

Uncle Chad grabbed the camera and took these rehearsal pics for me.

After that wrapped up around 5pm the next item on the agenda was the rehearsal dinner. Brian and Diane DeMarte put on an AMAZING meal of fresh salad, homemade chicken alfredo, and a choice of raspberry or cheesecake dessert. It was SUPERB!

They had several people from their "Minnesota clan" to help them out in the kitchen as they fed probably around 30 people.

Here are Phil's grandparents and our grandparents....they are both godly people who have lived long lives on their knees talking to the Lord and I know that their grandchildren have been blessed because of it! "Thank you Lord for the godly heritage both Helaine and Phil come from!"

Here are Uncle Steve and Aunt Deanna. Aunt Deanna is my dad's sister and throughout our family's life (I think I can say mine and all my siblings as well) they were a constant. We could always count on coming 'home' to their place and so many times they've stepped in and taken care of all of us. It was real treat having them there!

After the meal Phil stood and thanked his parents and grandparents as well as the rest of us who had come to be a part of their wedding. It was one of those teary-eyed moments for some of us....
After that Helaine, instead of making a public speech, gathered 'her girls' at a table and gave each of us a pearl necklace that she had made for us to wear in the wedding. It was super cute, creative and special! Alana got a little bracelet instead and couldn't contain her excitement=)

The rest of the evening we spent some time together as a family, just hanging out and visiting. Poor Helaine was torn between being with the rest of us at the house or going to be with her bridesmaids at the hotel. As the day progressed she lost a bit more of her voice and wasn't really feeling well. Once she left to try and make an attempt at getting some sleep Mom and I pulled out our secret present and put the finishing touches on the wedding gift we'd been planning to send with them on their honeymoon. Don't you just love surprises=)