Sizzling Summer Fun On Saturday

Brittany and Beth, my nieces, are too cute to be real, but believe me, they are. (This photo was actually taken on Sunday, but I like it so much I'm posting it here as well!)

Drew and Carl in John's back yard.

Views along the river.

Lou on the boat.

Lou (Phyllis' brother-in-law), Phyllis and Colin (Phyllis' nephew).

Sidney and Esther (Phyllis' parents) looking real good.

Bonnie (Bob's wife) on the boat waiting for a ride.

Beth enjoying a breeze.

Bob (my brother) coming in from the pier.

John and Bob fishing while Ryan and Drew watch.

Lou, Pat, Ryan, Sidney and Tom watching the fishermen.













Way to go! Carl's got something hooked.

It's in the net. What kind of fish it is, I can't remember, probably a carp or sheepshead.

Carl and Lon soaking up some sunshine.
Brittany and John. What can I say? Looks like they're happy!

Abby and me. Abby's so much fun to hold. She's just the right size and such a good baby. We barely heard a sound from her except when she was "talking."

Sonya (one of Phyllis' three sisters), her husband-Tyrone and son-Colin.

Abby, Sarah and Ryan--a picture-perfect family. We're all so happy for them. Besides having a beautiful baby girl, they recently bought an awesome house in Michigan.

Abby, Sarah and Ryan once again.

Bob setting up a fishing pole.

Jared trying to get Brittany to do some fishing too.

Carl and Bonnie behind John's house.

Eating and relaxing by the river.

Drew on the boat.

Lon and Beth.

Drew, Beth and Britt by the river.

Phyllis, Colin and John cruising the mighty Rock River.

Britt, Jared, John, Drew and Bob coming or going from the pier.

Uncle Allen and Aunt Dorothy (Babe) came to see us all. Babe is one of my biggest blog fans. She comments regularly and I love her for it.

Abby in her cute kimono. She sat up for the first time the night before!

Sarah and Abby cuddling.

It was fun to get together with our family and Phyllis'. Her parents, three sisters and their spouses and children shared in the fun.

The weather, as you can see, was perfect for the picnic, boat rides, fishing and volleyball.

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(My final post based on the wedding weekend will be coming soon. I hope everyone in the family has been enjoying the photos. I appreciate all my blogging friends who patiently come in, look at the photos and leave a few words, even though they don't know the faces their looking at).

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Sorry about the photo captions. The caption always describes the photo above it even though it may be closer to the photo below it. I have to be careful when I try to eliminate space above and below the pictures because sometimes I end up deleting a photo.

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Let me tell you, as I get older, everything becomes more challenging!! Fortunately, I'm quite stubborn and try my best to get things right, even if it takes me forever!

Hanging Out Friday Evening

Ryan (my brother Carl's son) and Jared (my son) laughing about who knows what!

Britt (my brother John's daughter) and Beth (my brother Carl's daughter) doing whatever they're doing!

Beth being her cute self in John's kitchen.

Britt, me and a pineapple (compliments of Beth--thank you for adding the fruit, you crazy girl!)

Phyllis (the bride-to-be) and Britt sharing the love.

Britt and Beth as always, cute as can be. They ARE living Dolls after all! In other words, their last name is Doll, as mine was before I married. Awesome, huh?

Ryan, Britt, Beth and Jared, first cousins looking good.

Carl (my younger brother) and Ryan by the fire pit in John's back yard beside the Rock River.

Carl, Ryan, John (my youngest brother), Britt and Beth chilling out in the light of the fire.

Beth, Phyllis, Lon (my husband) and Tom (my oldest brother) enjoying the evening by the river. If you're curious about what Lon is doing, I'll explain. He's adding a lime slice to his bottle of Corona with a special techique he learned from Jared. I prefer to just force the slice of lime down into the upright bottle. Oh well, to each his own.

Ryan, Carl, Drew (Carl's second son), John, Britt and Beth watching the sparks fly.

The weekend pre-wedding festivities began in earnest on Friday afternoon.

My brother-Tom, my brother-Carl, Carl's sons-Ryan and Drew, Carl's daughter-Beth and Ryan's wife-Sarah and baby girl-Abigail all arrived from Michigan on Friday afternoon at my brother-John's home.

Lon, Jared and I joined the family for fun, dinner and a bonfire by the river.

My next post will include Saturday's activities with more family, fun and festivities.

(You can relax. I promise there won't be a quiz on names).

Some Things Are Meant To Be...

The setting for the wedding ceremony was the footbridge at Beckman Mill.

Esther (the bride's mother), the pastor, John (the groom and my brother) and Brittany (John's daughter) awaiting the bride.

Phyllis and her father, Sidney approaching the footbridge.

Phyllis' father brings her to John.

Phyllis places John's wedding ring on his finger.

John places Phyllis' wedding ring on her finger.

The pastor blesses their marriage.

Mr. and Mrs. John Doll and smiles all around.

My brothers, Tom, John, Bob, Carl and I behaving the best we can.

A beautiful sunset followed the wonderful wedding day.

My brother's wedding was beautiful as evidenced in the photos here on my blog. Perhaps, because I'm John's sister, I felt that every step of the ceremony was important and I've included each moment in a picture. For instance, initially, John and Phyllis faced the pastor. At the appropriate time, they turned to face each other. As they placed the wedding rings on each other's hand and when the pastor placed his hand over theirs, I fortunately was able to capture it all.

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At this point, I should introduce you to John's daughter, Brittany, and Phyllis' mother, Esther, who stood up with the bride and groom during the wedding. Phyllis' father, Sidney, gave her away.

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John and Phyllis have been enjoying each other's company for twenty-one years, although living separately, thus, this wedding was a particularly grand occasion. (Did you happen to notice the joyous smile on Phyllis' mother's face immediately after the ceremony?)

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Although Mom and Dad aren't with us any longer, I know without a doubt that as they look down from their lofty home above, they are extremely pleased that John and Phyllis have wed and that the family came together to join in the celebration.
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Needless to say, I have quite a large collection of photos (in other words, hundreds) that I took on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I can't wait to post them here so I can introduce you to the rest of the family and share some of the great fun we all had over the weekend.

Let the Good Times Roll

Tomorrow's the big day! My youngest brother, John, and his fiance, Phyllis, will be married on this footbridge at 2:30 on Sunday, September 6th, 2009.

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Phyllis, my four brothers (Tom, Bob, Carl and John) and I and our families have been partying since Friday when those who reside in Michigan (Tom, Carl and his family) arrived here in Beloit and John's daughter, Brittany, arrived from Appleton. We gathered at John's home on the Rock River Friday afternoon and evening and then again most of the day and evening today. And that's only half of it! Phyllis' parents, sisters and their families joined in the festivities today as well as our Aunt Dorothy (we call her Babe) and Uncle Allen. The weather has been absolutely perfect and the good times just keep a coming.

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I can't tell you all about the fun I've been having, at least not quite yet. It's late (Saturday evening) and I'm needing to hit the sack. I've been taking lots of pictures and I promise to take more tomorrow.

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Happy Labor Day weekend to all of you.