Finally... some wedding photos

Hello friends and family! Hopefully these beautiful photos will help you forgive me for the entire month it's taken me to post anything at all! You would not believe how much trial and error and frustrated screaming-at-the-computer I went through to actually get these photos to post from my humble home in Australia...but I'll spare you the details. I finally got it to work, and here it is :)

Audra's wedding to Jay Miller was nearly a month ago now -- July 8, 2006. It was a beautiful day and an absolutely gorgeous wedding ceremony. It was intimate and fun and bright and there were plenty of tears everywhere! It was just what she wanted, and I'm so glad I got to be there!

A very happy Mrs Audra Miller! Welcome to the family, my new brother Jay.

The reception was a lot of fun too. Especially the cake! In great American tradition, the Bride and Groom attacked each-other's faces with cake :)

Some of my favourite people were there...

Brittany and Brad...

Kyle, Loren, and Noah....

And my brother Adam :)

It was a really good trip. I was exhausted by the end of it, but of course, it was completely worth it.

And now I'm home , and it's been ages since I've really updated anyone on our lives down here. It felt something like, I landed in Brisbane airport (exctatic to see my husband!), and for lack of any words but cliches...I hit the ground running. Haven't had a lot of time for reflection and writing stories yet. But today might just be a day to start doing some of that... hence the pictures :) And stay tuned... there may be a more uppdate-ish blog coming up soon.

Saturday

Big Alicia and Little Alicia, both healthy and happy...if just a bit sleepy :)

Michelle and Little Alicia, hanging out at the Children's Museum in St. Paul.

Story-time at the Children's museum. Toby started out running to the next activity room, and ended up pulling me by the hand to the floor and listening silently to all 4 stories.

Toby was looking at these photos with me later. He was telling me about what was in the photos. He had some very insightful comments,

"That's Toby. Toby have horns!"

-What are you doing there Toby? "I'm cooking the bubbles!"

The kids could perform on stage with "musical instruments," while music played, and they could watch themselves on the tv. Toby loves playing the guitar!

Back at the Fuller home, reading the dinosaur book. And after that came Curious George - the monkey. (the fat yellow book next to me) There's nothing like reading with a brilliant 2-year-old! It just made my day.

Mostly, it's just sooo good to have so much time to spend talking and being with such good friends. and with such good Family.

Today is the 4th of July-- a big family bbq in the park begins very soon, so I'm off to that now. The weather is perfect and the whole world smells like it's grilling. Happy summer!

A shower with sisters and a garden visit

I'm a bit behind with the photos and stories...I'm so very happily busy every day and night here at the moment! But on Wednesday, I got to visit an old friend from teaching -- one of my mentors. She taught me so much over the years and it was just lovely to catch up with her. She has a beautiful house with about 12 gorgeous gardens.




Then Friday night was Audra's Bridal shower. We had a relaxed evening picnic with sticky Chinese food, and had quite a few laughs at gifts... then we hung out and watched girly movies....It was a really nice night. I'll just share some photos, and I'll keep the rest as whispers between girls :)

So in between, there was a "coming out" party for little Alicia Grace on Wednesday night... but those photos I took with Michelle and Josh's camera, so you'll have to view those on the Fuller website if you're interested. It was a good night.

Thursday I had some great time with Mom -- we found the mother-of-the-bride dress. and then I spent some time with a group of old girlfriends. We spent about 3 hours getting proffesional photos taken...the majority of the time was spent just trying to choose our photos! so there's no candid pictures of that day, since we really didnt' want to see another camera after that! but we did have a completely satisfying dinner at the Olive Garden. Ahh... I've missed that restaurant!

Friday was a walk through the quaint, historical shopping mecca town of Stillwater. It was good to spend the day with Kim. And then there was the party for Audra, so now I think you're all caught up on the week.

Saturday was beautiful and long and busy....spent with small children and very good friends... but that's going to need many more photos and stories. So that will be in the next post.

to be continued....

The No-hat Noah game

"Hey, they put that hat on me again! I know this game. this is fun! I throw it on the table...
I toss it carelessly behind me...
I will NOT wear the hat! OFF it GOES!!!
Ha ha! I win! I wear no hat. I am so cheeky!
(Boy I'm lucky I'm not an Australian baby! At least I have a good thick ozone layer over my head.)

Ah yeah... another auntie. Man, I have a lot of those. They sure do like me!"

(Happily brought to you by the Minnesota Zoo, the playful Thurber family, and the letter N. and Auntie Alicia. and her camera.)