finishing up with phase 2!

  Sunday morning, the WEDDING DAY, dawned with gorgeous sunshine! Scenic Ridge Ohio is truly a beautiful place to be in the summer time. Ashley fixed us another sumptuous breakfast, then we all donned our wedding finery. Ashton wore her beautiful mint green wedding dress. It was so great to be with her and Alex a bit since they were also staying at Ben's along with Anthony and Taylor. We got ready without ruffled feathers and arrived at their most unique church in plenty of time which made me a happy camper! The Scenic Ridge church is an old barn, shed-type thing converted into a place of education and worship. I just loved the orange benches, and the tremendously short but wide sanctuary! Daniel thought Anthony only took about three strides up and down the aisle! Katie was a beautiful bride in her lovely light aqua dress; Anthony was a handsome groom in his black suit with a shirt that perfectly matched Katie's dress. Drea wore a gorgeous charcoal grey the exact shade of Taylor's shirt. They all looked really put together! With majestic chords, the choir began the service. It was hard to grasp that we were actually experiencing my only brother's hopefully only wedding! I tried to be minutely mindful of every detail and soak it all in... Katie's uncle Mark Ratzlaff preached a moving sermon on Living the Good Life. He mentioned a family funeral that he had just attended where the wife of the deceased had stood at the casket and told her husband, "Herb, it was a good life." Quite a few tears were shed as Mark told us how to live a "good life." Then it was time for the vows! Father Phil married them..."I will, I will, I do, I do" and they were pronounced man and wife, Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Schneider! More beautiful songs, and we were congratulating them before eating a hearty lunch which consisted of  ham and turkey with a thick slice of good Ohio Munster cheese and vivid green lettuce on a croissant, chips, and  mixed fruit that included fresh pineapple, strawberries, and grapes! Dessert was white or chocolate cake with ice cream and coffee. Anthony has always dearly loved his Spaghetti-Os, and we always teased him that we'd serve them at his wedding! True to our word, the servers brought out a crystal filled with steaming canned pasta much to the amusement of the bridal table! Anthony was delighted and proceeded to eat a large bowlful. Some of the others tried them too! I think Katie even manged a couple spoonfuls! They also feasted on adorable mini Oreo sundaes served in colorful, stemmed dessert dishes since Katie is an Oreo lover!

We are going to town now, so this might have to have a phase 3! later!