The wedding was a lot of things. Amazing. Wonderful. Touching. Happy. But most of all, it was Happy. Heather and Phil just radiated happiness and that spread to everyone who attended. It seemed to be the common thread to comments about the wedding, how happy it was. Really, you can’t ask for more than that.

Of course there were hitches and glitches. Corsages left at home in the fridge, speeches lost, dress malfunctions (not the bride or bridesmaids, thankfully), but nothing mattered. Not even the weather — it was sunny, then a light rain — and by the time the bridal party got into the limo to go for pictures — a full out snowstorm that lasted the rest of the night. It didn’t matter, and nothing could dull that much happiness.

After the pictures, when everyone returned to the hall for the reception — the dinner started, with speeches/toasts sprinkled throughout. The Bride and Groom were surrounded by people who loved them, and the toasts were heartfelt and moving. Even the funny ones.

Maria and Jack (Phil’s parents) did an amazing 13 minute slideshow that was better than anyone imagined. It was a great way to end the dinner and move into the dance portion of the evening.

Gregg had arranged for a surprise guest, who arrived just as he and Heather were finishing up their dance. I’d like to give a shout out to HARVEY THE HOUND for his appearance. Let me tell you, nothing can get a crowd going like Harvey can!!  And if Phil was happy before …well … I just don’t think he could have had a bigger smile on his face when he realized that Harvey wasn’t actually lost - he was there to dance with Phil’s new wife! Everyone was cheering and whistling and the camera flashes going off … it was certainly one of the highlights of the reception.  I hope someone was able to explain to the guests from Poland, that this wasn’t a normal Canadian tradition — to bring a big stuffed dog to a wedding reception!

Yes, there were guests from Poland. In fact - they were on the first flight allowed to leave Europe with the delays from the volcanic ash in Iceland. How is THAT for a good omen for a long and happy marriage!

I don’t have any pictures to share today, as my camera battery is just about used up and I don’t have the cord to connect the camera to my lap top. We were still all basking in the Wedding Afterglow while packing to come up to the mountains, so … many things got left behind in the city.  I will share as soon as I can charge the camera.

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I just have to share what the Escape Artists have done with my Oh Baby kit at E-scapeandscrap. They are such a creative bunch!! Check out our gallery if you want to see more of their talent:

Thank you SOOOOO much ladies — and thanks for stopping by today!

These are the two items I’m putting into the Nifty 99 this weekend. That means, from midnight Friday until midnight Sunday, each of these items is only 99 cents each!Swimming Fun Time-Saver Layouts

and Summer Blooms

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My Mom ordered a selection of blank notes, so this photo shows the ones I’ve put aside for her.  Nice bright colours on this SNOWY “Spring” day.

The front card is actually a hybrid card. Recognize the BOTANICAL digital papers, ribbon and lacy brad? The chipboard frame is from my Tropical Breezes digital kit, the bird, flower and yellow brad are elements that I added afterwards.

Maybe tomorrow we will have warmer weather? Let’s hope so! Thanks for stopping by today.

Can you tell I like my Cuttlebug Embossing Folders?  :-)  These bunny die cut glossy cards are ones I’ve had for years. Like at LEAST 10 years. I got them  with a friend (wholesale), but how many bunny cards can one person use? Lesson learned. I peeled apart some pretty Easter egg napkins (made of rice paper) and inserted that paper behind the opening - after running the card front through my Cuttlebug. The embossing looks SO pretty when done on glossy!! I added the verse on a paper insert to help hide the back side of the napkin.

My Guardian Angel Shephards have new pictures AND VIDEOS (!!!!!!) of the Indy/Merlin litter. Here is the link to the main page, so you can choose which ones to look at. I haven’t been around a new litter in many years - I’d forgotten how noisy the pups can be. The puppies have doubled their weight and are now over 2 lbs. Check them out HERE.

Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by today!

Rather than post so many similar cards singularly, here is the rest of the group! These were made using the fabulous printed cards I found at Michaels. I added layers using K&Co papers and my Nestabilities label dies - and the 3-d stickers are also by K&Co. I’ve left them blank inside, so can add a paper insert using my word-art (available at E-scapeandscrap), or a stamped greeting when I need a specific card.

And here are the detail shots:

On a side note … have you heard of “The Ride to Conquer Cancer“?  This is a 200 km bike journey in the Rockey Mountains, June 27 & 28 2009. My son and his friends are going to participate in it and are collecting sponsor donations to benefit the cause. They each have to raise $2500 to participate - so every little bit you can contribute will help. Remember what a worthy cause this is! I am so proud of these young men, undertaking something like this to help others. I wish I could give you a direct link to their team, but the site doesn’t seem to allow that.

Follow the above link to the main site, then click on Alberta below the main image. It may take a few seconds for the provinces to show up.  On the left side, under “Welcome Visitors”, click on the DONATE button. (I’m trying to hotlink these just in case they start to work - try clicking directly on the DONATE link before you go to the main site link and see).

You will need to “Search for Participant” — type in   SHAUN AICKEN   and you will get to his ‘page’. Their team is Team Rainbow Trout. :-)  If you click on the bright yellow “Sponsor Shaun Aicken” button that will take you to where you can make your donation.Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, and hopefully contribute to helping defeat the disease.  I will be adding this to many of my posts between now and June, to help Team Rainbow Trout meet their goal and participate in the “Ride to Conquer Cancer“.

Thanks for stopping by today.

I know I am a scrapbooker. However, I also know how limited my time is right now dealing with my parents etc. So I have taken the easy way out with it comes to our Arizona photos. You know I use a (BEAUTIFUL) iMac, and it has iLife. Which has iPhoto. I have ordered many hard cover books from iPhoto before - but usually I create landscrap layouts and import each layout as a full sized .jpg.

This time I just imported all my pictures into iPhoto, dragged and dropped the best ones onto the pages and hit send. Sometime this week the nice people at FedEx will hand me a beautiful hard cover book with our Arizina pictures in it. Done. No stress, just a little guilt, and done. I’ll post some pictures when I receive the book.

Thanks for stopping by today,

I don’t have anything new to post yet, although my friends are coming this morning to scrapbook with me (our weekly get together) so hopefully I can put my creative hat on and come up with something.

It’s been busy - my Mom was taken by ambulance to the hospital on Sunday morning, has been admitted but they are still running tests to figure out what is wrong.

Brandi is healing really well as far as I can tell - we see the specialist tomorrow for her re-check, but I’m sure he will be pleased. Dealing with all those eye drop bottles, 4x a day — well, let’s just say I’ll be glad to see that routine go out the window. The little squirt will all of a sudden try to scratch and rub at her eye so we are having to watch her almost constantly.

This afternoon I have to take my Dad for a specialist appointment, so … it’s not like I’m just sitting around and not creating anything. I’m running around like crazy, worrying about the people and animals I love … … and not creating anthing.

Hopefully I can get back to my daily posts SOON!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Yes, I got up in another helicopter … this time in Arizona. Everything was nice and clear, after the cloud/rain/snow the day before, in fact - you can even see snow in one of the pictures! It was pretty cool to see the views, but they really CRAM you into these flying machines. I had to use my little Canon pocket camera, as no way I had room to move my arms for the DSLR. You should have seen the contortion I was in just to get the photos I did!

It was a thrill for sure, to see these beautiful rock formations from the air. I love the desert, and I LOVE Sedona!

Update on Brandi: We don’t have her home yet. The surgeon called me late yesterday afternoon and wanted to keep her overnight to monitor her eye pressure. This morning he called and asked if they could keep her until about 3pm today, as they would be able to keep a good eye on her before she came home for the weekend. So it looks like I will finally be able to bring her home this afternoon.

I called to check on her last night about 11pm, and they said she had eaten a bit - so that was good news!

**EDITED TO ADD**     Brandi is home, wearing one of those plastic cone collars - and seems to be VERY happy to be here. I know WE are happy to have her home!

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Brandi’s left eye has been cloudy for a couple of months now, but I figured it was a normal occurrence in a 10 year old dog. However, when we came back from our trip - we noticed how inflamed her eye is, and that there seemed to be a bit of discoloration. Oh oh - off to the vet today. Who took one look and said that we need to go see an Ophthalmologist, the sooner the better. The discoloration is actually some kind of growth. Growths are never good. We see the Ophthalmologist on Wednesday afternoon.

A photo taken over the Christmas holidays, with Brandi (in front - the Aussie X), Sasha, my DH and DS.

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