REHEARSAL DINNER INVITATIONS

Joe's parents have a wonderful sit down dinner planned for the rehearsal night.  Caitlin and Vicky worked on this 6 x 6 invitation! The bridal party, parents, grandparents and out of state guests who have arrived early are invited.  It is going to be a wonderful evening!  Can' t wait to post the pictures.....I know they have put a lot of time into this!  Caitlin is sooooo lucky to have loving, hands-on parent-in-laws!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!

What a difference a day makes!  The last 24 hours have been an emotional roller coaster!  Yesterday, Joey's First Sargent called and told him that he had been shifted to a different unit and needed to prepare for deployment on August 6th!  WHAT!!!???  Of course, our hopes for a wedding on August 20th were dashed AGAIN!  After many tears and a meeting in person with his First Sargent today, two options were on the table:

1.  He would try his best to pull him back to his unit.
2.  He would pull all the strings he could to get Joey a one day pass on August 20 since the first 4 weeks are training state side before going overseas......but no guarantees!

We left the meeting half hopeful that we would have a groom on August 20th.  On the way home, his First Sargent called and gave him the best news of all..... He couldn't pull him back to his unit and will still be in the unit training stateside before deployment  BUT.....since Joey just got back from basic training, he doesn't need to repeat the same 4 week training again and doesn't have to report to that unit until August 27th!........GOD IS GOOD and watching over these kids!  This means that Joey will be here for the wedding and if all goes well with the house, he may even get to move in before he leaves! KEEP PRAYING!

WEDDING BRACELET

These pieces of jewelry were ordered from etsy.com! I am addicted to
Internet shopping!

WEDDING NECKLACE

WEDDING EARRINGS

POSSIBLE HOME CLOSING DATE

So far it looks like the house closing will be on August 19th!.....Keep praying this is so.....I sure would love to take all the wedding stuff to their house and not our basement!.....Pretty neat wedding gift to each other, the day of rehearsal!

BOUQUETS

 Caitlin's Bouquet!!!

 Bridesmaid's Bouquet

Jr. Bridesmaid's Bouquet

Caitlin and I made one bride's bouquet, 5 bridesmaids and 3 junior bridesmaids bouquets!

REMEMBER THE BEADED INSPIRATION ????

 Inspiration number 1

 Inspiration number 2

 Inspiration number 3

 The beads Caitlin picked out!

 Our creation!

Close up!  Not bad for our first time wrapping!  Plus it cost half of what was found on Etsy.com!!!!

READY FOR CHURCH!

4 WEEKS FROM TODAY IS THE BIG CEREMONY!

Here's Caitlin showing Joe the house for the first time (in person)!  The paperwork for the mortgage approval is taking FOREVER!.....Keep sending them prayers that process continues to a smooth closing soon!  We are still hopeful that it will be before the wedding----slim chance, but it doesn't hurt to have hope!

JOE'S GRADUATION

TURNING BLUE CEREMONY

Today was Joe's turning blue ceremony and tomorrow is graduation.  We are so very proud of him!

THE WEDDING CEREMONY IS ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!

Today we made good use of a long drive to see Joey.....on the way, we made 200 birdseed bags for the wedding to throw at the bride and groom!  You should see the car.....YIKES!

BRIDAL SHOWER #2

5 WEEKS UNTIL THE CEREMONY!

Approximately 170 invitations mailed with a little over 200 for the headcount at the reception so far.  We still have many RSVPs floating out there without  responses back.  I guess we will be on the phone with these families!  We want to make sure we have an accurate headcount for the caterer!

MORE HOUSE INFORMATION!

Caitlin had the first official paper signing with the mortgage company today....two hours later, she came home with a stack of signed copies. I asked what the chances were that they wouldn't get the loan and the loan officer told us to stop worrying....They have GREAT credit, and more money in the bank than a conventional loan downpayment would require.....plus they both have good paying jobs! Speaking of jobs, since Caitlin is a nurse and Joe is in the military, they qualify for a hero discount which means their interest rate is fixed at 30 years at 4.25% WOW!.....And....since the home is in the country vs. city, they may be eligible for a rural development loan which equals NO MONEY DOWN !!! The only downside to this is the loan takes longer to process which means a closing date after the wedding ceremony vs. before....OMG. I can see my basement full of wedding gifts until they move in....but worth it. The kids also get the first time home buyer perks! If for some reason the closing happens after Joey deploys, Caitlin will have to get a power of attorney to sign his name on the loan papers. Next big step....shopping around for insurance rates!

HOUSE PROJECT

Since the house is owned by HUD, it has sat empty for over a year.  In earlier pictures you could see the dirt on the cupboards.  The realtor let us in to clean up and fix small things before the appraiser goes in.  Here's Caitlin pictured in the cleaner version of the kitchen.  The cupboards are BEAUTIFUL! 

Caitlin has kept in touch with Joey through phone calls and pictures of the house.  He will be home in two weeks.  Caitlin can't wait to share the house with him in person!  Tomorrow is her first meeting with the mortgage company....even though the kids were preapproved for the loan, they still need to go through the formal loan process.  She has the first mortgage paperwork meeting tomorrow.  Pray all goes well with this process.