The Big Bright Spot of 2020

For all that most of 2020 has been a dumpster fire, this year also brought us the gift of a bigger family. DD#1 and her fiancé tied the knot on October 15, 2020, in a beautiful ceremony attended by two dozen friends and loved ones. (All photos very professionally done by the team at Lovelight Photography, who captured the joy and beauty of the day far beyond my expectations.)

The husband gets credit for suggesting the venue—Snowline Acres—as he had done some concrete work for Tom and Kristen, the owners. This is actually the old Kalispell Lumber building. Tom and Kristen bought the building, dismantled it, moved it to their property, and rebuilt it as this stunning wedding venue.

The wedding party was small. DD#2 served as maid of honor and DSIL’s older brother as best man. These are our girls:

And the happy couple, whose sheer joy at being together radiated throughout the whole evening:

The photographer and her assistant moved through the ceremony and reception without us even being aware that they were there. I was so much in the moment that it has been fun to relive the evening through the gallery of photos. The candids are especially entertaining. At one point, the photographer asked the husband and me to “gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes,” and I knew exactly how that was going to end. Of the many things I love about the husband, he has an uncanny ability to make me laugh at the most inopportune times:

But this is all of us now, a bigger, even more wonderful family because these two kids fell in love and got married:

I am going to be ordering lots of prints. We haven’t had family together like this for a long time and I want to be surrounded by all these great memories. I wish my MIL had been able to be there. She would have enjoyed seeing her eldest grandchild so happy.

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I am hoping to get back into a routine today. It’s a bit disconcerting to realize how dependent we are on having stable internet service. If the power goes out, at least we have a generator. If internet goes out, we’re adrift and at the mercy of CenturyLink.