Getting Ready for the Kid's Wedding Day!

 I arrived in Troy, Illinois on Monday evening and for the next four days, a flurry of activity kept this old lady busy every day and tired by the evening. The Kid, granddaughter, Janae and I worked around the house. Well, mostly they did and I just followed them around asking what I could do to help. There were last minute decorations to be completed, outdoor furniture to be cleaned, the wedding venue to be cleaned. In between running errands and taking care of the last minute wedding details, the Kid continued answering customer calls continuing to come in asking for work estimates from the L3 Construction Crew, Kevin and Shani's construction company.

Kevin, the groom, and his crew, worked every day at job sites until 5pm, then came back to the house to work on prepping the property around the venue, mowing, helping to hang lights and decorations, building a stage for the band. Like I said, a flurry of activity for all involved. 

Wednesday evening the ladies all met at Posh Nail Salon for manicures and pedicures. Shani had told the proprietor we were coming and we spent several hours doing the girl thing.

Thursday evening was the practice for the littles who would be in the wedding. Friday evening was the practice for the entire wedding party and final touches for the venue, parking prep, and all the little things that go into getting things ready to go. One of the last minute errands was picking up the rings from the jeweler, who joined the wedding bands to Shani's engagement ring and Kevin's ring. I volunteered to ride with Heather, one of the many friends that generously helped Kevin and Shani with last minute things, to go get the rings. And as we pulled into the jeweler's parking lot, a tornado warning went off on our phones and the sirens started blaring!! We were in Glen Carbon, not too far from the bridge over to St. Louis, at the time. We high tailed it to her daughter's elementary school in Troy to pick her up on our way back to the Kid's. By the time we got there, all the sirens were blaring and the school had the children in the tornado shelter. Heather went in and grabbed her daughter and we were off to the Kid's. Little did we know that an EF3 tornado packing 130mph winds struck the northern suburbs of St. Louis, crossing the river and traveled through the area just north of the Kid's place shortly after we got there! Sadly, five people lost their lives and they had at least 40 people injured. 

Fortunately, everybody in the wedding party and all the guests avoided the tornado situation ... and then, we were ready for the party to begin!

I've never been a full on Mother of Bride so this was a very exciting time. I never lost the thought of how much I wished her Dad, my Buffalo, could be there for this day. Leading up to the wedding, I think I cried a lot more that the Kid. 

Peace and Love all.

Bobbi