Happily Ever After

Our afternoon "Happily Ever After" party was actually more like a five day event.  With people arriving in town Thursday, we started the festivities then, because of course, we all wanted to get together.  And, it wasn't until Tuesday morning that the last of our guests departed.

"Happily Ever After" is a fairy-tale/idealized concept.  It's often linked to romantic relationships, where a couple's future is filled with joy and companionship (which is what we pray for Britney and Juan Carlos).  But it can also apply to other situations where individuals achieve lasting fulfillment and happiness (which I hope for all of you).

Thursday 8/14 - It was a fairly busy morning.  Juan Carlos continued with work, Britney sorted through her two bins of stuff in the bunk room, Joe did some work at the ranch, and I continued with final house cleaning.



Meanwhile, people reported in on their travels.  Carol (along with her dog Finn) arrived at Courtney's to pick up Jean and head this way.  




Tracy, Teresa, and Mary were the first to get to Fairfield Glade, arriving at Patty's.  Cathy and Ralph stopped at a Loves in Richmond.  And Patti and Dave had just switched drivers and their route, taking back roads because the interstate was backed up.  

 

Tracy, Teresa, and Mary were also the first to get to our house, and we started right in chatting, to catch up with each other.  

Jean and Carol joined us after a bit.  



Jean and Tracy checking out the 'lay of the land' on their cell phone maps, trying to figure out the routes and junctures of different US (midwest) rivers we were talking about at one point.

When Cathy and Ralph arrived, we moved out to the porch where there was more room and it was cooler.  Often times there were two or three conversations happening at once and our topics bounced all over the place.  








Eventually pizza and salad was ordered and Dave and Patti got here about the time the food did.  We all enjoyed the meal along with continued lively conversation.

Lauren and Danielle had driven straight through from Iowa and didn't get here until the party had already broken up.  They got a quick house tour and some pizza and then headed off to the Airbnb that Tracey and Teresa were at.  We'd had a total of sixteen here at the house.

Friday 8/15 - The day started pretty, and I got busy preparing for the afternoon party at the ranch.  Folks were touching base with me and offering help.  Joe was back out at the ranch doing last minute things and Juan Carlos and Britney made a grocery store run for me.  

Just after lunch, a big storm blew in, quite intense for awhile (video), with the rain lasting about an hour.  We ended up getting 1½ inches.

Once the weather had cleared up (about 2:00) I headed out to the ranch.  Dan, Vale, Ava, Layla, Ricardo, Yaneth and Tango were already there.  We'd hardly had any rain out there.  Ricardo feeding Layla.

Guests were still arriving to Fairfield Glade and checking in to their accommodations and then coming out to join us at the ranch for the pot luck/bonfire party.  








Tango, Molly, and Maggie... checking out the yard and playing with some toys.

The Leiningers: Ralph, Ben and Cathy.  

Ava helping Papaw fix the door.  







She was his assistant, holding the key piece. 




As people arrived, bringing their dishes of food to share, they mainly gathered outside.   


The dogs didn't realize that poor Dan was still trying to finish up work.  



Ava, what is this you have brought into the house?  Oh, just a locus exoskeleton you are wearing as a pin.  

The guests of honor were relaxing, as various dogs and people came to greet them.  

Juan Carlos' Aunt Maritza and Uncle Medardo, with his niece Sarai, arrived.  

Juanca hasn't seen them in twenty years.  And it was a pleasure for the rest of us to meet them.  

Conversations, jokes and laughter, along with friendly banter, were occurring everywhere amongst the small groups.  










It is impossible, with such a large number of people (38 total at the ranch party), to get in on every single conversation, and even harder when you are busy helping with an activity or working in the kitchen, etc.

Hard telling what these two cowgirls are talking about, but if I were to guess, I'd say something to do with horses.

As I look at photos (very few of which I took) and I write this, I feel like I missed out on a lot.  

I know exactly what was going on in this photo and can even remember what Ricardo and I were talking about.  I wish I could have cloned myself a few times to get in on all the action and conversations. 

Courtney getting a selfie with Zorro, who wasn't very cooperative.  

When Ava saw Titi Courtney, she came running, wanting to feed the horses.  It wasn't feeding time yet, but she gave them several treats.  

Amiga doing a stop, drop, and roll.  😂


In preparation for the hay ride (we needed both gates open in the upper paddock) Jean helped me move Amiga and Zorro down to the corral.  



I cheated and rode Amiga down there.

I love my horse.  She always gives me so much, although, she tends to do better one-on-one with no distractions.  


Once down at the barn, Jean and I planned to feed the herd of four (Cowboy, Dorado, Banner, and Rico).  We were waiting for Ava to come help so Wanda got some lovin' time. 

Joe had started up the hay rack rides, so the first group came down to the barn to watch the feeding process.   

Papaw (aka Joe) at the wheel.

 

Courtney and Lauren on one side.

Debbie, Ava and Jim on the other.

Ava helped fill feed buckets and then was back on the hay wagon ready to go.  

Debbie got to meet Rico, and I really wish I had gotten a photo of her with him.  

Ava was calling 'All aboard' so they loaded back up and headed out into the lower paddock.  









Ava got off the wagon at the lower pond and helped Papaw feed the cat fish.  

Then the group made their way to the back pasture where they did a loop.


From there they went to the side pasture where they did a loop around the pond.  

Three pretty girls enjoying country life.






Once they arrived back at the ranch house, they unload for the next group.  

Ava managed to catch a ride with the second hay ride group that went out also.  

Ava was enjoying every aspect of this party!

Tracy got the grills started and the hamburgers, brats, and hotdogs cooking.  

There was all sorts of great food in the line-up on the pot-luck food bar, and we all dug in.  














There are no photos of the food or of us partaking of it, because I think we were all too busy eating.  It was quite the spread and all very tasty. 

Right after dinner some of us headed down to the barn to do some pony rides.  We pulled Amiga and Zorro from the corral and got them both saddled up.  





Dan got Ava suited up with her pink helmet and she was ready to go.  

Courtney and I took Zorro and Amiga for a little 'test' ride to see how they were behaving.  

They were both a little wound up.  




At one point Zorro kind of tweaked his back left leg and we thought he might be done for the night.  


Courtney got off right away and walked him around and he improved quite a bit.  

It is always disheartening when a horse pulls up lame.  We figured Ava could at least sit on Zorro.   

Meanwhile, I was trying to calm/slow Amiga down.  



Guess you better slow your Mustang down.








Amiga was being a bit of a 'wild child' even though she is always a little stiff and sore.  


Fairly soon, I was ready to let Sarai take a ride on Amiga.

She needed the stirrups adjusted and a helmet on.  

  
Ava was already on Zorro, and feeling braver.  

The sun was going down so we turned on our barn lights, which have really been a nice addition.  




Courtney led Zorro and I led Amiga around the round pen with Ava and Sarai enjoying their little pony rides.  

 


Night descended rather quickly and it got fairly dark as we were finishing up.  

Ava got a big high-five for being so brave this time.  







She was feeling quite proud of herself, as she should be. 








And look Mom, no hands.  Everything is A-OKAY.


Zorro un-taked and waiting patiently to go back out on pasture.  

















Dave checking things out down at the barn as Sarai says goodbye to Amiga.  









We all headed up to the ranch house where the bonfire was in full progress.

Ava was going strong, still having a great time.






 

Her little sister Layla was up from a nap, in good hands, getting passed around. 



Everyone pitched in so clean-up was fast and fairly complete.  
While moving my car closer to the ranch house for loading, I scraped the side of it along Patrick’s bumper, taking some paint off the corner of his bumper and scratching the hole back passenger side of my car.  UGH!  
I was last out from the ranch, where Dan's family along with Yaneth and Ricardo spent the next three nights.  

Saturday 8/16 - Folks woke up and rolled out of the sack at various locations and on their own time.  It was reported that the girls (granddaughters) had slept well out at the ranch.  


I had things ready to go for the actual 'Happily Ever After' party/reception, collecting a few last minute items.  Maggie was chillaxing while I scurried around.

Joe went golfing with Jim and Debbie and Jim Kellogg, but did not take any photos. 
Courtney took Britney and Juan Carlos to the yarn shop and they enjoyed conversing with the sales lady.  

Patty went to the ranch to horse around with Ryan's family.  They hadn't been to the ranch party.  Hanna and Charlotte meeting Zorro.  

Teresa steadying Zorro as Patty and Charlotte saddle him.  He was being good.  

 



Patty helping Delaney get situated on Zorro.  











Patty led Zorro around in the round pen, giving Hanna a pony ride.  



Next up was Charlotte.  Thankfully, Zorro did not show any signs of lameness, nor was he revved up.
  
   







Once finished and un-tacked, Charlotte helped her Grandpa Tracy take Zorro back up to his paddock.

Yaneth, Vale and Ava came by the house on their way to make a stop at Walmart.  I gave Yaneth a tour because she has never been to this house, and Ava got a treat from Papa’s tootsie pop jar.

I ran to The Center for keys and met my helpers at the Library Building at 1:30.  We (Loran, Danielle, Patty, Dave, Nicole, Bert, Tracy and Teresa) got all the tables and chairs set up and added clothes and decorations.

These are the center pieces that Patty and I had made to surprise Britney and Juan Carlos with.  The Columbian flag is on the left and the Costa Rican flag is in the middle, and as you know, the American flag on the right.  This was to signify Britney and Juan Carlos coming from two different countries and meeting in Costa Rica, where they are living and spending their future together.

Joe moved coolers from the ranch, repacked them with drinks and ice, and brought them to the Library building.  The food would come at the last minute. 

I had to wait for our DJ Terry (who hadn't arrived until 2:30) to finish setting up.  I then had 30 minutes to get home, shower, change, and get back to the library by 3:30 for the food arrival.

Our venue was from 4 to 7 but helpers (Natalie our hostess and Terry) arrived at 3:45.  Natalie set up the cold cuts on a meat tray while Patty, Loran, and Danielle (who had brought the food trays from Food City) got them all set up.  







These are photos Courtney took later during the party, but I included here because Britney and Juan Carlos were our guests of honor.  I am not sure why the photo quality is not so good, because they look much better viewed in my photo file.  

As people arrived, they claimed a seat (unassigned), got drinks and food, and chatted amongst themselves. B&JC went around to greet each guest,  many who'd been at the ranch party and already introduced to each other.

Our 4:15 'program' was delayed because we were waiting for the arrival of Daniel, who was busy feeding and walking Tango, just down the street at our house.

Finally Cathy could start, first with the introduction of Britney and Juan Carlos.  Not everyone knew both of them.  Cathy gave background information about them and included their education and current occupations.  









Next Cathy told the funny story of how B&JC met and then she read 1 Corinthians 13:8-13.  







Joe and I and Juan Carlos' Aunt Maritza and Uncle Medardo stood up with B&JC while Cathy blessed them and said grace.  









Terry then played a Spanish love song and Britney and Juan Carlos got the dancing started.  

Such a sweet, loving couple.  

The lights were dimmed and Joe and I, and Medardo and Maritza joined the 'newlyweds' on the dance floor.  










Then several other couples joined in on the dance.  

At first folks were hesitant to join in on the dance floor, so there were just a few of us to begin with.  

The father/daughter dance that Dan soon joined in on, with Ava.  

Below is the only photo I have that shows the food tables, which were along the wall at the back of the room.  



Ava had made friends with everybody and seemed to enjoy herself the whole time.





At this point, it seemed a good time to get some group photos, so dancing temporarily came to a halt.  




Joe and I with our children, their spouses, and granddaughter Layla.  We were missing Kent and Ava.  



Later Vale was able to get Ava to have her photo taken with Britney and Juan Carlos.  










Then we got my side of the family in, with brother and three sisters, nephew and niece and daughters.  (Left to right; Kent, Courtney, Dave, Patti, Nicole, Carol, Bert, Jean, me, Cathy, Ben, Joe and Ralph.)

This is the Volk side of Joe's family. (Left to right: Loren, Danielle, Tracy, Nathan, Mikayla, Ryan, Charlotte, Hanna, Delaney, and Teresa.)

Two of Joe's sisters, Mary and Patty. 




And my silly sister Jean.  

Juan Carlos' niece, aunt, and uncle (Sarai, Maritza and Medardo).  




Joe and I with two of his buddies; Greg and Jim.
 

Many of my saddle sisters (Karen, Betty, Joanne, Jerry, Shirley, myself, Jan, and Mike).



















Our wonderful friends from Jacksonville Florida, Jim and Debbie. 

This is Dr. Brian Reinhard and his wife Carla.  He was Britney's Greenville College Spanish professor. 

Courtney had stepped outside with Britney and Juan Carlos to get some nicer 'wedding' photos.  She did a great job. 

 

And of course, there is a wise guy (or girl) in every crowd.







Or two wise alecks.  

😲 Bah, ha, ha. 😂 😆 😁 
We all just love these two and are so happy for them.
 

Terry did a fantastic job for us, having found a lot of the Spanish songs, along with the other good dance songs I had given him a list of.  And he was even able to play some songs, on the fly, that were requested.  He ended up playing until 8pm because everyone was having such a great time.  He even sang several of the songs for us.  I just love his voice.  I'll not bother with captions for the remaining photos, but let this collection of pictures be the narrative; and convey the happenings, emotion, message, and mood of the party.
  

            💖

 

 

 

Here are some dance videos that were taken (mostly by Yaneth).  I'm not sure some of you will be able to get the link to watch each of them.  

(Boogie Shoes)
(Electric Slide) 
(Waka Waka) - This Time for Africa, The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Song.

(Wobble)
(Vivir Mi Vida)
(Cupid Shuffle)
Terry singing (Unforgettable) and (Uptown Funk)
A (Colombian) song
A (Hispanic) line dance
A (Latino) song

 

Some guests started heading home around 7pm,  the time on the invitation that the party was supposed to end, but many stayed until 8pm, when the music ended and the lights came on.  Lots of people helped us with the room clean up then.  You can see below, all the tables had gotten cleared off.  We had left one table up incase people wanted to play games, but that didn't happen.    









I was home by 9:00 but watched part of a movie with Kent and Courtney until 11pm because I was too wound up and had gotten a second wind after doing some sorting and clean up of several boxes of stuff that had been brought back home.

Sunday 8/17 - It was a pretty morning, and like the day before, people rolled out of their beds in their own way and time.  









I worked on this blog post when up early or during some of the occasional downtime.  As it turned out, it took me nearly two weeks to complete it.  And again the thought of discontinuing blogging was often on my mind, because I sacrificed gym and horse time to work many hours on this post.  

These photos were taken Friday, when Dan's two cars rolled into town.  

You will soon see some of the purchases they made at Buc-ee's.







Today was pontoon/beach/and pool day.  We had two boats reserved to leave St. George marina at 11:00.  


Our two cars from Flossmoor arrived first, so I could get us checked in and paid for.  Juan Carlos looking at the map of Fairfield Glade.



Kent had headed home after dropping Courtney off.

See what Ava got from Buc-ee's.  

Classy swim wear.





 
I helped Ava look for fish while waiting for everyone to arrive.  

And then we fed them when a nice (random) person gave us some fish food.  

We took out two pontoon boats at the same time.

In the blue boat, captained by David, was: Patti, Nicole, Bert, Cathy, Carol, Jean, Ben, Patty and Teresa.

In the red boat, captained by Joe, was: Dan, Vale, Ava, Layla, Ricardo, Yaneth, Britney, Juan Carlos, Courtney, and I.  


In this photo, Courtney is throwing life jackets to Britney and I, who were already in the water when we anchored out in the lake.

David anchored nearby and several from his boat entered the water also (video).

Ava did great, no fear and she was able to swim around very well (video).




There was a total of ten of us that got in the water.  

The air was warm and the water a perfect temperature.  It felt great.  








Us four sisters; Cathy, Jean, myself, and Carol.



Captain Joe with a cold beverage.  

Daniel also enjoying a cold drink while Ava swam around, going to and from different groups of swimmers.  

It was great to see her so confident and relaxed in the water.
  








Once all back on board, Ava gave our captain the thumbs up, we were ready to go.  

  

Juan Carlos captained while Joe got dried off.  



A photo from Patti of the 'sunbathers' on the blue boat.
 

An earlier attempt at getting a life jacket on Layla.  

It was a tad too big for her to comfortably keep on, so she did without.  She had been a good sport about it.

A little later when she got too warm, she had been stripped of all clothing, except her diaper.   














The newly weds enjoying the ride.














It was a wonderful time with family.

After our pontoons were docked back at the marina, we went to the beach for a picnic lunch and to swim.  We said goodbye to Dave, Patti, Nicole and Bert, who were headed home to Cincinnati.








Ben, Ava, and Daniel in a swing contest - who could go highest.  I must say, Ava did quite well all on her own.  


Look at all of the Buc-ee's beach attire. 

For lunch we had more of the chips, fruit, and veggies, along with the tuna and chicken sliders left over from the reception.  Then some of us had to head home, others lounged in the sun, and several sat chatting in the shade.  

 Before long we went for a swim. 




Layla was not a fan of the ring floatie.  

Poor baby.

In her mother's arms is the best place to be. 

 

 

 
Meanwhile, Ava was having a good time with the 'big kids.'












And a stop in action for a group photo.  






Layla chillaxing.  



By mid-afternoon, we'd had enough sun, water and fun; so headed back to 'our' houses (or condos, or airb&b).  









Dan's clan came to our house instead of going all the way back to the ranch.  We rested and some even napped.  And we actually had a little rain shower.  






Then our family (Courtney, Britney & Juan Carlos, Dan with Vale, Ava, Layla, Yaneth & Ricardo; and Joe and I) headed to the Druid family pool at about 3:30, where Jean and Ben also met us.  Yaneth caught me my not so eloquent water entry on (video) of . Yikes 😬







While we were at the pool, Patty's clan (Teresa, Tracy, Nathan and Mikayla) were fishing at the ranch.  





The horses had been interested in the activity and Patty reported that Rico was mouthing the tackle box at one point.  But mostly they stuck to the shade of the shop.  


My handsome, ornery Rico. 





Look what Nathan caught.  

At this point a discussion about where and what to have for dinner ensued.  I was worn out from hosting, so was not in favor of meeting at our house.  Vale and Yaneth graciously offered up the ranch house.  





This was Maggie and Tango by the end of the evening.  
I think the dogs, like myself, didn't want to miss out on any action, but were getting pretty tired from all of it.  

 

It was another beautiful evening out at the ranch so the yard was enjoyed as much as the house was.  And we had another bonfire before the end of the evening.  

Ben and Ava enjoying our new hammock, we'd bought because the old one was falling apart and no longer safe.  

Cowboy, Rico and Dorado up by the fence to see what the humans were doing.  







Ava watching Cowboy eat.  It is actually fascinating to watch them pulling grass in, while also spitting out undesirable weeds, sorting it in their mouth as they go.  

 
Yaneth and Ricardo had ordered food from (and treated us to) Domino's Pizza, to add variety and quantity to our leftovers.

There were plenty of left over cupcakes for desert.  They had blue, red, yellow, or white icing; the color theme of the three flags.  

Cathy had brought a few of her photo albums that some of us were looking through.  Juan Carlos had noticed in this photo from 2018, that Joe was wearing the same shirt he had on tonight.  








Several folks had travel plans Monday, including Dan's clan, so we didn't linger too long after dinner.





Things (four days of partying and activities) were winding down and I was feeling both relieved and melancholy.

Monday 8/18 - I was up and at the ranch by 6am to do chores and deliver coffee to Dan's clan, because they only had two 'pods' left.

When I got back home, I tried to work on this blog post, but folks were already 'stirring' and it was too distracting.  








Tracy had left early to take Nathan and Mikayla to the airport.  Carol headed home early and later Cathy and Ralph checked out of their condo and dropped Jean and Ben off here.

After  a bit, Courtney took Jean and Ben to Nashville to catch a flight.  And soon Dan reported that he, Vale, Ava, Layla, Yaneth, Ricardo, and Tango had hit the road.

I do not recall how the rest of the afternoon was spent.  

At 5pm, Britney, Juan Carlos and I met Patty, Shirley, Tracy and Teresa at Mirror Lake Blast.  The Lonnie Brown Band was playing southern rock and country.  In the bottom of this photo, you can see the backs of Juan Carlos, Britney, Teresa, and Tracy.  

In this drone shot, circled in pink, is where we sat.  
  
   







In this next drone shot, you can see Britney and Juan Carlos seated on the blanket, in the upper right corner of the photo.  


Seen in this photo are Micki, Linda, and Juan Carlos.  When I introduced B&JC to Linda, I had her show them some of her post cards with her beautiful photographs, that include a scripture and a blessing.  These are her form of ministry that I really admire her for, and wanted B&JC to see.  But the music was too loud and it just wasn't the time or place for them to make/feel a connection.  Ugh.  When will I learn not to push things and just let things flow on their own good time?






I don't think these two enjoyed the fast dancing music like I do.  They did get food from the food trucks and later got up and went for a walk.  And they enjoyed a slow dance in each other's arms.  It was a quiet ending to a rather hectic week for them.


Britney and Juan Carlos were the reason for this five day gathering.  It was a celebration of them and their life together.  But it was also a chance for all our families, some spread out from CA to VA and FL up to OH, to re-unite and spend some time together.  We all hope and pray that Britney and Juan Carlos live happily ever after.