Wedding Day 01/11/10

The Newlyweds (photo by Gerard Assi)

The first of November was a time for a new beginning in our families lives: Simon and Beth's wedding. I've always adored my sons and seeing them both find and marry their loves is a joyous time.
We have known this happy couple for 8 years now, since Beth was 15 and Simon was 17. They actually started dating less than 6 months after Adam and Naomi did, so the 2 couples have grown together, which is rather lovely. Adam & Simon have mostly been close...well there were the odd times as with all siblings :). The couples are so close that they have each included the other couple in their wedding party. Liam has also provided an interesting role...that of tension breaker during the ceremonies, where tears have turned to smiles...not that there is anything wrong with tears of joy, it just makes it harder to speak :D





The Chapel at Tatra

Liam and I















Simon, Damian & Adam

As Simon waited with his best friend since primary school and his older brother for his bride to walk up the aisle his and her glistening eyes met with smiles and heartfelt love. Ok , I had tearful eyes too and Liam made happy accompanying sounds :).



Beth & Carlo
















The day had started with Liam jumping on us in the morning...when I got up he discovered his 2 brothers in the loungeroom....they had arrived in the wee hours of the morning, discovered a puncture in the blow up bed, mended it with duct tape (which lasted 20 minutes) and decamped to the lounge-room (where we had fortunately bought a couch which included a sofa bed). Imagine Liam's surprise and delight...well needless to say 2 brothers in bed trump one father in his...of course 1 father and 1 brother trump the other brother too LOL.
Later there was a mad rush for the shower, Adam had returned with flowers and Damian, the best man, the videographer and Beth's brother were due...

Beth

I went over to Beth's ( she looked gorgeous...mind you it would be difficult for Beth not to look lovely) for hair and make-up (I don't tend to wear make-up, but this was my son's wedding afterall)


Adam, Kris, Simon & Chris (left)

About to be brothers-in-law: Simon & Chris (right)












Simon & Adam in Simon's car


and then returned home just in time for Simon's departure...gee they looked good.

Ahhh a moments reflection to admire my workmanship 'big cheeky grin' (OK I cannot take all the credit LOL...), but they are sooo gorgeous. Oh and btw I meant the boys not Simon's car LOL

The "boys" and Liam

Naomi (below) (photo by Mark Heath)














Beth (photo by Mark Heath)

Michelle (maid of honour) and Damian (best man)

The ceremony was lovely and include wonderful moments like the lighting of candles for relatives no longer here and the sand ceremony joining our 2 families together. The vows included "my favourite pest" which brought a laugh...as we all know you cannot live with someone and never be irritated by them, even if that irritation is lovely you love (or not) about them.


Smiles after Naomi's trip as Beth and Simon sign the wedding certificate

Then there were the occasional antics by Liam and Naomi's tripping up into her husband Adam's arms...I hope she won't kill me for this as she was sooo embarrassed and worried about what might have happened.

The bridal party (below)















The reception was held at the Tatra and the staff did an excellent job. The highlight of the evening (the dance) followed some excellent speeches (lets say I learn't a thing or two about my middle son) :)


Kris's speech (photo by Mark Heath)

The Dancing (below) (photos by Mark Heath)

Beth and Simon are rather fond of "So you think you can dance" so we were treated to a lovely romantic dance followed by a hip hop one, showing how no matter what they are always drawn together again. WOW!!! is all I can say....and how did my son do that when he has parents with more than 2 left feet (Yes , we are really that bad)

Beth and Simon had a wonderful evening I'm sure...they looked absolutely radiant.

Dancing with friends and family (photo by Gerard Assi)


Carlo singing (photo by Gerard Assi)














Liam also coped very well...he went for the odd walk with me, his father, David (a close family friend), his cousin Nikki and even had a dance. When proceedings overwhelmed him he shut down and had a sleep. He was wonderful :)




Clare, Amanda, Briana, David & Erica Thomas

I had a lovely time too...I didn't manage to catch up with as many people I wanted too as Liam was my priority. Though it was wonderful catching up with those I did, particularly Clare and David, whom I have known since school and dearly love and their 3 wonderful daughters (they live in Canberra, a mere 6 hour drive away).

We saw the happy couple the next day...I was returning the hired suits after the cup day holiday and to pick up Adam & Naomi's luggage as they were all flying out around the same time. Beth and Simon also took time to update their facebooks...afterall one must be facebook official LOL and see some of the photos taken on the day by other guests. Gerard was up 'til 4 pm...thats keen :).
After a stop back home to finish packing (and get a locksmith to let them in LOL), Kris picked the four of them up and took them to the airport.
Sometimes when people leave, you feel their absence almost as a physical empty place...its suddenly too quiet...even if you are just want to rest in the peace. They are just wonderful people to be around...I just love them.

So Simon & Beth have a wonderful honeymoon, I wish you all the best for the future.
Communicate, hug, forgive and compromise and listen...love will uplift and sustain you.

I hope you like the photos, especially those I shamelessly pinched from Gerard's and Mark's facebook page :)

Lots of love and hugs,
Sharon

As October ends

Final suit fitting...2 of my gorgeous young men :)

The days leading up to Simon & Beth's wedding have been quite busy, more so for the bride and groom admittedly :). So tomorrow is the big day.
There has been final suit fitting, hair cuts, nails and facials and last minute shopping and fun and laughter and stress


Bouncing and bubbles

and Surprises
ohhh...its Adam!!! What's going on? Liam arrives home from school to find a reception committee waiting for him.




Naomi & Adam have
arrived from Sydney...Liam was very surprised when he arrived home from school to see them standing there. Liam adores his brothers. He jumped happily on the trampoline with Adam and was his little shadow the following day...he even tried to follow him into the bathroom and stuck his hand under the door...as soon as Adam was out he was then again. It was really cute. I'm not sure Liam's brothers realise how special his response to them is...

Walking the dogs


















Hens high tea...followed by dancing and dinner for young hens :)....sorry I have no bucks photos!!

Hens






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Beth and her Mum, Glenda

and wedding rehearsals...I predict tears on the day :)



The men:
Simon, Damian & Adam






They are going to be such a gorgeous and emotional couple :). Adam & Naomi are also in the bridal party, which is rather lovely.
Tonight, perhaps for the last time, we will have all our 3 sons sleeping here and tomorrow will be another new beginning...and the beat goes on...








Even in the rain and mist the Dandenongs are beautiful


Needless to say, tomorrow will be awesome!!!


Hugs, Sharon

Debonaire

Its hard to believe that Simon and Beth's wedding is just one week away...Liam has had his first suit fitting and it went extraordinarily well. This is the thing with autism, it can look quite invisible, but you never know how he will react. The autism is really only slightly noticeable in one of these photos...and only if you know what to look for.
I did know it would be better not to go late in the day and I think he rather liked being picked up early from school.

He coped very well, not minding being handled by a strange woman he had just met and even looked like he was enjoying himself. She didn't mind that he had a little run around the store or even that he joined the window display and watched the cars go rushing down Mitcham Road.
I believe the lack of stress and her acceptance helped him enormously. If we had tried to contain him too much, the story may have been quite different.

And just what is it about a suit that can make a boy or young man look soooo adorably cute.



Ahhh you've gotta love the way your sons scrub up.

Hugs, Sharon

Treefall

The tree facing the road (left), those bushes behind the tree are on the other side of the road; and towards the house(below)

The Friday before last we heard a crashing sound...Kris even wondered if there had been a car accident on the road behind our house. The weather had been very chilly due to an Antarctic blast from the south and we had been swept by wind and rain.


This huge (dead) tree had crashed through our back fence and hit the edge of another tree...the dogs were unhurt 'huge relief" and I was able to move them closer to the house before they thought of getting out through the gap.

The tree through our back garden






Where the top of the tree crashed into our tree, which is almost 2/3rds to our house.


As Liam is allergic to dog saliva we fortunately have this area, though the dogs felt a bit uncomfortable being there. Of course Khya loves to dig, so overnight she had flattened the new shrubs and dug 3 holes...Kris was quite distressed. With the searing summers and lack of rain, it was the first time in years this area had looked so verdant...oh well it'll recover I guess. This is what I saw when I went out the back.

The filled gap in the fence

The next day the council sent men out to cut the tree off our fence...as you can see the hole is now filled with non-ascetically pleasing corrugated iron (but at least the dogs cannot get out). I had had to add to the short barrier the councilmen had put up as there was NO way it was going to keep a German Shepherd in.


Chopped wood

Removing the tree from the fence (below)

We still don't know what is going to happen with the fence...afterall it was not our tree that damaged it, and I worry about the longevity of the gap-filler and the strength of the surrounding edges of the fence.

Still we were very very lucky :)

Hugs, Sharon

Sydney (photo heavy)

Well its been an interesting couple of weeks.
After a bad start to the school holidays, Liam was fit and raring to go. He loved the holiday programme and I got a couple of hours to do things Liam isn't so keen on...not that I got those new bathers...I seem to be oddly distorted in the mirror and exposed shall we say less than flattering fleshy bits. So I wore the old one and tried to keep the water level near my neck...as a girl in one shop said it won't matter once you are in the water...she should try having my shape :)
As the holidays ended we extended them with a trip to Sydney to spend some time with Adam and his gorgeous wife. We went by car of course...Liam and the car cope very well, Kris loves to be in control. We only had one incident with Liam...one simply cannot expect one to fulfill his part of the bargain (who knew) and expect to leave without chips...as I slid him across the shiny tiled floor to the door where I attracted DH's help. One look at Liam's thunderous face and you guessed it we had late afternoon tea. We got shafted by the tollway as they as we went throught the exact chane isle...and you cannot argue with a machine that you are not a truck but a car...were we really that heavy LOL
Adam was sooo excited when we arrive he locked us all out of their unit with dinner in the oven (and Naomi was at a hen's do in town) LOL.
While in Sydney we took Liam bowling...he loves the bowling on the wii so is fascinated with it in real life for a game and a half...then I think the noise and lights become unbearable and its time to go home. We had fun and Liam even got a strike.


At their local park...he loved the swing and even went on the slide. Naomi and Adam also enjoyed themselves :)














We also went on a walking track that leads from the park through a mangrove area to an inlet.













During a "short cut" (it turned out it wasn't LOL) we saw this odd formation of vegetation, went under the freeway, along walkways...we were gone for a few hours. Liam coped marvelously...we only had a few collapsures (not unjustifiably considering how I had brought no drink or snacks with us and it was a long walk...I thought we were just going to the park for a bit. I suspect we had far less complaints than with a tired , thirsty neuro-typical child.
We went back to play in the park on the following week-end with friends of Adam & Naomi's...they have a gorgeous 18mth old daughter...she's like a little doll. Liam did notice her and seemed quite curious and gently stroked her cheek. She was also curious about Liam. Interestingly both children exhibited some jealously when Adam was paying attention to the other one...he was very fair and was rather pleased that Liam cared :)
We also went to the Aquarium at Darling Harbour...Liam loved the train trip in, loved the penguins and was fascinated by the turtles, he hated the volume of people and that Daddy was taking too long...he attempted an escape...towards the light (was the wrong way).... mutinously refused to go in the right direction, so decided to crawl away (harder for Mum to pick up), then collapsed on the ground. He eventually gave up and we hid in the toilet for a while (Kris was blissfully unaware and taking photos at the time) and then we came out through the cafe.......and I guess you can guess what happened next :)



Kris also got a lovely kiss from a happy son :)






After a little wander around, we headed home via a bridge that led straight into Price Waterhouse. One tired little man slept very well that night.










The next day we did absolutely nothing and took him to the pool the following day. Liam loves water. It was very very busy. Kris , however decided to go for a couple of fast laps, despite his rather sore shoulder and boy did he suffer the consequences (a lot of pain due to a partial dislocation of his left shoulder) ...in fact he still cannot use that arm properly and its driving him crazy...after having just recovered from injuring his knee, he said he's feeling somewhat aged.




Our final trip was to the Hunter Valley...Liam hates the strong alcohol smell, but loved having a bit of a run outside...and he does love going for a drive..
It was wonderful to catch up with Adam and Naomi...I absolutely loved cooking dinner with Adam one night. I had forgotten how nice it was to cook with someone else :)

When we got home, Liam was sooo excited he raced around the front garden (several times). He loves to visit Adam & Naomi in Sydney, but he also loves to come home again...but then again don't we all :)

At think thats enough for this post.

Lots of hugs, Sharon