This Blog is the journal/scrapbook/photo album etc. that is all about my family and our lives together. Here is where family and friends (and anyone else too, I suppose) can keep up on what's happening with us Mannimals! COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED!! ;) Check back often as we'll respond to comments and make new posts as often as possible!

Monday, October 10, 2005

The Beach/Ceremony

The Wedding Gorilla approaches! Shane, Jory, Luke, Steve, and part of Joey and Mazzy watch him come down the trail to the beach. We tried (a little late) to get a tie-dyed/colorful theme to the beach ceremony. It worked out great!


Lots of good washed up logs to sit on at the edge of the beach. Justin, Alisha, and Gage are sitting on the close end and Steve is on the back side.


Someone had set the logs up like that. There's always creative stuff happening down there. Shane and Jessie are getting the camera set up to record the wedding.


Jory, Joey, Mazzy, the beheaded wedding gorilla and Rod on the beach.


Mom, Luke, and Nick go for a walk down to the water before the ceremony.


One of my first tries with the digital zoom. Mom and Luke at the waters edge.


Athena W. and Jenny are Athena's bride's maids.


Athena and Craig are waiting for the signal to come down the rest of the trail to the "aisle".


They reach the bottom of the trail and hit the edge of the beach. My first full look at my stunning woman...breath-taking!


Craig walks Athena up the "aisle".


I'm waiting anxiously, as Athena and Craig make the rest of their way to me! Nick is ready to lead the ceremony, the bride's maids are in place and Debbie has the seat down in front.


Here we go! Too late for me to run for it now! ; )


Nick does a great job using the parts of the ceremony that Athena and I wrote and mixing in his own stuff!


Luke gets close enough to get sound with his film and Grandpa Craig and D are kneeling down up front with Debbie.


Athena has just taken the ring-pillow from the ring-bearer, Matrim (not Frodo). He did a great job for having no real practice.


I hold the rings while Athena reads her vows to me. We wrote our own vows and read them so we wouldn't mess up. :)


I read my vows to Athena (and remembered about half way through to say them extra loud so everyone could hear). Then I put Athena's ring on her finger.


Nick finishes the ceremony with some good personal touches and declares us husband and wife!


You may now kiss the bride! I'm so excited that everything went as well as it did!


I want to hold her forever! :)


Nick and Athena W. on the beach, after the ceremony.


The happy couple walks back up the beach.


Hug time!


The ceremony ends with hugs all around, down on the beach.


Debbie, Athena, Craig, and Hershey on the beach before the reception dinner. Craig, Nick, Dennis, and Brian did a good job of helping Debbie get herself and chair down to the beach on a difficult trail and she was patient for the whole effort!


Bride and Mother-in-law. Don't start teaming up on me too much! ; )


Matrim playing in the sand.


The bride and bride's maids.

We were so glad that everyone who made it was there! What a great day it turned out to be for a wedding! A beautiful location and good weather (it was a gray morning/early afternoon that turned sunny). Of course we were late getting started, but that's typical! ;^) Thank you Steve, for the work you did with our camera, once the ceremony started.

Around Humboldt

Debbie and Matrim at the biggest tree in one of our parks. We took Craig and Debbie for a good little hike through the trees.



Some of us boys tolerating some shopping with the girls! Brian, Athena W., Athena, and Debbie are in this picture at one of the popular clothes stores in Arcata.


Craig and Matrim are playing catch with Hershey out back of our house. I hurried to catch this picture and was surprised when it worked since it was through our old-school glass window in the dining room.


Athena, Nick, and I went out to dinner at the Pantry in Arcata. I can't remember what music was playing (so Athena will have to comment to fill in the details of the story) but I remember that I was feeling pretty good and coudn't help laughing and making jokes about how terrible the music was. The waitress even overheard one of my jokes and knew I must be talking about the song playing.


Matrim is going down the slide at the park we went hiking in the trees with Craig and Debbie.


Matrim is standing by a stump that burned and broke.



Nick climbs up a redwood stump at the redwood park behind Humboldt State. This is one of the stumps that has another redwood growing out of it's top.


He made it to the top...but the way down is always the trickiest part! It was a good 15 feet or so to the top of this stump.


Matrim's first view of his new bike/trailer from Craig and Debbie. It's love at first sight! ; )


His first real try at peddling. It didn't go too bad even though he couldn't reach the pedals all the way, and the tires weren't fully inflated yet, and the weight of the trailer, and he's on grass.


"I made it to the pavement!" :)


We're all watching Mat try his first turns on his bike.


This whole trip I had to try hard to get pictures of people without them all taking pictures at the same time. ; )