Garrett marries Rhada Atkinson

The first post tells a lot of the wedding weekend of Garrett and Rhada. An Open House was held in their honor on December 11th. Also on that day we had the Dollar Family Christmas Party. Both events were here at the house.
Garrett had requested Pete Densmore's fried turkey and Robyn's cranberry sauce. He also said he wanted all the other Christmas goodies that I make during the holidays. I did. Many people helped to get everything looking good. I think my house looked better than it ever had before. We had a wonderful day.

 All the grands and grands-in-love and great grands. Bev had 100% of her grandchildren in attendance. I had 0.

 Emmy Stockman, who introduced Garrett and Rhada, made Rhada a wonderful cake of cherry cordials, Rhada's favorite candy.

Lance marries Katie Glaze

Lance and Katie met at the beach when they were about 14. They stayed in touch with email and managed to continue their relationship through college. High school sweethearts and more!

 Here we are with Katie's mom, Linda, at the Square. 

Lance gave Katie her ring when he went to Oxford in September. I took a road trip with Katie to Oxford to search for venues in October 2009. Katie's friend was very concerned that Katie would spend 3 hours on the road with me and Lance not with us! We had a blast!
There was much planning with the church, the reception, bridesmaid dresses, invitations, honeymoon, etc. It was fun to be involved even though I was just the mother of the groom! There was also much worry with the save-the-dates, bridal gown fitting, menus and after rehearsal dinner, not to mention the couple's video and family song dedications. LeGrand says I strive on stress and maybe he is right. I loved every minute of it. I was also honored when Katie asked me to take their engagement pictures. There was one good one.

Rachel hosted a Bridal Shower for Katie.

The wedding weekend was full of events with a Rehearsal Dinner on Friday night and Bridesmail luncheon on Saturday. The guys went to the golf course.

The day of the wedding was a hot one. We were glad we had gotten fans for favors. But everything went as planned and everyone had a wonderful time. Some more wonderful than others. After the ceremony the wedding guests walked to the 512 House for the reception. After pictures, Katie and Lance and their attendants walked down the middle of the street to greet their friends and family.

Benjamin James Hutchison

We were at the beach when Robyn told us this little one was on the way. We were all overjoined knowing we had 2 grandbabies on the way. Natalie was expecting in January and now Robyn expecting in May.

Can't you see the glow in the eyes of these moms to be. Priceless!
So in the hubbub of wedding excitement for Lance and Katie....Benjamin arrives. It was a scheduled arrival. I knew it would be Monday afternoon. I had worked at the Historical Records Project that day but went straight home to wait for the phone call. Seems I waited much too long. But the news came, we had another grandson! A grandson! It was as exciting for me as if it had been my first! How special to have a family of boys!
 Benjamin's middle name James is after my mom's side of the family. Mom's name was Jimmie, her dad, granddad, ggranddad were all James Halpin. I had to wait until after the wedding before going to meet him. So tiny and so needful of his mommy. I spent a good amount of time with Jacob and Nico. Robyn adjusted well to being a mom of three sons. She had to. She spent the summer without Matt who was working an internship in Omaha. She and the boys stayed with her folks, Hilda and Leland Gamette in Provo, UT.

 Benjamin James Hutchison

 Brotherly bonding. Can you see Nico on Jacob's back? What do you think Jacob is wanting to teach Ben?

 First day in the Tot Lot with all three sons. Many friends stopped to meet Ben and check on Robyn.

 Grandma Jan got the fun part of taking Jacob and Nico to the park. We also went to the library and had a picnic. One day Grandma met Jacob after school and we walked home. We stopped by McDonald's for an ice cream too!

Grandma thinks the third child in the family, like her, is extra special!!!!

Rachel marries Stephen NeSmith

Rachel married Stephen NeSmith March 12th. It was fun to me to help with the planning of the invitations, decorations and food for the reception. I had been fun watching Rachel and Stephen's courtship. Our families had been close friends for many years. LeGrand played basketball with Stephen's Dad in high school but Rachel and Stephen did not meet until after their missions and Stephen was in UA law school.

Stephen graduated law school and they moved to Montgomery where Stephen is employed with his family law firm, Riggs and NeSmith PA. They told us they were expecting a little one before their 1 month anniversary. Stephen had said when he asked LeGrand for her hand that they did not plan on waiting to start their family. Fine with me!!!

Sam Hutchison Barnes

I wrote our yearly Christmas letter this week. We did have an eventful year. I do think I will remember all the big events but I need to post some pictures. Now to see if I can do anything close to that first post without Robyn here with me....
Sam Hutchison Barnes was born January 26, 2010.

Sam

Natalie called me about 6 am telling me she was on the way to the hospital. It was a Tuesday so I called Earl and he could come care for Dad. I made haste and headed to Knoxville. I was less than an hour away when Sam was born. It was fun to take Jackson to go see the new baby for the first time along with his other grandparents, Dee and Rick.