The Wedding!!

On June 30, 2013 our daughter, Jennifer Patricia Totsch married Zachary Ellsworth Witkowsky in a beautiful ceremony at Emerson Creek Tearoom and Pottery Barn in Oswego Illinois.

The festivities started early in the morning back at the hotel where we had a hair stylist and make up artist working on the girls (and mom) so that they looked their very best. Last minute touch ups were done in the Bridal Coop. I love the fact that the flower girl Samantha (my granddaughter) was putting on lip gloss while the bride (my daughter Jen) was checking out facebook, emails or whatever!!

We could not have asked for a more perfect day in the weather department. Our guardian angels sure put in a good word for us. The ceremony was outside by the gazebo. It was a picture perfect setting.

The bride was escorted down the aisle by her father, Jim Totsch.

The wedding ceremony was presided over by the officiant, her step father Fred Gold. He did a wonderful job, you would never have known that this was the first wedding ceremony that he officiated over.  However, I keep telling him that it's not proper for him to tell everyone that he recently married his step daughter....rather, that he officiated at her wedding!!

This is one of my favorite pictures. It is the first time that they saw each other on their wedding day.
















Immediately following the ceremony, we went into the barn and adjoining tent where we had a wonderful buffet of heavy hors d'oeurves (mini Angus beef hamburgers, pulled pork sandwiches, teriyake chicken, fried mac and cheese balls, BBQ meatballs, cheese, fruit, canapes and bruschetta).

The bride and groom had a small two tiered cake that they cut and then an assortment of cupcakes in six different flavors, so that everyone could find one that they liked.

The toasts to the happy couple were nicely done and when the father of the bride, Jim was giving his toast he acknowledged that he was not the only father to have influenced the bride and requested that Fred join him in giving the toast. It was very touching to see how all the different families joined together in honoring the couple.








The DJ played a great variety of music and the new couple danced their first dance to Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender.

Fred and Jen danced a father-daughter dance.














The proud parents of the bride.

It was fun to watch everyone out on the dance floor, including the bride and the flower girl.

The most fun though was when the bridesmaids and the bride all wearing their cowboy boots were dancing to Cotton Eye Joe. I wish I had a picture or video of that!!!

Here are some more pictures of the wedding:

It wouldn't have been Jen's wedding if she didn't have something "cow" in it. The picture on the table was taken in Deadwood, South Dakota last year when they were living in South Dakota.

Lots of love, fun and happiness to Jennifer and Zachary Witowsky.

Stanley Family Reunion

On Sunday June 23, 2013, the Stanley family gathered together to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary.  This was the first time in a very long time that the Stanley clan was together. We came from far and away to partake in this monumental occasion.

My dad (William) was to marry my new mom (Jean) on June 15, 1963. Her brother Bill, who was a priest was to marry them. However, he could not get away on that date because he was to have a special visitor at his monastery (Cardinal Cushing of Boston). It seemed that the only date that would work out for them was on May 18th. So Bill, Jean, Bill's three young children (Susan, Kathleen and Bill), Bill's brother Chuck and his wife Shirley, Jean's sister Carolyn and her husband Frank and Bill's mother Helen attended the wedding in Racine Wisconsin on a very pretty, but windy spring day. After the wedding Mass, the family went to the Elk's Club in Kenosha for lunch. They then went back to Bill's house and started calling their friends to join them for cake and champagne.

Family members came from Gurnee Illinois (Susan, Brian and Beth Buehlman) Seattle Washington (Michael Buehlman), Lake Villa, Illinois (Bill, Julie and Reid Stanley) St. Charles, Missouri (Cara and Matt Cushman), Whitewater, Wisconsin (Amanda Stanley), Deerfield Illinois (Carolyn and Jim Barry), Kenosha Wisconsin (Jim, Jeni, Nathan and Rachel Stanley and places in between (Fred and Kathleen Gold) to celebrate this special day.

We had a wonderful dinner at Twin Oaks Inn in Wilmot Wisconsin. The cake was a replica of their wedding cake, but with a picture of the bride and groom on top.

It was a great time and a wonderful way to see the family and celebrate a special day.

We love you Mom & Dad.