HEADING FOR HOME ON MONDAY

What a wedding on Friday! It was held at a beautiful location called the Bacara Resort in Goleta, California. Check them out - www.cacararesort.com. The ceremony was held on the lawn overlooking the Pacific Ocean:

          Here is a pic of the marriage table:

     I think this is a table from Kristen's grandparents home symbolizing the presence of her grandmother, Betty, who passed away a number of years ago.

     This is the bridal path:

     I didn't take many pictures at the ceremony .... there should be lots available on line. If you are on Instagram, check out #sponswed. However, here are a few that we took:

     A really great, Great Aunt of the bride

          Ryan and the bridesmaids

     The groomsmen and best man (Micah) over a pic of Kristen's grandmother, Jodi's Mom

     The ceremony was very memorable ... after the wedding party entered, a message of wisdom from Janet Limitho (mother of Chayah Children's Home in Uganda, Africa) was read. Dann and Emily Balli sang a beautiful rendition of "Nothing Holding Me Back". The rings were exchanged, the bride was kissed (with Micah celebrating after his tearful experience during the ceremony --- he is SO happy with this union!), they all marched out and headed for cocktails just outside the ballroom where dinner and the celebrations were to be held.

     The ballroom was beautifully decorated. The Bride and Groom's table, cloth and two chairs were from Kristen's grandparents home again connecting Betty to the ceremony. Here is a pic:

     The pics from inside the ballroom are not very good ... they were so dark and I had to enhance them and in the process lost some definition. However, the dinner was spectacular. They had fish or beef. I had the beef and the menu was:

          Portabella Mushroom Ravioli with sweet garlic and roasted pearl onions.

          Farmer's Market Salad - fresh citrus selection and baby vegetables with white balsamic vinaigrette.

          Seared Prime Filet Mignon of Beef.- horseradish potato gratin, shallot marsala wine sauce and seasonal market vegetables and pea shoots.

     Here are a few pics from the festivities in no particular order:

      The Best Man and a Flower Girl

Evan's brother, a Best Man, speaks

Father of the bride speaks

Father of the Bride and Bride dance

First Dance

Flower Girl Dance

More Flower Girl Dance

Groom and Mother Dance

Groom, Mother, Bride and Best Man Dance

Maid of Honor speaks

Micah and flowers girls dance

The New Mr and Mrs Sponseller

     Bridal Party begins to enter

                                    Micah and two flower girls

                                Checking out the dance floor

And lastly, the Wedding Cake

     Donna and I were turning into pumpkins about now and were looking forward anxiously to the 90 minute drive back to Ventura. Wasn't bad ... I think I'm getting the hang of driving at night!

     This morning we got up, met up with Jodi, picked up Roger and had lunch then drove up to Ojai to see Evan and Kristen's house they had rented for a year. Ojai is a very different place than Ventura ... very hot and in the hills/mountains and is only about 40 minutes away. It was a very interesting place ... quaint, one might say. Lots of hills, scrub and interesting places for a kid like Micah to explore. Here are a couple of pics from the back porch:

          That's it for now .... heading out in the AM for Tucson ... it is the longest day going back. Eloy AZ wasn't that nice and we have stayed in the Riverpark Inn on previous trips.

     Talk to you later ...

REHEARSAL DINNER IN CARPENTERIA

     The dinner was held in the Padaro Beach Grill on the beach at 6pm ... temps in the 60's with sea fog. We saw this warning as we entered the outdoor area for the dinner:

     The setting looked like this:

     

     The cakes - yummy carrot and chocolate:

     Here are a couple of views of ocean just across AMTRAK tracks:

     The crowd:

     A shot of Donna and Dann:

          Then here is Roger awaiting a seat:

     Jeff and Denise Sponseller thanked the crowd for coming and Jeff gave the blessing followed by some sweet comments about the bride and groom-to-be. The dinner followed and then the bride and groom presented gifts to their wedding attendants. They wrapped it up with a glowing, slightly teary tribute to the Best Man, their son, Micah.

     All in all it was very, very nice. The Sponsellers were such gracious hosts and we appreciate them including us in the happy celebration.

     The trip back to Ventura was something else ... it was in the DARK and it was a bit FOGGY! And it was down the 101 Freeway! We managed to get Roger back home safely ... took a wrong turn and ended up on the 126 freeway but was able to circle back and Brenda, our GPS girl, got us home in one piece.

     More to follow ....

TO VENTURA

Hi all,

     Left Eloy bright and early after a continental breakfast at Motel 8. The temperature yesterday was  111 degrees ... fortunately, it is a dry heat --- it only felt like 110!

     The ride was fine until we hit Los Angeles ... God had a hand in making Southern California a paradise; but, the devil had a hand in the traffic experience. Hitting LA at 4ish in rush hour (from 1 am to 11 pm) is a white knuckle driving test for us poor Texans who thought Houston was busy. Nevertheless we got to Ventura with our car intact but our marriage in jeopardy. 

     We arrived at our niece/nephews home to be greeted by the majority of the Plum clan. After the usual catching up, they served up a terrific dinner topped by a birthday celebration for a cousin, Jasen Plum. Here are some pics which are in no particular order:

                          The Ninja (Micah) and the Princess (June)

                                         Junie: "Are you serious?"

                                                     Happy Birthday, Jason! 

                           Good lookin' family

                        More cake, Junie Bug?

                            Cousins waiting for dinner

                                                 I am smiling!

                         Junie and Lyla

                        Lyla and Mickey or is it Minnie?

                           Yummy stuff!

                              Roger and a cold one!

                                              Serious stuff ....

                           It IS Minnie!

                                    The Ninja at work!

                                  The show audience

                              TAKING A COUPLE OF BOWS

                                            The Ninja takes a bow 

         And finally, the two stars ... Lyla had to hit the sack

     Today (Wednesday) Donna and I visited Roger who is in an assisted living facility ... a residence with five, I think, other clients. It is bright, homey, seems clean and the staff appeared very attentive. We had a nice visit reminiscing about old times ... old friends and our special relationship with such a great guy! We plan to pick him up tomorrow and take him to the rehearsal dinner in Carpinteria.

     Earlier today I filled the car with really good California gas (Jodi says their gas costs more because it is "better" gas.) Maybe we should petition our lawmakers in Texas to improve the quality of OUR gas if it is subpar!

     More later ......