Jackson Family Farm: Andy's wedding

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Appreciation/Thanks/Gratitude

Weddings involve alot of commitment from many people. With all the plans, excitement, schedules, out of town visitors, etc. ~ folks sometimes forget 2 very important words ~ they are ~ Thank You.

So I want to publicly thank all the folks who helped me in the last weeks before the wedding.

*Granny/Mom ~ Thank You for coming to MS early and all of your help. Potato Salad fixin' for 75 is incredible & yummy! And thanks for all the flower arranging on Friday for the rehearsal dinner! You were great! And thanks for buying pizza on Sunday night for dinner...it was great not to have to cook that day!

*Allen & Jennifer ~ thanks for taking off work on Friday to drive over and be here in time for the rehearsal dinner ~ I know you don't get paid if you don't work, and I want you to know how much it meant for me to have you both here for the weekend! And for running errands for me after you got here on Friday!

*Bryant, Katie & Robert ~ again...thanks for taking off work on Friday to get her in time for the dinner! I appreciate y'all giving up a day of pay also! AND traveling with a baby is not easy sometimes, but it made my weekend to have him and y'all here.

*Will ~ I appreciate your help in house cleaning, giving up your room, potato peeling, loading and toting heavy boxes, set up, and general errands. And I appreciate you sharing your birthday with the bride and groom ~ this way...they will never forget what day your birthday is!

*Amy ~ Thank you so much for everything! House cleaning, helping with meal, baking/icing/decorating a zillion cupcakes, making yummy lemon bars, giving up your room, and being a gracious little sister through all the hoopla. You went above and beyond the call of duty with getting up at 6 on Friday morning to ice cupcakes and finish lemon bars. Your dessert table was beautiful! I greatly appreciate your help with everything, everyday ~ and I know I forget to say thank you sometimes!

*Greg ~ Thank you for sharing your children with me...I am proud to be part of your family! Thanks for taking off work on Thursday & Friday ~ it helped keep me calm and organized. Thanks for our yummy breakfast out on Thurs., for all the meat smoking, for Wills birthday dinner on Thurs., and for your help in shredding 40 pounds of chicken. Thank you for keeping everything going in the kitchen on Friday, when I felt like I was being pulled in 25 different directions.

*To the groomsmen & bridesmaids ~ thanks for table set up, rolling silverware into the napkins, carrying heavy boxes, and being available for assistance.

*Especially thank you to Maloy ~ Wow...a young man I don't think I had ever met before Friday ~ he washed many dishes for us, cleaned all the celery, cut up vegies, and your yes m'ams were very appreciated. He was a volunteer extraordinaire! You saved me lots of time!

*Angel, Emmalyn, Dawn, & Amber ~ thank you, thank you, thank you, for helping ~ serving, setting up, ice in cups, washing up afterwards, dealing with leftovers, and your smiling faces! I appreciate each of you ~

*To James, Andy, Rob, Allen, Katie, Will, Amy, Bryant, Amy Kate, & Jennifer ~~~~~~ thank you for my new family pictures! Its not easy to get everyone together and I love getting my updated photos! At A & J's wedding in Sept. little Robert will have to join us and not be napping! But a nap is important to an 8 month old!

*to the folks who Pin their great ideas on Pinterest ~ thank you! I used quite a few ideas I found for the rehearsal dinner! Borrowing someone elses creative ideas is great!

If I forgot anyone ~ I am sorry! It was a busy time and I am sure I missed some folks!

Now, a little break before we dive into our Sept. wedding for Allen & Jennifer!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Rehearsal Dinner

We are used to cooking for many folks ~ from our limited kitchen facilities in Honduras to our church dinners for 125 or more folks.

Cooking for our son's rehearsal dinner for 75 friends and family on top of the weddings schedule was a bit taxing. We started cooking on Thursday morning.

Greg smoked the pork (yummy), I got the chicken barbequing in the roaster ovens, and Mom & Will started peeling potatoes and cooking them for the potato salad. About 1/2 way through the afternoon, I checked on the chicken ~ yikes...it wasn't cooking well. Turned up the temperature and kept going ~ this made me thrilled I cooked it on Thursday and didn't wait till Friday ~ that would have been a disaster. I've always started the chicken while frozen and its been fine but these were 10lb. bags of chicken and 2 of the bags went into each roaster ~ so it took alot longer. It was finished cooking about 10 Thurs. night. Greg and I stayed up to shred 40 pounds of chicken for the dinner. And he used my food processor to shred the pork ~ worked well! Then we put all in gallon bags cleaned the kitchen (again) and fell into the bed about 12:30 Friday morning.

Amy baked and baked and baked and baked ~ ALL day on Thursday. We ended up with 90+ cupcakes ~ chocolate with chocolate icing, spice with cream cheese icing, and vanilla with vanilla icing. She made piped icing decorations for the chocolate cupcakes and then decorated with edible candy "pearls" for the rest. And she baked her lemon bars recipe x 6. We borrowed our friend Rosana's white cake plates for the dessert table and took our clear cake pedestals also. The table was gorgeous. All the compliments made her day! By Thursday night she was sick with her allergies, but she hung in there and even was making icing on Friday morning at 6:45 am. In her words ~ it was her cupcake reputation on the line and she had to finish!

Friday morning I woke up at 5 (just 4 1/2 hours after I went to bed ~ argh!). But that gave me plenty of time to pray for the day and all the festivities and for everyone that was traveling for the weekend to attend the wedding.

We had to pack just about everything but the kitchen sink to haul over to the place for the dinner. The venue had appliances ~ nothing else we could use. So measuring spoons, cups, serving utensils, pans, etc. all had to go, plus all the serving stuff for the dinner, tablecloths, centerpieces, flowers, etc.

My van was packed from the back door to right behind the drivers seat. Mom's Yukon was packed with room for the driver and 2 passengers. Then all had to be unloaded and sorted & the set up had to start. All the groomsmen were there so they did all the tables. Amy iced cupcakes, Mom arranged all the flowers in the centerpieces, Will and Greg smoked 2 hams, made tea, etc. I started cutting the vegies and we just worked till we got it done. One of the groomsmen came into the kitchen and volunteered to wash dishes for us (thanks Maloy) and then he cleaned all the celery and started cutting up vegies. My kitchen angel helpers came about 4:30 ~ many thanks to Angel T., Emmalyn, Amber, and Dawn ~ y'all are the best and I owe you big time!

In the midst of all the cooking, setting up frenzy~ Jennifer & Allen got there (& they ran a few errands for us), Katie, Bryant & Robert got there (yippee baby love), and Greg's parents got there (his mom sewed the ribbons on the quilt block "wreaths" for me).

Dinner was a huge success. We fed about 75 folks ~ but probably had enough food for 100.

Here are the pictures.....