Emily and Matthew

Emily poses with our nephew, Jonathan and Melody's youngest, Matthew Roberts.

Heather and Emily

On December 21st, we enjoyed a lovely Christmas banquet at church. Heather's younger sister Emily poses with her in front of one of the festively ornamented trees.

Good bye, Hannah!

Before she left to go back to Bob Jones, Hannah and I went out for breakfast at our favorite coffee shop in town. Delicious!

Happy Birthday, Heather!

A dozen roses and a beautiful broach, as well as another sonnet to add to my collection were all gifts from Thomas. Here we are with some birthday cake.

A Surprise Birthday Party!

Thomas really surprised me on the 24th when he arranged a meeting with my sister Melissa and her husband Dan at Wild Fire Restaurant in Chicago. Thanks, honey!

The Nordgrens

Thomas's friend BJ was in our wedding, and we had the privilege of spending our Thanksgiving weekend with BJ, his wife Tammy, and their four children.

A View of our Kitchen

Mackinac Bridge

 

Taking in the grand architecture on our trip back to Wisconsin

Dualing with the Colonel

 

In a close encounter with a stray Redcoat, the new groom nearly lost his life.

The Grand Hotel

 

Our stroll around the grounds of the Grand Hotel was indeed a grand experience. Since cars are not allowed on the island, travel by horse and stagecoach is not uncommon.

Do You Recognize Him?

 

Thomas enjoyed many aspects of visiting Fort Mackinac!

Panoramic View!

 

Atop one of the lookout points at the historic Fort Mackinaw, we looked across the island and took in this beautiful scene.

In Front of Cloughan's

 

Enjoying the lovely spring weather!

At Cloughan's

 

We were delighted to spend the first few days of our honeymoon at this romantic Bed and Breakfast on Mackinac Island. Lilacs were in full bloom, and the scents all around us were breathtakingly lovely!

Thomas Bear's Birth Certificate

 

I suppose we as Baptists don't believe in christening, but the bear we built at Build-A-Bear in Mackinac City was officially christened Thomas in early June, 2007. We dressed him in a tuxedo to commemorate our recent marriage.

Heather and Emily

Emily Roberts, Heather's youngest sister, graduated from high school one week before the wedding. Heather taught Emily in school and is grateful not only for her younger sister's excellent scholarship but also for her true friendship.

Handbells

The Lord graciously allowed our church to purchase handbells in February. What a lovely added touch they might be in a wedding, Heather thought and so ordered handbell music for the bridesmaids to walk down the aisle to. Mrs. Buda, besides being an amazing cake artist, is also a talented musician who contributed many hours of her time to making sure the handbell choir was prepared. Thanks to the many church ladies who helped make yet another dream (lovely bell music) a reality. The handbell choir did a wonderful job.

Heather and Hannah

Hannah, who oversaw many of the wedding reception decorations, including ironing vast numbers of table cloths, greatly helped make the wedding a success.

Melody and Heather

Melody Roberts made all the bridesmaids dresses for the wedding. Gathering ideas from here and there, she compiled the ideas given her and helped design these lovely dresses.

The Bride and her flowers

Heather always wanted roses for her wedding and with Jonathan's lovely bouquet, she got a lot of them! The graceful ivy, cascading down from her bouquet, is reminiscent of her mother's wedding bouquet of so many years ago.

Jonathan's Bouquets

Heather's brother Jonathan made bouquets for Melody's bridesmaids at his own wedding. Since that time, he has made bouquets for several weddings, and the arrangements are always exquisitely beautiful. This time, Jonathan again showed his creative genius and designed lovely arrangements for the bride and bridesmaids.

Josh helps Joel

It was wonderful to have all six Roberts brothers be ushers in the wedding. Here, Josh is pinning on the youngest usher's boutonniere.

Thomas and BJ

Thomas has known B. J. Nordgren ever since their time together at Fairhaven Baptist College. They became good friends then, and have stayed in touch since that time. After working at Anchor Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah for a number of years, B. J. was sent out by Anchor to plant a church in the Chicago area.

Thomas and Pastor Brandenburg

Pastor Brandenburg, the leader of Bethel Baptist Church in El Sobrante, CA, was Thomas' best man at the wedding. Thomas interned at the church between his years at Fairhaven Baptist, and, after his time at Lehigh Valley Baptist going to seminary, returned to Bethel to teach in their Christian school. Pastor Brandenburg had a lot to do with this wedding, as he fulfilled the role of the father in the courtship/betrothal process for Thomas--for which Thomas is very grateful! It was a blessing to be able to have Pastor Brandenburg at the wedding ceremony, the culmination of that process of seeking a life's partner for the glory of God.

Thomas and Pastor Dave Sutton

Pastor David Sutton is the assistant pastor at Bethel Baptist Church in El Sobrante, CA. During Thomas' years at Bethel, he and Pastor Sutton became good friends. Thomas is thankful for Pastor Sutton's stand on the Word of God and his godly life.

Thomas and Mark

While teaching at Bethel Baptist, Thomas also came to know Mark Kutrieb. Mark has taught for quite a few years at the Christian school run by Bethel. Thomas is thankful for his friendship and for his faithfulness and love for God.

Thomas and Nik

Thomas and Nik grew up together, sharing many of the same experiences. Having known each other since third grade, they were in the same Boy Scout troop and their families still celebrate holidays together. We were grateful to have Niklas in our wedding.

Mrs. Buda's Amazing Cake

I had heard that Mrs. Buda made and decorated wedding cakes, but I had no idea this dream cake would turn out so fabulously! Taking the rose colors and pattern from a tea cup I had given her, Mrs. Buda put her creativity to work to make this lovely cake with what were frosting--not actual--roses.

The Lange Gang helps out

What a blessing it was to have the Lange family help out at our wedding! Pictured here is Abi Lange, Nathan's twin. They worked together with their older sister Hannah to help decorate the auditorium archway, communion table area, and provide finishing touches to both downstairs reception areas. Mrs. Lange did a wonderful job organizing food in the reception area and making sure things ran smoothly. Later, Nathan played the piano for the reception. Thanks, Langes!

Ruthann decorates the "wagon"

The wagon idea originally came from Rachel Roberts, our sister-in-law, who used a wagon with nieces and nephews in it for hers and Josh's wedding in June of 2006. Grandma Roberts graciously allowed us to use this old-fashioned carriage, which Grandpa Roberts found many years ago. Thanks to Ruthann Buker for decorating it, it would provide a fancy ride down the aisle for little David and Lydia Roberts.

Micah arranges peonies

Heather's younger brother Micah's sixteenth birthday was June 1st, the same day as our wedding. We appreciate his joyful help in arranging flowers for the platform and picking peonies for the reception area, even though this was his big day, too.

Vanessa helps with hairdos

We were grateful that Vanessa Myers gave her services to create beautiful up-dos for the girls.

Heather and Melissa

Even though Melissa was quite pregnant with little Matthew, she graciously assented to being matron of honor at the wedding.

Heather and Ruth

We were thankful to have Ruth Potter come up from South Carolina. She put together as a gift images of her creative photography of the wedding. We love this special album she gave us!