this year thanksgiving

Thanksgiving eve potluck. It's a tradition that john and his friends do every year. I guess apparently it started at Shane's house, where John and Shane hosted for several years. For the past few years the deed has been taken over by Eric.

I had a hard time deciding what to make. I finally settled for sweet potatoes casserole. It's a super easy recipe. Here's how it looks like, fresh out frm the oven.

lots of marshmallows....

pretty good for a 1st time. not a big fan of it though... too SWEET! i had even cut down the amount of the brown sugar it says on the recipe... and it is still too sweet. can't imagine if i use the brown sugar according to the recipe. +_+

lots of food.... 2 diff flavor turkeys


my plate- salad, stuffing, turkeys, mashed pototes, my marshmallow yam, green beans casserole


of course steve's potluck is vodka... hey, at least it is a GOOD one. :P
good to see the groomsmen gift is put into good use
i waited all night and finally found the opportunity to grab him from whatever he was doing
kept him distracted a little bit so he would stay in my arms
haha... literally less than 1 min, he cried and couldn't wait to get away frm me... nope. he wants nothing to do with me. hey like Katie said it's getting better. there was a picture frm shane's bday last year, he was screaming in my arms. he was like maybe 2 months old? and you can see my expression in that picture.. "pls take him away frm me!!!" :-) hopefully next time will be better ;p

anyway, the dinner was great and we had fun. And now it's time to pack for our trip tomorrow... vegas baby! woot woot!!!

the wedding story- part VII (ceremony)

Now for the most important part of the wedding.... the ceremony!!! My favorite part! Like i have mentioned before everything was a blur on the wedding day. I am thankful i have lots of pictures that can remind me of the sequence of that day. :) After taking some group pictures, the girls went back to the room to powder up before the walk. I had forgotten to mention that while we were taking the group pictures, my wedding coordinator, Ann Marie interrupted us to get my bakery phone number because the cake hadn't arrived yet. So as soon as the photo session was over, we went back to the room and i called my bakery right away. That's when i found out the tragedy of my cake. Amy apologized numerous times and told me the replacement is fast on its way. I looked at the time and was relieved that we still had plenty of time until the reception. John came to me to tell me the bad news despite Ann Marie's advice not to let me know.

haha... here's a frantic look picture. On the phone with Ann Marie. Probably saying "what...??!! cake is not here yet!" and then back to taking pictures... all smiley & happy. Probably didn't think how serious the problem was. seriously, i think i was retarded that day.

Moments before the ceremony began....

here's the groom side of the family and friends

the bride's family and friends... maybe some are john's friends too. Waiting patiently.

And then the music started and it all began.... I think the bridal party walked down to Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring. I don't know what version Dean used, but i like the piano version more. This youtube clip is the closest thing i can find if you want to get an idea of the music. It was tough looking for the ceremony songs. I decided to stick with the traditional church songs except for bridal march. I love canon d major so much that i chose to walk down with that song myself. The korean movie "the sassy girl" inspired me so much. After watching that movie, i was determined to use that song for my wedding. I don't remember what song we used for bridal recessional. haha... actually i don't remember any of the songs were playing at all. all i can is my own heartbeat as i was walking down. yep, it was that blur and scary.

john and our sweet kimber lee, the officiant

john's parents

shane escorted my mom

my mom looked so beautiful that day....

we paired steve and eng jo, they are both tall.

tim & jocelyn following behind

and then matt & michele

finally shane & janet

Meanwhile back there, i was nervous as hell waiting for my turn.

don't remember what we were laughing about here... sir is really good at capturing the moments... but if only i could remember the moments... :))

everything is sinking in now...

jacob... looking grumpy. we forgot his ring pillow, left it in the room. haha... we don't know how well he is going to hold the ring pillow anyway. just as long as he walked down the aisle was good enough. we didn't actually think he would walk. on rehearsal day, he was so fussy and refused to walk. surprisingly he performed so well on the wedding day.

jasmine looking so pretty in her little flower girl dress she picked her own

daddy releasing jacob

jasmine tried to hold jacob's hand. her instruction was to hold jacob's hand and if he refused she would have to let go of his hand and let him walk himself. In this picture, you can see clearly jacob refused his sister's help. :P

and there they were.... so darn cute. everybody loves them. i guess apparently jasmine was nervous too and forgot to throw petals along the aisle

as she reached john, john reminded her to throw her petals and there she was throwing the petals high up in the air... everyone was laughing at how cute she was

petals high up in the air....

my gorgeous bridemaids

me getting ready with the help form ann marie.

i was so happy and excited walking down to canon d major

i definitely love love this picture here below. definitely a picture i want sir to capture. john' s expression at the end of the aisle waiting for me to arrive. gotta love it... to be continued....

the wedding story- part VI (moments before the ceremony)

part I- the details
part II- girls getting ready
part III- guys getting ready
part IV- the bride
part V- tea ceremony

After the tea ceremony, the guys left. And my wonderful girls helped me into my white dress. I have posted some pictures previously under the wedding story- part II (girls getting ready). Off we went to the lobby to meet the guys and to "surprise" john. We waited for the guys to show up and Rosie thought it would be a good idea to take a few pictures of me while waiting. She wanted me to look longingly out the window... waiting for my prince. Lol... let's look at how i did.

heh... not bad at all.

this is one of my favorite shots... there is something so timeless about it... and elegant! haha... probably because you can't see my face in this picture. it's funny how most of my favorite pictures... you can't really see my face. is it a coincidence... or is it a sign???! hmmm i wonder ... ;-)

here i am running towards john...

there he is waiting patiently, he has his back toward me.

i walked behind him and tapped on his shoulder. I think i said "i am here"

he turned around and gave me a big hug

and then he pulled me away to take a good look at me. I remembered he whispered to my ear "you look beautiful...." ah,.... my heart melted. :)))))

After the big reveal, we took lots of pictures.

All pictures credit: sir harrison photography
and meilina & friends.