Another wedding and another reconnection with old friends! The wedding was that of Sara Schleger, daughter of our longtime friends Ken and Carol, who were parishioners at St. Thomas, Berea, when we were there, to Ryan Petrus. It was an absolutely beautiful affair, probably the most elegant wedding I've seen in a long time (and I've seen a lot of weddings!) and of course our "Sara-Bear" made a stunningly beautiful bride. We're so happy that she found such a nice guy; we just wish they lived closer than North Carolina.

The "reconnection" was with friends from the Warren, Ohio, area, whom I came to know during my 18-month interim ministry gig at Christ Church, Warren. John Hammel was the Director of Lay Ministries, Peggy Sapino was the Parish Secretary and Dr. Janet Shiley was my "landlady." We all met about halfway between Berea and Warren at an old country Inn for lunch. Love seeing old friends!

There was also time for work on the house-renovation projects; this month's "special" was replacing tile and grout in the master bath. Once again, faithful helper Andrew came to the rescue with tools, technical advice, and on-the-job assistance!

Sara,. at the rehearsal dinner

Ken and Carol, at the rehearsal

Ryan, at the rehearsal dinner

The bridesmaids' dresses were stunning, as were the flowers.

The reception was held at The Old Arcade, a Cleveland landmark for decades, and now part of the Hyatt Regency hotel. (Andrew and I used to have lunch there on his birthday when we first moved to Berea). It's not a place I would ever have thought to hold a wedding reception, but it was absolutely perfect!

Ken and Sara: the Father/Daughter Dance

Outside the church after the ceremony.

Ken and Carol, with Carol's uncle Walter, at the reception.

Mothers of brides can't relax until it's all over! But this was a stress-free as any wedding I've seen.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch [house] . . . Andrew checks the set of a newly-installed tile. He is at least as meticulous about such things as I am, which makes him the ideal work-partner.

We didn't completely stop work on the other house projects. . . the main hallway got new lights, which will eventually be trained on family photos hanging on the walls.

Disclaimer: Penney doesn't want this picture to appear in public . . . we don't have the new doors up on the hallway linen closet yet. But, hey! how can you see how great "after" looks if you didn't see "before"?!