HALF A HONEYMOON

We are home. I have to say it seemed like we were gone a really long time, but that is because so much of it was spent in cars. We ended up with three of them! A big thank you to the GM dealership in Laramie, who really went above and beyond to see that we had a car. They contacted General Motors and they rented us a car to get back home. They actually had to get special permission to get a Ford, since the rental place didn't have any Chevys. It will be a few weeks before our car is ready. The transmission went out, (2017, and only 30,000 miles) and because of a strike, car parts are difficult to get.  We have the rental until ours is fixed and then have to have it back in 2 days. It's about a 10 hour drive, so when they call, we have to be ready to go. It reminds me of packing a bag to have a baby!
We are pretty sure that the fact that we were in our 70's and on our honeymoon helped. We played that card as often as we could. Hoping to be able to take a couple of days and see some of the attractions we missed the first time.  I didn't get to the quilt store, but I went to my newest favorite bookstore ever. I can't wait to tell you about it. And I really want to get some good pictures of the scenery that aren't through the car windows.
We still want to go Oregon someday. But we are thinking of flying.

New Ford Fusion: Our Current Ride

The following is copied from my earlier Facebook Posts. I wasn't able to blog from my phone.
LARAMIE, WYOMING 

Our second car

Luckily for me I have my little sewing corner set up, so I have been stitching away while we decide our next step. We finally got in late last night, and the first motel we went to didn't have any available rooms! Then we found another one close to the car dealership, so this is where we will be for the next few days.They have given us a car for the weekend. They aren't sure when they can even look at it, because 4 cars were towed in ahead of us! Laramie is a pretty historic place so I've found an old mansion for us to visit. There was also a Brothel tour, but we missed it. In the old days, Laramie was called Hell-on-Wheels, a wild old railroad town. It was also the first place that women were allowed to vote. And I hear it has a pretty good quilt shop. We are still blissfully happy with everything except the car.

UTAH
I'm not able to blog on my phone, but here are the highlights of our marriage
so far.
1. We had a beautiful suite at the Marriott.
2. After dinner, I stood up and tipped the wobbly high top table over. Two full glasses of water absolutely drenched my dress. I grabbed the chair. The table hit the chair, and we all hit the floor. I ended up with a swollen lip and a bruise on my chin. No, I was not inebriated.
3. First day of honeymoon went very well, except Nebraska vies with Wyoming as most boring state to drive through.
4. Things finally started to get prettier as we got to Ogden, Utah. Unfortunately that's when the car started to misbehave. We checked in to a Hampton Inn. Sorry to say that the very small room in this one was $100.00 more than the nice large one in Sydney, Nebraska's Hampton Inn. They did give us a free bottle of water. ( I guess this must be common. Our second hotel went up $100. for our second night. It was Homecoming weekend. Luckily, we didn't have to stay another night)
5. This morning we took the car to a dealership. (2017 and still under warranty) They couldn't find anything wrong.
6. Found a great needlework shop. Yea!
7.Car still not feeling quite right so we decided to head back. Mostly fine all day
8. As I write this we are in a tow truck headed toward Laramie which is 70 miles from where our car completely stopped. We waited one and a half hours for it to get here. Two troopers stopped to see if we were ok, and a man who calls himself The Alien also stopped. It is so dark here that a person cannot see anything but other headlights no matter where one looks.Not sure of the next step yet, but I think this marriage will survive, and the wedding was lovely.
9. I know that I would not make a good pioneer. Ever.

Our Impala.  John, tell us how you really feel

Mr and Mrs Brafford

And We Are Married

Our Immediate Families 

Outside the Yellow House

The Yellow House

On October 12, 2019 I changed my name. I am now Sandra Moran Brafford. And I couldn't be happier. Everything went as planned, and was perfect. Except I cried like a baby when I said my vows. This surprised everyone I think, especially me.
We had a book themed wedding. Next time I will show more pictures of all the ways we used books in the ceremony. John was such a good sport. He has loaded and unloaded my bookcases several times in the past few weeks. They made the perfect wedding arch. We decorated the shelves with special items, and books, of course. I tried to find book titles that included all the names, but ran out of time. Some of the ones that I thought would be most difficult to find were actually easy. I found grandsons Oskar and Cass right away, but got stuck on more common names. And if I had proceeded, I would have filled all the shelves with books.
We took a family photo  and almost thought we would get everyone. Oskar and his new brother Leif, stayed home in Minnesota with their mama, since Baby is only a few days old. Two of the KC grands were sick and couldn't come either. We'll keep trying for that big photo.
We had lots of help putting everything together and I am so grateful for all my talented friends and family. They helped to create just the wedding we wanted.
I walked down the aisle to an Eagles song, "No More Cloudy Days". One of our early dates was at an Eagles concert, and that quickly became "our" song.  Our ceremony was very short, but meaningful

Our Readings

Life is amazing and then it's awful. And then it's amazing again. And in between the amazing and the awful, it's ordinary and mundane and routine. Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful and relax and exhale through the ordinary. That's just living, heartbreaking, soul-healing , amazing, awful, ordinary life.  And it's breathtakingly beautiful.                    (Anon)

And now at last

They were beginning

Chapter One

of the great story

No one on earth

Has ever read 

Which goes on forever

In which every chapter is 

Better than the one before.                  C.S. Lewis

The Vows

John:   You have brought light back into my life. You are my today and all of my tomorrows.

And when we are old, let's sit at the breakfast table for hours, watching the birds and the squirrels. Let's walk together, (holding hands) in the evening as the sun goes down, and sit on the porch, reading aloud from our books, But mainly, we'll just love each other.

Sandi: (CRYING LOUDLY)  I didn't want to fall in love or to need someone ever again.I really didn't want anything. But then you appeared and became everything I wanted. You are my home and my adventure.

You are my love story

And I write you into

Everything I do

Everything I see

Everything I touch

And everything I dream

You are the words

That fill my pages.

     The Rings

This ring is a token of my love for you. I marry you with this ring. And with all that I have. And all that I am.

It was very short and absolutely wonderful. I wanted to post it here, in case you missed it because of all the crying.  

And now the wedding is ended, And the marriage begins!