Thursday, December 3, 2009

Mom's Wedding

As you all know, so much has happened with the Champlin family... Yes, Mom got married and it was a good experience for all of us. Don has turned out to be a wonderful man and we are all grateful that Mom is happy and now enjoying her Golden Years!
To catch you all up, Mom had been browsing the LDS Planet for quite some time, mostly out of curiosity. She did meet some interesting characters. Needless to say, after them, she felt it time to retire for awhile. That is until she came across a man from Michigan while showing a friend how to use LDS Planet! At first, it was safe to communicate because Michigan is so far. However, after finding out one of her best friend’s daughter’s went to the same ward as this gentleman and had so many good things to say about him, Mom thought it might be a good thing to continue communicating. Well, one thing led to another. Don came out to visit and Mom spent a week there, and all was over when Don proposed near the Grand Hotel where the movie “Somewhere in Time” was filmed.
Of course we all weren’t very excited when we heard that Mom would be moving to Michigan! However, in time, we figured mom deserved to have an adventure of her own.
The wedding and Reception was really nice (thank you again Kari, Jennifer, Karen E., Karen W., Debbie, Bev) and everyone who helped in some way!
As of now, Mom and her new hubby are safely settled in their home in Lake Isabella, Michigan (after being in a moving truck for 6 days). She and Don have already sent pictures of the wild deer, turkey and “black” squirrels that rome their 3-acre property. She called one day, excited that she saw a house with a giant pumpkin left over from Halloween in someone’s yard with about 5-7 deer feeding from it! You’d think she’d talk more about the marriage than the wildlife! Ha Ha!
Lori is staying at the house with two other roommates and is waiting to hear from the credential program at Fresno State as well as Sacramento State. She’ll be graduating this spring. Keith is doing well and still pops in often to hang out with his sister at “home”. Amy, Scott & Fam are busy as always. The boys are growing fast (Josh is a Senior and will be graduating in May, Colton is 6 and is active as can be while Nicholas tries to take part in all the action; running around and wanting to always be where everyone is).
The rest of our family is doing well. It was soooo great being together again and having the gift of time. Thanksgiving was a sort of lonely one, being the first holiday split up. But, Keith and Lori had plans, Amy and Scott were in Milad, Idaho, while Mom met a new crew of grandkids (Don has 7 kids who all have at least 3 kids each!) She said she now has a total of 20 grandkids! Good luck keeping up with everyone Mom! 
Here are some pictures of the wedding as well as updated family pictures for all to enjoy! Thank you for all of your friendship and support!







Mom on the Bench Lori refinished. She actually stole this 30 year old bench from our front porch and thought it would be a great idea to completely refinish it as a wedding gift! All that can be said is thank you soooo much Dan and Sharon for helping! It turned out so beautiful!
















Thank you Kari & Jennifer!