Little White Church Version Two

Some of you may remember I talked this last fall about really really wanting to save a precious little white country church from demolition. Click here if you want to read more. You know that crazy childhood dream to get married in a country church and all.... Well sadly I did not win that battle as someone had already staked claim before I and scrapped the poor place. Heart braking really to see the shell of it in Niobrara. Now this church is free for the taking if one moves it. I will be the first to admit it is far from a dream church.

 

Vinyl siding, wood paneling, no cool stain glass or unique features. But it is a smallish church and could easily be moved (listen to me - probably nothing easy about it) to our land and become that perfect little white chapel in the country.

A spot for couples who want a unique country wedding or for me if that day ever miraculously happens. Do I even attempt this? Am I better off just starting from scratch and replicating an old but new chapel some day?

Wedding = Great chance for Family Photos!

 It is sadly quite rare these days to get the whole family together at once. Even more rare to all be dressed up as usually if we are gathered we are working outside or at the cabin being country :) We had a wedding of a super good family friend Saturday so I seized the opprotunity to snap a few family photos. I know everyone was thrilled by this as you can tell in the expressions to come.

The bride/groom and bride's family are huge Chiefs fans - how fun is this ice shot ski deal...

 

Of course the photo booth provided lots of entertainment throughout the evening. Pretty certain I ended up with a handful more of these before it was all said and done....

 

It truly was a gorgeous wedding and such a fun night spending time as a family. Congrats Jamie and Haris!

A Dreamy Country Chapel

I blogged about this historic gorgeous church in Niobrara years ago. At the time the church and lot were for sale. Sadly they wanted way more than I was willing or able to pay for a dillapadated building, plus I had no use for the lot.

Today I find out it is about to be demoloshed as the new owner has plans for the lot. Talk about sad.Heratbreaking to think of something so unique and pretty being torn down. Even worse is the owner told me he had been trying for months to find someone to take, yes take as in for FREE, this church off the property. Whaaaaatttt?? I would have gladly done this.

Some guy is in there now taking what he wants for salvage to include the cool windows and some woodwork. But the majority of the building will be left intact. Am I totally insane if I pay someone to move this to our land? I want it on top a hill overlooking the Missouri River. It seems so serene and perfect for weddings or worship retreats.....

Maybe I could try a kickstarter campaign to fund it??

My Little Brother's Rehearsal Dinner

 

My little brother got married last weekend, cue the tears....Sadly I have very few pictures as I was too busy helping to take pictures. Crossing my fingers my Aunt Debbie and the photographer have lots I can share shortly. In the meantime I figured I would share the Rehearsal dinner pics I quickly took on my phone.

We held this at the Buffalo Cookout Picnic Area at Niobrara State Park. It overlooks a small pond and you are surrounded by vegetation. Not too shabby.

We were going for a casual country picnic feel and I think overall it was a success.

I was missing napkins in all these pictures - but you get the general idea. My brother made all the citronella candles you see in the little tin buckets, my mom and I planted and lime washed the herbs, the linens were all vintage we already owned, and the jars were a fun collection, the plates and flatware we "borrowed" from the lodge. The koozies said "cheers to a future filled with love and adventure".

I made the fabric "curtain" out of thrifted linens and each favor basket contained Puerto Rican coffee, homemade muffins, homemade strawberry and peach jam, homemade chocolate chip cookies, nuts, and pamphlets about things to do in the area along with a weekend schedule.

 

We wanted a farm to table type dinner so we served hamburger from our friend Grant Nielson's farm(excellent if you want to purchase some) bison from Kreycik Elk & Buffalo Ranch (also excellent), a green salad, rolls from the local bakery in Verdigree, and potato salad made by my mom. We had planned on an ice cream bar after but due to the felon on the loose that never happened.

Really wish I had more pictures of the various details, to include vintage metal wash tubs used as a coolers and the delic food. But at least I have these. Crazy enough we had to evacuate this location early due to a suicidal man with a gun on the loose. Never in a million years would have predicted that. Read more here if you want the full story.

Weekend Snaps from Niobrara

We are in the final stretch of wedding week, my little brother gets married this Saturday. Crazy I tell ya! Especially since I, the oldest, am the last to marry now. I took a jeep full of supplies up to Niobrara and decided to use the time wisely for last minute cabin sprucing.

 

And always much needed relaxing and fresh country air.

 

 

Work Weekend at the Cabin

 

Two weekends in a row in Niobrara are always a bonus. Even if one truly is a "work" weekend.

 

We quickly realized after all the play over the 4th there were several small projects we wanted finished before the wedding in August.

So back to the cabin it was for a lot of landscaping, painting, and primping.

 

Of course we had to mix in a bit of play time while we were there.

Can't wait for August when I get a full week there to relax, unwind, and celebrate the marriage of my little brother.

Location Scouting

My little brother and his fiancé are contemplating getting married in Niobrara at the State Park there. The views are to die for! We scoped it out over the weekend and took a few quick photos. The top photo is where they would actually get married.

Gorgeous right?

Sadly the lodge was closed and due to the slow time of hear and holiday we weren’t able to check it out. It’s pretty bare bones but sure with flowers and the views it would be gorgeous.  Obviously much prettier in the spring when everything is colorful and green.

The tables and chairs inside the lodge were pretty blah looking (older metal chairs and basic tables) - almost tempted to consider dragging the picnic tables inside as how fun and rustic. Or is that tacky?

Love is in the Air

Obviously not for me as even though I may excel at many things dating is not one of my strong points.  Luckily my brothers fair much better in this department and I am super excited to say congratulations to my little brother Justin and his new fiancé Chrissy. I’m looking forward to gaining another sister in the next year.

They just got engaged over the weekend. Such a fun time of year for a proposal (we did try to get them to wait till Valentine’s day as even though it’s cheesy both my mom/dad and my grandpa/grandma got engaged on Valentine’s day).  Congrats you two - Let the wedding planning fun begin.

Dream Wedding Destination

I have no groom but that doesn’t mean I can still fantasize about a dream wedding. I am a girl after all!!

This place is called The Lily Barn and it located in Townsend , TN. Hello gorgeous!

 The landscaping was out of this world with every imaginable flower, tree, and bush. Perfect backdrop for pictures and cocktails.

The barns were to die for! The “reception” barn even had a massive stone fireplace. Dreamy!

 The smoky mountains in the background added to the overall beauty.

I need to start landscaping our lil slice of heaven in Niobrara as of yesterday so that someday I could achieve this same level of pretty for that far far away magical wedding.