Last Wednesday, I loaded up to head to Mt. Magazine with Hillary for her wedding! We had to make a very important stop before we left town.
Every bride deserves a little pampering before the big day! Once we were looking good from the manicures/pedicures we hit the road. As soon as we got to Mt. Magazine, we went into the lodge to see how things were coming.
Things were looking good! The rest of the night we hung out in the cabin with Hillary's parents and started getting organized for the next day. Thursday morning, I woke up to this glorious view!
I took a minute to thank God for this amazing setting for such an amazing occasion! Then, it was off to work! We stuffed these cute bags with goodies for the overnight wedding guests.
After we delivered the bags to the lodge and ate breakfast, we had some time before Josh arrived so Hillary and I took a walk. We walked up a trail to the highest point in Arkansas.
Hillary and her family were so organized that we sped through the things that needed to get done and had a lot of time Thursday afternoon to relax while we waited for the rehearsal and dinner.
The setting for the wedding was so beautiful! Hillary had asked me to sing "How Great Thou Art" at the wedding and there could not have been a more fitting song!
Here's the happy couple at the rehearsal dinner. So cute!!!
Speaking of cute! No lingerie shower is complete without petit fours! Hillary got beautiful lingerie gifts and we all had a great time at the shower. We started the morning of the big day off with a bridesmaids breakfast. We all came in our pj's and NO makeup which was a lot of fun, but not so good for pictures!
Hillary's "Bride" pj's were so cute! After a fabulous breakfast, we headed off to get ready for the wedding!
I was so nervous before the wedding that I didn't take hardly any pictures, but trust me, everyone looked GREAT and the wedding was PERFECT!!!!
Audra, me, Hillary, and Sarah at the reception. We had a blast!
Brooke and Mike Gray are one of the funnest couples I know! Mike did a great job performing the ceremony too.
My dad and my step-mom always call Hillary their adopted daughter. They were so happy to be at the wedding! Finally, after a long day (and this really long post!) the newly-wed Mr. and Mrs. Bazyk loaded up and headed off to their new life together!
I could not be more blessed to know Hillary and Josh and share in this weekend with them. I am confident that the Lord has great things planned for their marriage and can't wait to see Him use them for His glory!!!
On gamedays, I tailgate with my parents and friends who come by to join in on the fun. It is an all day event and we come prepared for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
These football shaped doughnuts actually ended up being desserts instead of breakfast, but they were still delicious!
My dad is so proud of his new grill! It is really funny how many people will come by to look at it.
I was so anxious to get inside the stadium to see all the new changes that have been made. I am so happy with the new Hog on the field!!! I was pretty happy with all the other changes too. I wish that the game hadn't been quite so close. But, it's always good to start with a win!
This graduation ceremony was only for Doctoral students. There were about 125 students that received degrees. The professors that spoke during the ceremony were good, but it lasted a long time!
Finally...the moment we had all been waiting for. My mom was hooded and officially announced as Dr. Tammy Tucker! I am really proud of her and all of the years of hard work it took to get to that moment!
After the ceremony, UNT provided a really nice reception for the graduates and families. This is our family photo (minus the baby, who was at the hotel with my step-mom). From left to right is me, my mom's husband, my mom, my brother and his fiance. We knew that it would be really late when the graduation festivities were over, so we had the baby's birthday party planned for Saturday.
Here's the birthday baby!!! Is he cute or what!?!? And of course I don't spoil him at all! We all went out to lunch and then back to the hotel for presents and cake. 
He was much more interested in climbing on the presents than opening them. And he was a typical 1 year old and was as happy about the wrapping paper and boxes as he was the actual gifts!
Then, it was time for cake. He wasn't sure about it at first. It could have been because he had a room full of people pointing cameras at him and cheering him on to eat it! I'm pretty sure he thinks we are all crazy! 
Obviously, he quickly accepted our craziness and went to town on that piece of cake. He loved it! It didn't take long for the sugar to kick in and he put on quite a show in his little high chair!
This was part of the airport in Ekat. It was midnight and it still wasn't completely dark yet! That was one of the first things I had to get used too. It was light when we went to bed and light when we woke up!
Our team was me, Liz, Virginia, Pam, Mike, and Margaret. We are all member of our church choir, but didn't really know each other personally until this trip. It was so great forming bonds with each other that we would have never had if we didn't share this experience!
One of the ladies in the church invited us and several people from their church to her house on Sunday night and she cooked us a huge Russian meal! The food there wasn't bad, but definitely different!!! After dinner, we let them ring the chimes. They loved it and it was so much fun to watch. Then they sang for us and several of them shared their testimonies. I get teary eyed even now when I think about what the Lord is capable to deliver us from!!! We finished the night be singing they hymn How Great Thou Art. We sang it in English while they sang in Russian. Talk about powerful!!!! I just remember thinking that some day we will all be singing together in Heaven in one united voice! Praise the Lord!!!!
The great thing was that our hotel was across the street, so we were able to have cheesecake every day!!! It does not get any better than that...well only if I could eat cheesecake every day and not gain weight! 
It was such a fun trip and a very successful one too!!! We got so much accomplished for Hillary's wedding and I had a great time being part of it!
