the many adventures of us: December 2012

December 31, 2012

a stl wedding shower

the mom . the bride

my mom wrapped her gift in wrapping paper that

her mom purchased for her wedding shower

shelly . sophie . missy

the shower throwers

julie . paula . marilyn . jeannie . bonnie . marilyn . pat

campbell . shelly . sophie . missy . barb

i heard the bells

today is the fourth sunday of advent. the fourth sunday of expectantly waiting for the coming King. his hope. his peace. his love. his joy.

earlier this month at church i was re-introduced to a well known christmas carol. i learned that the song we now know as "i heard the bells on christmas day" was originally a poem penned by henry wadsworth longfellow entitled "christmas bells". henry wrote this poem in the midst of personal tragedy. his oldest son had been severely injured in the civil war, and his wife had died unexpectedly when her dress caught fire and they were unable to extinguish it. in short, things were not going well.

the fourth verse says this:

and in despair i bowed my head
“there is no peace on earth,” i said,

“for hate is strong and mocks the song

of peace on earth, good will to men.”

but then...the bells rang again.

then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

the wrong shall fail, the right prevail

with peace on earth, good will to men.”

at the end of that service, we were invited to come to the front where we rang a large bell. with each clang we were reminded that no matter how dark the days, God is there. he is not dead. he does not sleep. and he is our peace.

this year, peace has been a bit of a challenge for me. perhaps it's because planning a wedding in essentially three months does not naturally lend itself to being a peaceful experience if you're an artistic, type-a like myself. i'm working on it. and in the meantime, i have this song playing on repeat.

the wedding website

our story

about us
donald marsh dyer junior was born and raised in raytown, missouri with his two brothers and one sister. he has a degree in psychology from sbu and currently works in the psychiatric department at the university of kansas medical center in kansas city. donald loves movies, pizza, fantasy football and playing cards. he is looking forward to the many adventures he will have with shelly as she broadens his travel horizons.

shelly lynn williams was born and raised in st. charles, missouri and is an only child. she has a degree in art from sbu and is currently a substitute teacher at pleasant lea middle school in lee's summit, along with a number of other odd jobs. shelly loves corn, taking trips, organizing and things that are free. she is looking forward to having some of donald's laid back personality rub off on her.

how we met
donald and shelly met in college at southwest baptist university. donald's first memory of shelly was playing mafia in the living room of the blue house...but shelly has trouble remembering such details. a mutual friend began playing matchmaker and donald developed a bit of a crush on shelly, but she was convinced he liked another girl. once the truth came out, in a grocery aisle of the bolivar wal-mart, they began seeing more of each other and eventually started dating. after a year or so, life took them different directions but they remained good friends. they saw each other often, as their mutual friends threw parties, got married and hosted game nights.

in recent years, donald and shelly's encounters had become few and far between. however, in september of 2011 david (donald's brother) and kim (shelly's roommate) decided to do a little match making themselves and orchestrated a 'chance' meeting in vegas. he was charming, she was beautiful...and the rest is history.

wedding events

game night : january 25, 2013
to kick of the weekend of celebrating, there will be a game night on friday evening in the great room of the lodge. everyone is welcome to join donald and shelly for snacks, games and getting excited for the big day. the fun starts at 7pm.

the big day : january 26, 2013
the wedding ceremony will begin at 4:30pm in the great room at pere marquette lodge. dinner and dancing will follow at a reception held just down the hall in the banquet room. a note about children: donald and shelly love the kids in their lives but, due to the extremely large number of them, have limited invitations to adults only.

sunday brunch : january 27, 2013
before heading out of town in the morning, you are welcome to stop by the great room one last time to say farewell to the happy couple. bagels, fruit, donuts, juice and coffee will be available from 9-11am.

kansas city open house : february 23, 2013
an open house will be held at sterling acres baptist church in kansas city, missouri on saturday, february 23rd from 2-4pm. if you are in the area, feel free to stop in and say hello to the newlyweds.