Trip to the Wedding in Kentucky: Part 3, Judd & Amy's Wedding and Reception

The main purpose for our trip to Kentucky was to attend the wedding of our grandson, Judd, and his bride, Amy Huckvale, in the LDS Louisville Temple.

  With the temple doors behind them,

Amy and Judd come out to meet their

waiting family and friends.

Mr. and Mrs. Judd Ireland

with the Louisville Temple in the background.

The newlyweds with Judd's parents, Scott and Kristine.

With Amy's parents, Rick and Terri Huckvale.

Judd's grandparents join him and Amy for a photo:

Gary & Kathryn Judd and Sam & Narene Ireland.

 Amy's family and grandparents.

The maternal grandparents at the left, and

paternal grandparents at the right.

A photo with Amy's siblings.

Judd with his sisters,

Jenna, Shannon, and Brittney.

(Their brother, Trent, is on a mission in Australia.)

Amy with her sisters.

I think Amy's brothers liked this pose better than Amy did.

This is the extended family and friends of Amy who were

there following the marriage ceremony.

I should have given my camera to someone to take a

picture of Judd's group; but since I did not,

I don't have a comparable photo, although there were

not as many on Judd's side who were

able to travel to Kentucky.
An open house in Westminster, Colorado,
is on August 18th.

Assuming the pose of Olypian 100 m. gold winner, Usain Bolt,

are Trevor (cousin), Brendan Sines (friend), Judd, and

Kyle (another cousin).

 Here we are in front of the temple.

Pretty pink petunias by the temple.

Tables ready for the reception that evening are reflected

in the framed mirror displayed with 

"Judd and Amy Ireland est. 8.11.12."

Getting ready to cut the first piece of the wedding cake.

Below the top tier were rows of individually decorated cupcakes.

The bride's colors of champagne, turquoise, and black were

carried out in the presentation that was surrounded by a

canopy of champagne tulle and miniature lights.

 Judd's cousin, Kyle, caught the traditional garter.

 The bouquet has left Amy's arms and

can be seen in the upper corner

before it was caught by a friend.

Scott and his dad - "like father like son"

seems to be a fitting description.

Kyle is showing his Grandpa Sam something on his smart phone.

Judd and Amy make their getaway without any rice.

 Judd's dad using a whiteboard marker to

write "Judd & Amy Just Married" on

the back window before they drove away.

Trip to the Wedding in Kentucky: Part 2, St. Louis and Louisville

After spending a day in Branson, we continued on our way the next morning to St. Louis where we stopped to go up to the top of the famous Arch and visit the museum.

St. Louis Arch and Skyline

Standing below the Arch,

which is the nation's tallest monument at 630 feet.  

It commemorates Thomas Jefferson and St. Louis 

in the westward expansion of the United States.

A view from up in the Arch 

taken with the camera zoomed for a closer look

that shows the baseball players on the field.

A view on the opposite side inside the Arch

showing the Missippi River below.

The camera was zoomed to see more detail.

We rode to the top of the Arch in the tram 
in one of the small cubicles.  This may not be
something one suffering from claustrophobia would want to do.
 

Part of a wall display in the museum at the Arch

providing information about the size, construction, and history.

Construction began February 12, 1963, and the last section

was put in place in 1965.  The Arch weighs 17,246 tons with

nine hundred tons of stainless steel used to build it,

more than any other project in history.

It was built at a cost of $13 million.  

 We enjoyed seeing the displays and information

in the Arch's Museum of Westward Expansion.

The St. Louis skyline.

On our way from St. Louis to Louisville.

We enjoyed our tour at the 

Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.
The bat in front weighs approximately 68,000 pounds
and is 120 ft. long and 9 ft. in diameter at the base.

Posing with "Babe Ruth"
are Jenna, Shannon, Kristine, Trevor, Scott, and Sam.

We found Babe Ruth's signature
among the thousands on the
Signature Wall.

Narene and Sam with "Dereck Jeter,"
one of the impressively lifelike sculptures of famous batters.  
Even up close, the whiskers look real.

Mimicking the pose of "Ted Williams":

Jenna, Shannon, Trevor, Sam, and Scott.

There were displays like this, but also

we watched them actually making the bats.

Trevor by a display of bats.

 

 Trevor looking at the signature bats

displayed with information about each baseball player

for whom the bat was designed.


The following photos are from our tour of Churchill Downs 
where the Kentucky Derby is held.

 

The entrance to Churchill Downs 

with the memorial statue in front of the racehorse,

Barbaro, who won the Kentucky Derby by

6.5 lengths in 2006, but then broke down in

the Preakness Stakes.  He was euthanized in 2007 due to his Laminitis,

which also had led to the death of the 

1973 Triple Crown winner, Secretariat.

The name of Secretariat is displayed below the spire.
Appearing all around the structure are the names of other horses 
that have won the Kentucky Derby.  The names of the eleven

horses who are Tripe Crown winners stand out in gold letters.

Secretariat won the 1973 Kentucky Derby in the

record-smashing time of 1:59 2/5.

The Triple Crown Trophy

The paddock at Churchill Downs
with the stalls for the racehorses.

The sign over the grandstand at Churchill Downs.

The race track at Churchill Downs.

In the museum at Churchill Downs,
the first electronic starting gate is displayed.
Shannon mounted the horse for a photo.

Jenna takes a turn at the electronic starting gate. 

Saturday was the wedding of Judd and Amy, and that will be the focus of the next blog entry.  Sunday morning, after church, we got in the car and started for our return trip home.

Leaving Louisville, we passed by the KFC Yum Center.

It is a $238 million, 22,000-seat basketball and multipurpose

arena on the Ohio River waterfront in Louisville that

opened in 2010.  It's the fifth largest basketball arena in the nation,

and is where the University of Louisville

men's and women's basketball teams play.

Yum brands got the naming rights, and inside the arena

seven concession stands sell three of the products in their chains -

KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell.

Crossing the bridge over the Ohio River in Louisville.

Part 3, the final entry for our trip to Kentucky to attend Judd and Amy's wedding, will be in the next blog entry with pictures of the couple and those attending the wedding and at the reception that evening.

 

Trip to the Wedding in Kentucky: Part 1, Mitchell SD & Centerton AR

We left home on August 3rd for Kentucky to attend the wedding of our grandson Judd to Amy Huckvale.  Our first stop was in Mitchell that Friday.  I was pleased to be able to attend the brunch and baby shower for Sarah hosted by Susan Tjarks; and that evening we watched our granddaughters in the musical production of "Footloose." 

Maggie, Haley, and Maren in the lobby 

after their performance in "Footloose."

 

 Sarah is holding up a program for "Footloose"

listing the scenes and cast. 

Here is a quote from the Mitchell Republic's newspaper review of the play:  "Standouts among the leads include Maggie Smith as Ariel’s buddy, Rusty. Her vibrancy, timing and commitment to her character power several important scenes.  This is matched by Chris Ferera’s gee-whiz country boy, who becomes the object of Rusty’s affection. The two are genuinely charming and provide many of the show’s highlights." 

I didn't take any pictures at the baby shower at Susan's Friday morning, but everything was color coordinated and the food was wonderful.  Sarah got some very nice things for her baby girl who is due at the end of December.  Susan had the baby shower at this time since Sarah and Derek were in Mitchell for a short visit before returning to Provo.

The next morning, we continued on to Arkansas to spend a few days with Jeff and Rochelle's family in Centerton, near Bentonville.  The weather was unusually hot and humid; so we planned our activities accordingly, which included watching some of the Olympics on T.V.

 Hiking on a tree-shaded trail on the grounds of the

Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville

in early evening.

(Narene, Rochelle holding Kate, Miles in Jeff's back carrier,

and Jamon, Austin, and Zack)

Crystal Bridges Museum

We enjoyed our visit to the museum on a

previous visit to Bentonville, but only did the hike this time.

The grandchildren cooled off in the pool

which is part of their residential complex.

Austin liked jumping in again and again.

Jamon and Zack had fun playing with their friends

as a double-decker partnership. 

Kate smiled for Grandma's camera.

Miles has grown 

since their family's visit to our home in March.

Miles looks a lot like his brother Jamon.

 Kate will turn 4 on August 20th,

so Grandma took her shopping for an early birthday present.

The princess dress is what she wanted.

Zack helped Jamon build his new Legos toy.

Jamon helped Austin build his Legos helicopter.

Jeff ready to leave for work,

but he joined us for our activities in the evening.

 

 

One of the things the grandchildren chose to do

was go to ChuckECheese to play the arcade games and

climb on other equipment.

(Zack, Jamon, and Austin)

 

 

Austin is watching Zack's progress as he gets

more tickets to turn in for prizes.

(Austin, Zack, Jamon, Jeff, and Miles) 

 

 

Jamon chose this one for his photo and 

decided to go again.

 

 

  Austin got pretty good at getting the balls in

the rings with the higher numbers.

 

 

 Kate chose to ride the horse for her first activity.

 

 

We went for yummy ice cream treats at Braum's.

(Rochelle and Austin in the front booth;

Sam, Jamon, and Zack in the booth at back)

 

 

Early Wednesday morning on August 8th,

we hugged the grandchildren,

said our goodbyes, and headed for Branson.

(Jeff and Rochelle)

 

This was our fifth visit to see shows in Branson, so we have seen quite a few.  This time, we chose to see three shows we had not seen before.  Actually, we had seen John Tweed twice before, but this time he was joined by his daughter Sarah and billed as The Tweeds.  They are both excellent singers.  The Rock and Roll and Reminisce was a trio of two guys and a girl who were enjoyable and sang songs from the 50s and 60s.  The 3 Redneck Tenors began their show being goofy rednecks, but for the second half they came on stage in tuxedos appropriate for their beautiful operatic voices.  I especially enjoyed the second half.  At The Tweeds show, they gave us free tickets to eat at Sadie's Sideboard and Smokehouse; so we hurried there to eat before going to hear the tenors in the evening show.

 The 3 Redneck Tenors in the first half of their show.

  They have performed in various operas, and their professional

talents were showcased in the second half of the show.

Thursday morning, August 9th, we headed for Louisville; enroute we enjoyed a stop in St. Louis to visit the Arch and museum.  The next blog posting will continue with photos from St. Louis and Louisville.