Thursday, December 22, 2016

Almost 20 Years

Tonight I am thankful for almost 20 years as a Mom, with your birthday coming up in exactly 1 week, Alex.  We talked tonight about how excited I was over Christmas 1996 as I waited to meet you.  I tried to enjoy presents on Christmas Day, but it was so distracting to think about the big event coming up.  On Dec. 26th, I went Christmas shopping to Boscov's with Grandma and Aunt Pam (I was quite large), visited my Uncle Bob in Kingston the following evening *, then we were all out to dinner on Dec. 28th when my water broke at the restaurant - yuk!  Anyway, you came along the next morning - a Sunday, during a church service Aunt Pam was playing at Central United Methodist.  Now you're busy with LCC classes, working at Gerrity's and just left for an outing with Taylor.

* Uncle Bob was a retired internist and alarmed at the prospect of my going into labor, meanwhile his wife Anne was enthusiastic about that idea since she was a retired obstetrics nurse !  Everything would have worked out fine regardless, since their house was almost across the street from Nesbitt Hospital where you were born.

And Robby, you came shopping with me to Gerrity's tonight to get holiday groceries.  It was so nice have that simple time together, and I looked at you hard to appreciate how special you are at age 14.  You're 5' 5" (as per a visit to Joy A yesterday) so definitely taller than me now.  Today you had a Mario Cart competition in Mr. Hyzinski's 8th grade social science class since it's the last day of school before Christmas vacation.  You brought in 2 cases of Snapple Ice Tea for the party.  Fun!

I am very, very lucky to have you both; raising you to be independent and thoughtful young men is by far the biggest accomplishments of my life.  I heard this song on Magic 93 as we drove home from the store, and its title sums up my feelings about the sweet experience of being a parent.




Sunday, January 24, 2016

Our Wedding - July 3, 2015







Celebrating the Marriage of

Christine Elizabeth Rivers
&
Stephen Gerard Albert

Friday, July 3, 2015
4:00pm
Processional                                                                                   “Learning To Walk”                                                           (Joseph Martin)                                               

Hymn (All)                                                                                  “Morning Has Broken”                                               

The Ministry of the Word
Old Testament Reading                                                               Ecclesiastes, 4: 7-12
                                                                Read by Diana Bloom                                
Harp Interlude                                                                              “The Gift of Love”                                                                           (Traditional)
                                                         Performed by Laura Lewis            
New Testament Reading                                                             Romans, 12: 9-12

The Marriage
Sand Ceremomy                                                                        Love’s Philosophy
                                                                                               (Percy Shelley)
                                                          Read by Rebecca Albert

The Blessing of the Marriage
Irish Blessing (All)                                
May the raindrops fall lightly on your head
May the soft winds freshen your spirit
May the sunshine brighten your heart
May the burdens of the day rest lightly upon you
And may God enfold you in the mantle of His love

Recessional                                                                                    "The Four Seasons, Spring (Allegro)”                                            (Antonio Vivaldi)




Our Acknowledgments

Chris would like to thank:
Susan Walsh for listening and giving sound advice.
Julie Rivers for encouragement to go for a walk around Lake Scranton with “this tall guy from work”.
Diana Bloom for dress shopping & consultation.
Lawrence Bloom for entertaining children during dress shopping.
John & Fran Rivers for traveling from Qatar to join us.

Steve would like to thank:
God, for the gift of second chances.
The entire Rivers family for making me feel so very welcome from the beginning. 
My co-workers for all of their kind wishes.

We both would like to thank:
Our children, Katrina, Korin & Rebecca Albert, Alex & Robby Carroll for standing with us.
Lindsay Rosar for photography.
Mandy Loeffler and the staff of the East Mountain Inn for the wonderful arrangements.
Pam Carroll for music recommendations.
Joe Matteo for ceremony & cocktail hour music.
Mike Torres for dinner & dancing music.

And Most Importantly:
We would like to thank our families, especially the late    Doris Albert and David & Liz Rivers for their love and support over the years.