Endless Love...

So as most of you know, our reason for going back to England, was to experience a bit of love - both new and old!

We'll start with the new - James and Carey tied the knot on 4 June on a perfect June day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the only thing to rival the beautiful day was the bride!

The wedding took place in Fleet Kingdom Hall, otherwise known as the sauna - I know we don't get 27 degrees very often but a little bit of air conditioning wouldn't go amiss! - Carey and James had the distinction of being the first couple we know to use not just one, but both new wedding songs and we gave a credible performance (although for future reference I think that what will always be known as the '2 become 1'song should just be sung as a duet between the bride and groom in order for it to be given its full Disney-esque glory (I think Danny and Suzannah need to start practicing that now, along with their reach and grab gestures and standing up for the key change in order to fully express the depth of emotion!)

We decamped to the lovely English village of Lower Froyle and the Anchor Inn, for a very British reception in the afternoon (have I mentioned previously the fact that it was 27 degrees and I felt that the whole visit home was turning into one rose tinted English summer/period drama idyll??) As canapes, prosecco and Pimms were handed out and we sat around in the sun, it struck us that we were surrounded by beautiful couples so have composed our own little gallery below - so in no particular order of gorgeousness:

Beautiful Couple #1: The Bride & Groom

Beautiful couple #2: Esther & Dominic

Beautiful Couple #3: Leah & Dave

Beautiful Couple #4: Danny & Zanna

Beautiful Couple #5: Manny & Lisa

Need we go on....I think you get the general gist! Now obviously the wedding was all about Carey and James but when we managed to prise them apart we managed to get a little Ziebart time before using the day as a great opportunity to catch up with everyone that we hadn't seen for ages.

Kz & Susannah

Jz & Nicky

The sign of a true friend at Carey's wedding was if you'd flown 10,000 + miles to get there!

We finally managed to drag ourselves indoors for some gourmet pub grub - you could have some genuine fish and chips (sorry kiwis - we do them better!) or sausage and mash, and to enjoy some speeches that gave Carey the adulation she so deserves and that were considerably shorter in length than those from the last Taylor wedding! We would also like to congratulate both Carey and Mark (her dad) for managing to hold it together and not blub - remember Carey, tears + fake eyelashes + mascara = a black soggy mess to be avoided at all costs!)

I think this is my best side!

One for the ladies...

It was a beautiful day and we danced into the night under the stars before heading back to the illustrious glamour of the Premier Inn whilst Carey and James drove off into the sunset and enjoyed what I'm sure was a far more upmarket evening! And if you really want to see some proper photos of the wedding, look up Chloe's blog as she was busy snapping away and trying not to get too distracted as a guest!

Earlier on in the week, we had also enjoyed a very different kind of celebration of love, as on June 1st Nanny and Grandpa Jackson had achieved the remarkable feat of 60 years of marriage and celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary. Now I don't know how many of you out there have actually ever tried to buy a card for a 60th anniversary but it seems that most cardmakers think that people should be either divorced or dead by that point and don't seem to make them - cards were like gold dust and once you'd also discarded anything that contained nauseating poetry or pastel flowers on the front the choice was really rather limited.

Fortunately, we discovered that the key to finding these cards was to head to a place where older people live and suddenly they start appearing in the local shops. So the only thing for us to do was to squeeze in a visit to Birchington and the Old Bay Cottage!

Amazingly, the sun managed not to shine for the whole of the two weeks that we were back home, choosing to spectacularly ruin our dream of a summer garden party celebration, but we didn't let that deter us and soldiered on regardless. Dad even managed to procure a mobility scooter for Nanny to test drive so that after all this time she can finally get back to driving!

Dad's level of enjoyment shows worrying signs of things to come!


MZ's beautifully decorated gazebo

Dad proving that real men barbeque in the rain and with charcoal!!

In our quest to discover a suitable 60th wedding anniversary card, we realised that there was someone who supplied them that really couldn't bring a larger smile to Nanny's face! So we made a call to the palace and arranged for Her Majesty to send her own personal congratulations to Basil and Margaret on their wonderful achievement!

'I think I know what this is!'

Can you spot the difference??

I don't think they've really changed that much at all...


Still looking with each other in adoration after all these years!

It was lovely to be able to share it with them and to see their love for Jehovah and each other continuing after this time - Carey and James we look forward to June 4th 2070 to celebrate yours!!!