Meet The Wedding Party - Kiaya & Kiera

Kiaya & Kiera Mouer . Flower Girls

These two sisters are the daughters of my brother, Kevin, and his wife, Katie. Which makes these two cuties my nieces!! They mean an awful lot to me and I love them dearly. It's been so cool to see them warm up to Angie over the past 9 months. Even though we don't get to see them all that often, the bond is slowly forming and I'm pretty sure they are both excited about having another aunt!

Their story goes a little something like this. Follow the links below for more of their story.

Kiaya June was the first born and will always hold a special place in my heart based on the nature in which she entered this world -- fighting to breathe, spending some time hooked up to different medical devices and finally emerging therefrom to find the arms of her mommy. I can't even begin to explain what this little one meant to me at the time, but being away from her was certainly an internal struggle for me. Her beauty left me speechless.

Next was Kiera Lynn -- born in June of 2006. It didn't take Kiaya too long to warm up to her little sister; nor anyone else in the family, for that matter! Time and time again, I'm stunned by their innocence.

Some of my most cherished moments are the times when I have learned from them. Like what Kevin and Katie have taught me about parenting, just through their example. Or what my 3 year old niece taught me about love.

But its not all serious...we have a lot of fun together!! Remeber the faux-hawk episode? Or how Kiaya wears her socks like her Uncle Troy? Or Kiera's first birthday party? Too many good times to even count.

In the end, we are so blessed by these two little girls.

And wait till you see them in their flower girl dresses!!

Meet The Wedding Party - Max

Max Davis . Ring Bearer

Max is the joyful son of our very dear friends Matt & Diana Davis. Max is also Troy's godson! He was an easy choice for ring bearer given his good looks, charm, million-dollar smile and easy-going character.

We've had the pleasure of baby-sitting Max on a number of occassions. The funny thing is that this kid actually likes to go to bed. I mean, we were sitting there on the glider chair beside his crib reading his bedtime story and all of the sudden he just like lunges toward the crib. Angie laid him down, he grabs his blanket, curls up and falls asleep without making a single peep. You gotta love that!

Another fond memory I have of little Max involves the very day he was born. His mommy called me early in the morning -- just hours after he was born -- and left one of the most amazing messages I've ever received. Her voice was serenely calm and hushed from the events of the night and she proceeded to share the news of Max's birth with extreme clarity and cohesiveness. The sad part of the story is that I no longer have the message -- it mysteriously disappeared from my phone. I blame Verizon.

Meet The Parents - The Hertleins

I remember as a kid never wanting to hear the mushyness about my parents (i.e. how they met, where they went on their first date, how they got engaged). I mean, I was grossed out even seeing them kiss :)......which is why there was always the comments of "Yuck" and "EWWW" from me and my siblings everytime they did (sorry mom and dad:).

Now that I am engaged and about to marry and begin my own family, I found myself thinking several months ago about how I don't even really know the story about my parents. Yeah, I think I had heard it in my adolescence, but my semi-conscience brain at that time of my life probably didn't really comprehend the significance of it and the story had been forgotten.

So I questioned my mom a little bit about it the other day and found out the following. As with all good love stories, I feel that it is worthy to share and for all to hear.

My mom and dad grew up about 20 miles from each other in two rural towns in Western PA. They attended high school together, knew of each other, but were not really friends and didn't talk much. What they do seem to remember of each other during those days however is "Those green knee socks" that my dad swears my mom wore everyday; and that, in the words of my mom: "He was such a country bumpkin". So how did they ever get together?

Well apparently one weekend my mom's roomate asked her to come along on a double date with her to meet the brother of this guy she was seeing. So my mom agreed and they headed off to the movies where she encountered "the country bumpkin" -- dressed in cowboy boots and a jean jacket. Yeah Dad!!! Instead of watching the movie they talked the whole time (which doesn't suprise me given my mom :), but I would have never guessed my dad would have been much of a talker.......well, I guess he could have been listening.

So from there I think some flirting continued, love notes may have been exchanged and in a little over a year, they were engaged and married. Several years later, I was born!

My parents taught me a lot about their love story though the years growing up with them. I saw that even though things are not always easy, you work through them, you turn to God for wisdom and love each other most importantly through God's love.

Today my parents are living without any of us kids and I hope they are finding the times they did back at the beginning of their relationship to just really enjoy each other.

I love you both so much and am so thankful to have two Godly individuals unite to guide me into the person I am today.

Meet The Parents - The Mouers

So you've heard about my parents, Rick and Debby, on this blog before. And you may have known them longer than me. Maybe you've never met them. Either way, I'm almost certain you'll enjoy their love story as much as this oldest son of theirs did.


In the words of my Dad (as typed and edited by my Mom)...

We met in the spring of 1965 at a mom-and-pop soda shop called “The PenSupreme.” That was the first girl named “Debby” I’d ever met and I kept forgetting her name. For several weeks after that we danced with each other at Saturday Night Club at the YMCA, or another familiar dance hang-out called “The Varsity.” After several weeks of getting to know each other, I asked Debby on our first date. We went to see a movie called, of all things, The Art of Love. It was about two single guys in Paris going around to art museums looking for girls.

Before school started in the fall, I gave Debby my class ring and we did the in thing of “going steady.” We dated for two years, then broke up and dated other people for awhile and then got back together for Debby’s senior year. As Debby approached graduation, we talked about getting engaged and eloping. I asked Debby’s dad if he approved of us getting married and he said as long as you elope like her mother and I did. He was kidding, but when my mother (Sarah) figured out we wanted to elope, she encouraged us to have a small family wedding.

On the night of May 28, 1969, we went for a prime rib dinner at the Colonial Restaurant in Hagerstown, Maryland. I proposed to Debby after dinner and she accepted. We set our wedding date for June 28, 1969. I was 20. Debby was 18.

In the next four weeks we planned a wedding and made several major purchases – a wedding gown that fit perfectly and a suit, my first ever, at the encouragement of Debby’s mother. We also chose a best man and maid of honor, lined up flowers and a reception and personally invited family and friends to join us on that special day.

We had an evening wedding planned and in the morning of that day, my best man and I went bass fishing at the Potomac River. When we got home we washed my brand new 1969 Candy Apple Red Ford Mustang Mach I so it would be ready for the Honeymoon. When my best man went to move the car, the door came open and caught on my dad’s car, and tore the door off. News traveled fast and when Debby found out, she said if we couldn’t go on our honeymoon, the wedding was off. But her dad came to the rescue and said we could use his car and gas card for our Honeymoon. They always say something memorable happens on your wedding day, and that was certainly ours! We had a wonderful ceremony and a nice celebration at the reception – and that was the beginning of a dedicated life together. Even though we were a young couple starting out, we made a decision that our marriage would be God-centered and that we would take our vows seriously. We celebrated our 38th Wedding Anniversary this past June.


So there you have it. The cool thing is that it ain't the end of the story. I continue to see their love grow. What a foundation they have laid for me. What a blessing they are! Love ya both!