Amy and Kevin's wedding was a special one. A story that will bring tears to your eyes. My lifelong friend, Amy Topham Tisdale, lost her husband, Johnathan Tisdale, 3 years ago after a 4 year battle with a nasty little brain tumor. Amy and Johnathan have two beautiful children together, Whitt (10) and Caroline (8 this month). They are the sweetest kids! They get it from Amy, whose smile brings a sense of warmth over everyone she meets. She's a special person who makes everyone feel like a friend from "Hello!" They definitely have a guardian angel looking after them...and one who led Amy to meet her Prince. Kevin Kilchenstein (yes, I admit I had to look up the spelling on FB to make sure I was right...and I was :) Kevin was married previously. He lost his wife to that ugly cancer disease. She was young, and a fighter, but also lost her battle. They have 3 awesome children together, Phillip (17), Lacy (15), and Caroline (11). I had the privilege of meeting and talking with them over the weekend. I have such respect and admiration for all 5 of these kids. They are resilient. They are happy. They are loving. They have so much to teach others about strength, and pushing through tough times. Really, really tough times. Meet the modern day Brady Bunch...there is something so incredibly special about the blending of these families.
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| Phillip (17) |
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| Whitt (10) |
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| Lacy (15) |
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| Caroline (11) |
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| Caroline (almost 8) |
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| Mr. and Mrs. Kilchenstein |
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| I'm thinking they are going to have their hands (and hearts) full! |
Scenes from the Low Country Boil the evening before the wedding, and from the wedding day, then we'll back up to the day we arrived. Yep. More beach pictures, lol.
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| Julia, Kate, Payton, and Caroline ("cousins") |
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| Me, Kerry, Amy, Missy, Jan, and Miss Priss (Caroline) |
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| Meeting of the minds... |
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| This wasn't half the kids who were there! Check out Payton with her new 10 year old "boyfriend," Hunter. She wouldn't leave his side. Thanks to Hunter, for being so patient with her! |
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| Amy and Kevin with Kevin's 4 brothers (and he has a sister too!) |
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| Dad and me :) |
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| Hunter liked Griffin. Payton (really) liked Hunter. |
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| The boys teaching Griffin about girls, lol. Seriously, I would have loved to hear this conversation! |
And from the wedding day and evening...
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| Yes, Kevin and Amy were VERY relaxed on their big day. |
Now, backing up, we spent each day on the beach and a little time at the King and Prince Resort's pool. We had mostly good weather, with the exception of a couple afternoon thunderstorms. While we were there, we saw a pod of dolphins (okay, porpoises, or Flipper...whichever you prefer), horseshoe crabs, jellyfish, a couple tiny sharks, fish, and some stingrays. Pretty cool. There was a tiny shark fin that came up about 2 feet from Griffin, at one point, and a stingray swimming beside him. Don't worry-no kids were harmed in the making of this wedding ;)
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| Day number 2, Brian went exploring on the island... |
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| $35 gummy bear..don't worry. We left him there! |
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| That's Payton in the pink hat...every day we would swim over to that sandbar at low tide. Brian found several sand dollars. |
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| Little Tiger Woods |
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| Daddy and Payton swimming through a traffic jam to the island |
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| Payton...obsessed with Hunter. Boy it's starting young! |
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| It's Tiger again! |
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| Phillip and Kevin, who is looking very relaxed on his wedding day! |
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| One of Amy's best friends, Sam, doing her hair |
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| Beautiful! |
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| And Uncle Jon, Amy's brother, was there to provide very wedding dress safe snacks, lol |
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| No undie pictures. I promise! Lol. |
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| Sweet Mother-Daughter moment |
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| All the kiddos were exhausted from a fun day on the beach...this little booger had his own thing in mind. |
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| Sam eventually came around and was running around with all the crazy kids... |
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| Bride's beautiful, and proud, parents |
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| Uncle Jon saves the day...again! This time with hair spray. |
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| Sweet, sweet Kate and Julia McNeill |
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| Kerry with her girls |
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| Amy and Kerry...BFF's |
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| Ready to say "I do!" |
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| They love their Whitt! |
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| Sam and Griffin had a blast playing together...Missy, I don't know if they will ever give up the "puppy" and "BB" (which was a new one since Griffin left his others at home by mistake...had to detour to find a Target in Columbia on the way down!) |
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| The reason we were inside... |
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| He sure loves his Granby! |
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| Miss Priss chased Amy around all night for hugs and congratulations (sorry Amy!!) |
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| Big Ben...giving the happy couple his words of wisdom and advice |
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| I spy a "BB"...do you?.. |
Well, that about sums up our wonderful weekend away, with family, to St. Simons Island. Congratulations to Amy and Kevin, and their newly formed family. We couldn't be happier the two of you found each other, and cheers to a long, happy life together! Kevin, all I can say is bring your best croquet swing and lots of beer and money to Ocean Isle. No, seriously. It can get intense quickly. Haha! Congrats you two, and thanks for having us and throwing a seriously party-filled fun weekend! xo
Incredible story!! This brought tears in my eyes. Everything about their wedding is really very special. Anyway, my friend also has a similar story and now she is also going to tie the knot. She has booked one of private wedding venues in San Francisco for this ceremony!
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