We feel so blessed to have everything we could possibly need. We only hope that the people we care about will be able to join us on the big day- we really do want all of our friends and our family members who are able to, to be there and share this celebration.

So we ask for the gift of your well-wishes and prayers.

If you feel you want to do something more, instead of a gift to us, please spend time with someone you love, make a kid feel special, or consider a donation to your favorite charity, or to one of ours. The thought that our wedding might help others in some way makes us very happy.

We support charities that benefit children, housing opportunity, disaster relief, medical research, and the arts. Here are a few of our favorites- we've worked with many of these in one way or another (and feel we always got more out of the experiences than we gave.)

The Junior Auxiliary of Gulfport (www.jagulfport.org) is a children's charity that provides food, clothing, medical care, and comfort to kids and families in need. They also work with schools and community agencies to bring educational programs and art/cultural enrichment to children in Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian, western Harrison County, and at times, Hancock County, reaching out to local kids who might otherwise fall through the cracks.

The website for our local chapter of Make-A-Wish is www.wishms.org. We can't think of anything more difficult than having a child with a life-threatening illness. Our local chapter works hard to grant wishes to seriously ill children, so that they and their families can have an opportunity to enjoy childhood, laugh, and make some happy memories.

Habitat for Humanity Mississippi Gulf Coast (www.hfhmgc.org) is helping our community rebuild. They have built hundreds of homes from scratch since Katrina, and continue working toward their goal of 800 by 2012. They are working on "going green" and take care in making their homes energy efficient and environmentally friendly, and give families who might otherwise not have an opportunity for home ownership a chance to build a life of stability and pride. 'Nuf said.

The American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org,) the American Heart Association (www.americanheart.org,) and the Susan G. Komen for a Cure Foundation (for breast cancer- www.komen.org) are addressing the most prevalent threats to health today. Just about everyone has had a loved one affected by either cancer or cardiovascular disease. Dad Duke Handy has been bravely dealing with heart disease for many years, Dad James R. Bates passed away at the age of 54, from colon cancer, and grandmother Jacqueline Campfield died at age 56 from breast cancer. Treatment and early detection for each of these get better all the time thanks to research. Also, James has had Crohn's Disease since he was 13 years old. While the disease is incurable, the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (www.ccfa.org) is focused on improving the lives of people with Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis through research. Uncle Terry Spencer is dealing with MS (www.nmss.org,) Gramma Peg Keevers has Alzheimers (www.alz.org.) There are so many health concerns out there, and so many advances yet to be made- we both just feel that medical research in general is a very worthy cause.

The Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra is near and dear to our hearts also (www.gcso.org.) Despite all the Coast has been through, having a symphony here of this caliber is one of those things that just makes life better. Music makes life better. Art makes life better. They let our souls sing.

Soles4Souls (www.soles4souls.org) and the North Carolina Baptist Men's Disaster Relief group are both disaster recovery ministries that helped out on the Coast after Katrina. Soles4Souls brings footwear to kids after disasters like Katrina, Rita, and the Tsunami in Thailand. It's one of those things we take for granted, but in much of the world, owning a pair of shoes is not a given, and so the organization has spread out globally to 61 countries at present. The shoes are donated, new and used, but the organization needs funds to ship large quantities (they provided 1 million pairs regionally after Katrina/Rita) to wherever the need is. The NCBM (www.ncmissions.org) well, they arent all from North Carolina, they arent all Baptist, and they arent all men. But they were in Gulfport for 2 1/2 years, providing free hot meals to those in need, rebuilding 700 homes, and giving a lot of people hope at the worst times in their lives. They are on the move and at the ready wherever there is a need. We were honored to travel with them to Houma, Louisiana after Hurricane Gustav and help them to help others out just like they helped us.

Thank you!