Dublin, Ireland

So, this trip caught me a little off guard. I was expecting to fly domestically, if at all, and instead when I got to work and checked in, they told me I was going to Dublin! A LONG night later (22 hours with no sleep), we arrived at our hotel. Unfortunately, it was right across the street from an 80,000 seat stadium that was hosting a live concert that night for "One Direction", a boy group. And with that boy group came THOUSANDS of giggly girls, who happened to be staying at our hotel. So, long story short, I didn't even go out of the hotel, because it was SOOOOO congested. This morning when we left, I took these pictures from the bus as we were driving. I had to show SOME evidence that I had been there! ;)

I forgot Ireland has another language!



This Happened Today

 

 Another successful donation for "Locks of Love". The best part, however, was catching up with my friend, Rachelle.  She's the best.

Carly's Wedding Weekend

I had the incredible joy of being a bridesmaid in my dear friend, Carly's wedding. Carly was one of my girls when I was a residence assistant in Germany. She then attended college with me when I was a senior. We've known each other now for almost 14 years.  We took this right as she picked me up from mom and dad's place to take me to the wedding.

I got to participate in a bridal shower that evening with Carly's immediate family and housemates.  I have not laughed that much in a LONG time!!

  I met Leah a few years back when I came to visit them.

Aunty Hope is another favorite face.

And, of course, Traci, Carly's momma.  GREAT women.

At the end of the shower, we all gathered around and prayed for her. 

Carly grew up as an MK from the Middle East.  The tradition there is for the bride to adorn herself with "henna", a plant used to temporarily color the skin.  We put some on each of us in honor of Carly's upbringing.

Friday Rehearsal and Dinner

Hmm. These two are lookin' a little excited!!

Great friend from final college days @ Prairie.

The girls. . .Aubrey (Carly's sister), and Leah (Carly's housemate) are the other two.

The guys. . .Jake, Nathan, James were friends from school in Texas.  Roman is a friend from Bible Study and introduced the two of them.  David is Andrew's younger brother (only 1 of 11 siblings in Andrew's family)

Stopping to get a few more things before the rehearsal.

Trying on our dresses. . .some of us for the first time.  I'm glad they fit!

Momma love

Bridesmaid selfie!

Yup.  That's the best man.

Oh, my goodness, this almost made me cry.  Carly's Grandma kept a letter written by Carly's great Grandma, who passed away 4 years previous to this day.  The card was for Carly's wedding day as a blessing to she and her groom on that special day.  Carly didn't even know Andrew when the card was written, so Great Grandma wrote to "Carly and her Groom".  What a precious, precious gift.

SOOOO many more pictures taken before this happened, but I helped Carly with make-up rehearsal that night.  Good girl time.



The Wedding!

Mr. and Mrs. Klempel

Such a delight to be a part of this!

One of my favorite pictures.  That's his momma.

Hmm.  What are YOU thinkin' about???? 

Special friends from Texas came up for the wedding celebration. 

Why, yes, this is taken at 2 a.m. right before I left to take Amber (left) to the airport.

Happy Mother's Day

I was invited to help host a tea party for Mother's Day, put on especially for the grandma's and the mommy of my two nieces, Chiara and Graci. Marina was there, too, but didn't help QUITE as much! ;)

The dad's had to be at the "kid" table.

The table was quite decked out!

And so were we!

Thankfully the two little servers were VERY aware that they needed to serve both tables and got up frequently to make sure the guys had enough to eat.

Shar got a Memory Book for mother's day with pictures and funny quotes/behaviors of her girls throughout the year.  This book can be continued.

I had to borrow a hat. . . .

Then, because I have 2 princess lovers in my family, I put on my "princess dress" from the wedding I had worn the day before, and we had a little dance party to Frank Sinatra.

M even got in on the action.  I didn't mind one bit!

Mandatory family fun always involves family photos, right??

She really is just showing me her matching pink flower, but that face is priceless!!

G-mas are the best when they're silly WITH you!

Quite proud of herself for this one. . .Mommy, not so much.

Oma reading stories earlier in the week.

Park day!

Some friends we met at the park one day, who just happened to be speaking German, and were, in fact, from there!  We had lots of visits after that!