Weekend of Celebration!

Two weekends ago I was able to go home to celebrate the marriage of one of my best friends, Annie, and the 60 years of life of my Daddy. Oh what a wonderful weekend it was. I have said it before, but working at the Dale House gives me a greater appreciation for my family and friends. I truly have been so blessed by consistency, love, respect, and support. I am grateful.

The weekend started in Greensboro, NC at my oldest brother and sister-in-law’s new house! I arrived too late (after bedtime) so I had to wait until the next morning to get my hands on this cutie, but we did get to go for a wagon ride and some bonding.

Friday was a full day! Annie made all of her bridesmaid's dresses (crazy, I know), and since I have been away, I had to go make sure mine fit! :) It did and I am still amazed at her sewing skills. Then we met up with Blash for some lunch :) My mom keeps sweet Kessler (Blake and Ashley’s son) on Fridays, so he got to tag along the whole day. He is fantastic.

The rehearsal dinner was a blast! It was great to get to be with old friends and catch up with everyone. I don’t remember the last time when all of the Westwin (my street’s name) kids were together. We are all grown up now! Allan even drove up and got to be there for the end of it! :)

The picture to the right is one that happens every occasion Annie, Christine, and I are together. Weddings are no different!

Saturday morning started with another trip to Greensboro to welcome home Maya Barrier (my sister-in-law, Ashley's new niece from Uganda! It was so precious to see a new family of four together and just realize this new life that Maya is going to have here in the USA. I love the idea of adoption and the imagery of walking down the airport terminal to a crowd of cheering people awaiting your arrival. I see great parallel of that with the work I am doing here at the DHP. Congratulations Barriers!

The actual wedding itself was beautiful, followed by a really fun reception. Christine and I forced Annie to sing one of our favorite childhood songs “You don’t own me” from the First Wives Club movie. It was super fun to break out the old spatulas we used to sing with in Christine’s basement and perform again!

…And now for the PARTY!

Dad’s surprise party on Sunday was sooo much fun! It was great to get to be surrounded by so many friends and family. I loved seeing people I hadn’t seen in a long time and getting to catch up just a little bit. I was even more aware at this party how blessed my family is and I am to have friends like we do. There were about 60+ people there to just love on my Dad and celebrate his life with us!

Thanks so much to my Mama, Aunt Sharon and Uncle Terry for being amazing party planners, hosts, and organizers! We had amazing chicken stew, prepared in a HUGE caldron (see picture to the right!) by my aunt’s dad and friends. Also, check out that amazing thing to the left! The same man who built the huge caldron thing built this thing! The roof folds down and it is transportable. Crazy! It has electricity and a sink! Perfect for parties :)

Drew and Blake, being the amazing humans that they are, had planned a little “program” to do after dinner. You can see it below or here.

It was an incredible jam-packed, full of fun weekend that I got to share with my family and friends. I am so so thankful for airplanes and that I can go home and visit. The rest of these pictures are just because I am obsessed with my niece and nephew. They are so friggin’ cute! I wanted a picture with both of them (which is just hard to do!) so at least Honey is half-way looking and well, Kessler is there!