Sunday, January 3, 2016

Vacation to the USA!!!!!! Part ONE.

All of the following photos are taken at my Moms house, in all of its Christmas and holiday splendor.  I loved this.  So cozy and magical.  Being there, it was as though I had never left.  I felt so filled with joy and excitement.




Christmas tree cakes by Little Debbie.  Mmmmm. An American treat one cannot get over here, which I was delighted to eat once again :-D


These are my favorite Christmas cookies ever.  My Mom has made them every year for my brother,sister and me.  They taste like an almost shortbread style cookie.  I think I ate like 7 of them on my first day there hahahaha,

This was my room during my stay, up the wooden ladder in the loft, set above the living room.  Ultra cozy and sweet.  Loved the way my Mom decorated it for me.

Looking down at the living room from upstairs in the loft.


Sisters <3 my little sister, Lexie.






Siblings :-D with my much missed and deeply loved brother, Spencer and sister, Lexie.





Mom and Spencer :-D



Christmas morning!!!

Robert Alberta Tyrone jumping down from his little retreat above in the loft.  He often slept with me up there at night.  So sweet.

My "drunken clown" cookie.  This became a running joke.  I accidentally dropped him in sprinkles, and his eyes are two different colors.  So I decided he was drunk because of his fall in the sprinkles and his mismatched eyes.

The gang on Christmas morning,  Spencer, Lexie, my Mom and her boyfriend, Bob.


Our Christmas dinner, the four of us (me, Mom, Spencer and Lexie).  I set the table :-D  We enjoyed homemade macaroni and cheese, the three of them enjoyed a tenderloin my Mom had cooked, we had homemade applesauce, pumpkin pie and cheesecake for dessert, it was all SO yum!!!

And now for lots of photos from the wedding of one of my dearest and most wonderful friends, Sarah and her new husband, Kyle!!!







Sarah and her sister, Emily.





Sarah with both of her sisters, Emily and Rachel.


Sarah and her Mom.






Watching the guys outside during their photo shoot.










My hotel room.  Sweeeeeeeet!!!  SO big.

The place where Sarah and Kyle got married.  The Publick House.










Caleb.  Sarah's son.  This is him saying "cheese" to me.  




Caleb with his Grandpa <3












Sarah and her son, Caleb <3









Sarah's wedding was absolutely wonderful.  I felt so honored, thrilled and emotional being there.  My main goal was to spend as much time with Sarah, Caleb and Kyle as I could.  I wanted to connect with Caleb, actually, my goal was to become buddies with him :-) as well as to get to know Kyle.  I already knew he was great, as he was the man Sarah had chosen as her husband.  Sarah has one of the best hearts of anyone I know.  She glows with a luminous energy, generosity, kindness and joy.  So I knew whomever she had chosen would be a top notch guy.

Kyle was.  It was clear to me throughout the duration of the wedding, that he is crazy about her.  The way tears ran down his face when he turned and saw her for the first time, in all her wedding splendor.  From what his brothers said during their speeches, about all the things Kyle had said to them about Sarah in their early dating days and about how happy he was with her.  Sarah and Kyle glowed with joyful excitement the entire evening together.

I didn't get to talk with Kyle a ton (which I expected, as it was his wedding.  He was a busy man that night, as was Sarah ;-) greeting all their guests).  But what little time I did get to spend with him, I really enjoyed.  He is an outgoing, warm, lively, kind hearted man.  I liked him a lot.  He clearly loves Sarah's son, Caleb and is devoted to him.  My heart was overflowing for the two of them.

And it appears that my final wish was able to be fulfilled in that Caleb and I were able to form a little friendship of sorts.  This began when I volunteered to go get him for photos with his Mom and family.  I crept up the rickety carpeted stairs of the Publick House and knocked on the door, inside of which were Kyle, his brothers, his parents, a friend, and Caleb.  

I knelt down in front of Caleb, our first time meeting.  I looked into his gigantic, deep blue, arresting eyes (he looks just like Sarah), the little beret hat on his head and his little suspenders melting my heart.  I told him I am a dear friend of his mothers, that I am so excited to meet him and might he like to come with me?  I reached out my arms towards him, waiting for his reaction.  He reached back, wrapped his little arms around my neck.  And I carried him downstairs and outside.  I felt so happy in this moment.

While Sarah took some solo photos, I took his little hand and just the two of us walked across a nearby field, singing Jingle Bells together.

During dinner, Caleb fell asleep on me, slumped against my chest.  This was one of my favorite moments.  It made me glow with happiness.

It was emotionally moving and special for me to spend time with him.  I loved looking at Caleb and seeing one of my dearest friends and one of the woman I love the most, in this little person.  How incredibly awesome it was.  I loved getting to know him a bit, and cannot wait to get to know him more in the near future.

I was able to dance a ton with both Sarah and Caleb during the reception.  And this was no easy feat when I was holding Caleb, as I was wearing precariously high heels and with him in my arms, whoa this was heavy.  SO much fun.  I loved all the dancing.  I was able to meet a number of Sarah's new friends, a few of whom shocked me and filled me with honor and delight when they commented upon meeting me "Oh, wow!!  So you are the reason we are having the wedding now.  We were hoping to meet you."

How amazing is that?  I felt so blessed to be there.  It was such a phenomenal day.  I loved watching Sarah revel in the wonder of her day.  A number of times, my eyes spilled over with tears, though I tried to quell this as much as possible.  But it happened a few times during the ceremony, during the heartfelt speeches, and especially when Kyle saw her for the first time that day.



On the way home from Sarah and Kyle's wedding, I made a brief pit-stop in Concord, New Hampshire.  This is the town I was born in and grew up in <3

This is the "downtown" area of the city.  This was so much fun, to walk around a bit and snap some photos.





I used to work here!!!  But Pitchfork Records was Foodies Pizza when I worked there :-D





I made a grocery shopping stop as well, when I was in Concord.  I think I was literally trembling with thrill upon walking into that grocery store, my eyes bulging and my mind filling with excitement about all the possibilities of what I might buy to bring back with me, things which I am unable to get in Europe.

Here was the haul ;-)


Annnnnnnnd stay tuned for Part TWO of the trip photos, which will be posted in 48 hours!!!!  Part Two will include lots from BOSTON!!!!


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