Whirlwind Weekend

This past weekend was jam-packed with delightful things and though it was busy, it was nearly-perfect {I'll explain the 'nearly-perfect' in a moment}.

Friday afternoon began with the drive from our new place to Matt's parents' home in Ithaca, MI. We stopped along the way to pick up Matt's brother {Aaron's} girlfriend, Megan. Megan and Aaron have been together since last summer, but got together after Matt and I had left for our respective adventures abroad. We'd met her before this past weekend, but this was going to be our first big chunk of time to spend with her. She is an absolute sweetheart and darling to boot!

After dropping off Annabelle at Matt's parents' house, we all drove down to Lansing to eat dinner at our old absolute favorite local restaurant: DeLuca's. It's an Italian restaurant and pizzeria that has the BEST pizza and pasta. We ordered our old staple--DeLuca's deep dish pizza. The crust is absolutely to die for--the perfect combination of crispness and chewiness with a slight sweet taste that complements the saltiness of rest of the pizza. Needless to say, we were stuffed.

Friday evening and Saturday morning were spent preparing Dave and Jeannie's home for Matt's Homecoming Celebration Party on Saturday evening. Jeannie and I were more than pleased to take a break from all that getting-ready to go to one of the most lovely, adorable bridal showers I've ever been to!

The Bride-to-be is my good friend, Jaela Jones. The hostess was her aunt {Jay} who is my old boss from MSU and also dear friend. Jay had the oh-so-cute theme for the shower of "Tweethearts," using lots of little bird decor. I loved how so much thought went into all the littlest details.

The table settings

A beautiful and yummy cookie for each guest to take home

The little bird in these place cards can be either a magnet or a little bookmark

The Bride-to-be getting to business with her lovely gifts

Jeannie and I rushed back home from the shower to handle the last-minute preparations. Like Matt's Send-Off party last May, we had a root beer keg for the guests. However, the thing that kept the weekend from being totally perfect was the weather. It was awful! Saturday was a horribly windy, rainy, cold and dreary day. It felt more like pre-winter weather than springtime weather. Oh well. At least we were extremely blessed with gorgeous weather for the send-off party!

The all-American menu consisted of BBQ pulled pork...

...a scrumptious, golden-baked sandwich ring...

...Aunt Joyce's famous potato salad...

...chips and homemade salsa...

...a fruit pizza {flag design by Megan and Aaron}...

...and cupcakes!

 

There were probably around fifty guests that came and went throughout the evening. Below, the guests are just starting to arrive and hurry inside from the blustery weather.

As always, Dave and Jeannie's Yorkshire Terrier, Diesel, was happy to have his pal Annabelle around for the weekend {though they do tend to fight like real siblings}.

 

On Sunday at Edgewood Church, I shared a presentation during the service about my mission work in Hungary. It went well, but I really hate speaking in front of groups, so I was so glad to have it over with!

Hope you all had wonderful weekends, as well!