Now that it is Thursday, I have had time to recover from this weekend and update you all on my whirlwind trip home!
Last Friday morning (5am Germany time, 10pm Chicago time) I left my house, went to the Basel airport, flew to Paris, and flew to Chicago. I landed around 12:45pm Chicago time. My brother David picked me up at the airport, and we stopped in Elmhurst to pick up Jeff, one of the ushers for my brother Erich’s wedding. We drove from there to Decatur, arriving just in time for the wedding rehearsal.
After the rehearsal, we had the dinner. We all prayed for Erich and Ellen. After the dinner, the girls went to Ellen’s home and had a girls’ night in, getting Ellen ready for the big day! I was pretty exhausted (it had been a long day, after all!), so I went to bed around 12:30am.
Girls' Night In
On Saturday, I got up around 9:30. After breakfast and some prettying up, we (the bridesmaids and Ellen) went to the church for some pictures and getting dressed up. Ellen was amazingly calm throughout the whole morning! Erich’s face when he saw her was priceless… I wish I could have captured that moment.
Rainey read Ellen a story to keep her calm.
The wedding was beautiful, and I can hardly believe my brother is married now! Erich and Ellen’s families were involved in the wedding – the siblings were bridesmaids and groomsmen, the moms read Scripture, and the dads prayed in the ceremony. It felt like our families were part of a joint agreement to unite Erich and Ellen. My only regret after the weekend was that I will not be in the Chicago area to spend more time with my new family members!
After the wedding, we took a few more pictures and went to the reception. I was blessed to be able to spend some time with a few of my uncles and aunts. I don’t get to see them very often since they live so far away.
Erich and Ellen played a little game at the reception that involved holding up shoes. How well do they know each other?
After Erich and Ellen departed, David and I drove back up home to West Chicago (we got back around 3am). I packed my suitcases and slept for a few hours, then was back up for church. I only made it to the 2nd service (since my dog Buddy had a seizure just before we were going to leave). After the service I went to Chili’s with a bunch of friends from church. It was good to see you guys again! I wish I had been more awake and alert – I hope at least half of what I said made some kind of sense!
After seeing David’s dorm room at Wheaton, we drove to the airport. My aunts and uncle were there to see me off, along with my parents and younger brother. It was a tearful goodbye, especially since I do not know when I will be seeing them next.
To see more pictures from this weekend, go to my facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040715&id=187701865&l=b275250995
