Archive | Virginia

Eden & Charlie are married!

September 17, 2013 at 4:48 pm

Many of you have probably seen on Facebook or Instagram, but my sister-in-law Eden got married on Sunday! They were wed in a beautiful outdoor ceremony on Charlie’s family’s land on the Chesapeake Bay, complete with a Scottish bagpiper, the best ice cream on the Eastern Shore, delicious homemade cakes, Celtic line dancing, and wildflowers everywhere. The weather was perfect — mid-70s and sunny — and the whole day felt peaceful, joyous, and new.

I kept choking up every time I looked at Eden during the ceremony. She had waited for this day, dreamed of this day, and now… beautiful reality! Charlie and Eden had so carefully chosen every piece of the wedding, and it intricately reflected their shared faith, community, artistry, and dreams.

Of course, for Elliott and me, now weddings are a whole different ball game with two littles. I felt a little scattered the whole time because of Gil; I was constantly holding him, passing him off to someone else, keeping an eye on him wherever he was, trying to get him to nap, checking on him while he was napping, feeding him, holding him… and so on and so forth. Lena, meanwhile, felt completely at home and ran around the entire property by herself, skipping from one group of friends to another. She was so happy. I think she drank her weight in “yemonade,” too!

Now the family — minus the honeymooners — have moved to Chincoteague, Virginia. Elliott’s family has vacationed here for 20 years, but this is my first visit. We’re savoring the quiet days and time together, mixing board games and building blocks together now, as we drink in this beautiful view. Happy Tuesday, everyone!

6 :: in family, Virginia, wedding, weekend

a day in D.C. with Uncle David

July 19, 2013 at 10:32 am

Hello from Sicily again! Lena, Gil, and I flew home on Tuesday and oh-my-goodness I am glad that is over. I was so nervous about flying with both kids by myself for the first time. Praise God, though, it went really well, and we all survived and even had fun. (The fact that I never cried is kind of amazing, therefore making it a success in my book.) I credit the dollar bin at Target, the prayers of many friends and family, and God’s good grace. It’s so good to be home… and back with Elliott/Daddy after four weeks apart!

On our last Saturday in Virginia, the kids, my cousin KT, and I drove into the city to see my brother-in-law David. He lives in an awesome neighborhood just sound of Capitol Hill called the Navy Yard. Elliott and I went there for a date night before Elliott returned to Sicily, and I decided I had to bring the kids back at some point… because of all the fountains! It’s basically a water park down there, thanks to some amazing recent additions to the neighborhood. Things like “splash pads” and wading pools in the middle of a well-planned and beautiful city make me so excited to move back next year!

^ We started off our adventures with lunch at a food truck festival. When in D.C…

^ My cousin KT currently lives in Muskogee, Oklahoma, because of her husband’s job. She’s headed to law school next year… and they hope to come to D.C. for that! I hope she comes too. :-)

^ Tommy Wells is running for mayor of D.C. He was eating lunch at the table next to ours and gave Lena a campaign sticker afterwards. Go, Tommy!

^And then on to the watery attractions. The shallow pool and rain garden were just perfect for little Gil!

^ “Come on, Lena, the fountains are fun!”

^ … even when you do take ’em to the face…

^ After plenty of fun at Canal Park, we headed over to Yards Park where there is a deeper wading pool.

^ Lena’s making new friends in the background…

Thanks for such a fun day in D.C., Uncle David and cousin KT! Maybe next summer we’ll be back to stay?

5 :: in DC, family, travel, Virginia

bits + pieces from Virginia

July 3, 2013 at 3:51 pm

Lena, Gil, and I have been having so much fun here in Virginia with our extended family. Visits to the farmers market, lunches with friends, mornings spent running through the sprinkler, and Mama getting to sleep in… mmhmm, life is good. We have two more weeks here before we’re reunited with hard-working Elliott in Sicily. Despite all the fun, we are very eager to be back together as a family again.

In the meantime, here are a few photos from our recent adventures. The first photo is of my dear friend Abi, who was my college roommate, one of my bridesmaids, I was one of her bridesmaids… and then our babies were born 3 weeks apart! Isn’t her daughter Lucie the sweetest?! Those cheeks! Those ankles! Gil was nonchalant, but… I know he was just playin’ it cool.

Here those two are, “playing” like 5-month-olds do.

She’ll stay on the toilet forever if Gil is there to talk to &
matchy-matchy with “Auntie Ema.”

Blowing bubbles with Aunt Leslie.

A blurry picture of Gil’s first meal. He ate about 3 tablespoons! Hungry, much? He’s wearing a bib that I wore as a baby.

Sipping cider at the farmers market.

Gil Garber. Nuff said.

And finally, below is the poor creature that Lena spotted and identified as “Monster.”

5 :: in family, friends, home sweet home, life lately, Virginia

a little update from Virginia

June 11, 2013 at 9:53 pm

Friends, I’m sorry. We’ve been in the States for almost a week now and I haven’t managed a single post. Here’s a quick attempt at an update, and then later in the week I’ll hopefully have more news, photos, and… the most amazing giveaway this blog has ever seen. (I’m especially excited about that one!) In the meantime, here are some fun photos from this past weekend and a little update on life.

Anyway… we’re in Virginia! We left Sicily on Thursday after a whirlwind, last-minute decision to fly commercial instead of taking our chances with free military flights. After Elliott spent hours on the phone calling military terminals, he could tell that it would be unlikely that we would be able to fly all the way home on Space A/military flights. With the chance of being stranded in Spain or Maine with two lusty-lunged, jet lagged children, we opted for the last-minute bargain on Delta flights. This mama is so glad we did! It’s good to be “home.”

We were especially keen to get home because of Reunions this past weekend at the University of Virginia. Elliott graduated in 2003 and I graduated in 2008, meaning that this year is his 10-year and my 5-year reunion. How could we not go back for that?!

We had a fabulous weekend visiting with so many old friends, some of whom we haven’t seen since we “walked the Lawn” at our own graduations years ago. More wonderful friends of ours — Will and Johanna — offered their house as our home away from home, and that’s just what we needed with two little children and jet lag. We spent the weekend visiting our favorite old haunts in Charlottesville, reuniting with some of our favorite people, and dreaming about moving back there one day….

If you were there this past weekend, it was wonderful to see you… and let’s not let too much time go by before we meet again!

Waving at the pilot as we boarded in Sicily &
he slept on my lap like this all the way from Rome to Paris

Charlottesville City Market early on a Saturday morning!

A photo that I stole (hi, Kim!) from a lunch with some dear friends. Kelly (far left), Tara (next to her), and I were all in nursing school together at UVA… and now we’re all grown up, married, and have kids!

Lena and Gil met and loved our friends’ children: Sasha on the left and Cornelius on the right.

Hanging out in the Center for Christian Study with Cornelius… which we all hope they will be doing again as students in about 18 years!

My dear friend/roommate Abi and her new baby Lucie (Gil was born on Lucie’s due date!) &
Auntie Jess (now a nurse in Charlottesville) snuggling with her nephew for the first time

13 :: in DC, family, friends, Instagram, life lately, travel, University of Virginia, Virginia, weekend

a little Virginia autumn for your weekend

October 26, 2012 at 2:39 pm

^ “Umm, Mama, I’d really like to go on a walk with you but I just have to figure out how to bring all my shoes along too.”

The weekend before we left Virginia and returned to Sicily, my parents, siblings, Elliott, Lena, and I drove to a pretty little getaway in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Elliott and I swung by UVA to pick up my sister Emily on our way to the house my mom had rented for all of us. We soaked up time together with hikes in the mountains, leisurely meals and conversation indoors, and quiet moments around the fire pit or in the hot tub outside. Lena especially enjoyed the huge walking stick bugs (“bee! bee!” and giggles) that her daddy caught for her.

I’ll leave you with a portrait of a blogging couple. This is how we spend many evenings together but usually no one else is around to say, “Aww, you two are so cute with your matching computers!” and take a picture.