Weekend visitors

Again this year, my sister had the opportunity to come to DC for a work conference and extended her trip so she was able to stay with us through the weekend. 

On this very same weekend, our friend Hannah, who's husband Kevin has recently passed away, was in town from Arkansas, with her 3 daughters too! 

We kicked off the weekend early on Thursday night, hosting bible study at our house. It was SO wonderful to have Hannah and her girls back with us... 

Ambra came Friday afternoon, and after a quick dinner on the deck, we were all off to see Beauty and The Beast! Eve and her daughter Mackenzie were in the show, so we'd all gotten tickets for opening night. When Hannah decided to come (he girls used to be in this same theater when they lived here) I got them tickets too. And when Ambra said she was coming- one more ticket please! 

Christine, Hannah, Ambra and I- plus a cute little blonde photobomber- waiting for the show to start-

And boy were we surprised when Belle came down into the audience and picked TATE to sing to-

 Poor Tate.

Here is Eve in her debut role as a (pregnant) fork-

Savanah, Mackeznie, Mia, Macy and Chloe-

We all thought Lumiere was fantastic, so Eve brought him over for a picture with us- and Belle. Tate's face says it all-

Saturday Brian and Tate had previous plans to go see the new Avengers movie with a few other dads and friends, and Ambra wanted to take Macy out for a special pre-birthday day of celebration! First up- pedicures-

I didn't have a pedicure until college, so while I know it's popular now to take young kids to the salon- I'm not doing it. Once you introduce it, there is no going back. And who doesn't want to always be a little spoiled! So this is Titi Ambra's thing. And I was fine with it. And Macy absolutely LOVED it!

They even brought her a snack plate with fun kid foods and a capri sun- 

Macy wanted two things for her birthday- fake glasses and fake nails. Which Ambra was happy to oblige to! She too loves fake glasses and fake nails. 

So after the salon we went to the mall- every little girls dream- to do some shopping. Macy got two pairs of glasses and two sets of nails. We were headed to lunch (it was Cinco de Mayo- we needed some Mexican...), so where would Titi put on Macy's nails?  

Right at the table, of course- 

And then she did a little photo shoot of Macy-

The nails- 

 Macy loved every minute of being with us and felt so so special. And then we dropped her off at a friends party- a pretty great day for her!

Ambra and I went and had massages and then went out to dinner. We were planning to go see a movie, and I was watching the clock... and then Ambra ordered another drink and I knew we were going to be late. I HATE being late for the movies and missing the previews. Hate it.

We were clear across the mall from the movie theater, and knowing my sister isn't the quickest walker, I saw some little kid race car strollers- and I told her to get in!

 I seriously pushed her across the mall- it was hilarious! We were surprised more people weren't shocked seeing our shenanigans- and thankful that we didn't see a mall cop!

The movie stunk- but I did get to see the previews, ate my fair share of popcorn and snuck in a little nap...

The main reason that Hannah and her daughters came for the weekend was to honor Kevin at a church event we have annually where we pack for for needy kids around the world with Feed My Starving Children. Hannah had asked for donations to be made in Kevin's memory and over $6000 was donated!

Here is Team Kevin- 

I bought Hannah and I matching FMSC shirts for the event- 

Macy brought along her friend Katelyn and couldn't wait to do this with her!

My sister has never ever done anything like this- heck, most people haven't. She didn't know what to expect, but loved it and was really touched to have been part of it- 

There are 12 two hour shifts all weekend long, and it gets VERY competitive to see who can pack the most meals in their shift. We did great-

This is such a fun event to volunteer with kids at- they love it as much as we do. On the way home, Macy and Katelyn didn't even want to take their hairnets off-

Monday came quick and it was time for Ambra to fly out- but not before finding some Chinese food similar to that of our childhood and a shopping spree at the thrift store! Our visits are infrequent, but they are always filled with precious new memories-