They Said I Do

It's official, they're married. The wedding turned out perfect. The bride said to me at the end of the evening that it was everything she wanted. And you know what? As a planner, that's everything I wanted.

So, praise God to a huge success. It went off without a hitch! Here are some professional pictures of the occasion. I also created a slide show of my personal pictures.

It was a large wedding.
Final count: 162 guests attending

The bride was nothing less than stunning.

Jeff totally scored with this one.

Our small group family in our usual antics. Susan is about to give birth during the last number of our broadway hit musical and Mr. & Mrs. Trexel are oblivious. Aahh...all is well in the world.

The reception site was gorgeous.
A very romantic first dance as man and wife.

A sparkling exit!


Here are some of my photos. Enjoy!

Personalize a photo album

Wedding Planner

One of my favorite chic flic romances is Jennifer Lopez's Wedding Planner. It shows the glamorous side of planning a wedding, but everyone who has ever done one knows that it's a lot of hard work. Five months in the making, we are preparing for a very fun nuptial THIS coming Saturday!

Meet Jeff and Kat, my clients.

So in love! They are both extraordinary people. He's the CEO of Infoition and David's Hope International, and she is a Veterinarian (who by the way, said that she'd be checking my email regarding the wedding after she's done with all her surgeries today.) Wow. Jeff has been in the same small group with Patrick for years, and their friendship is reaching the decade mark.


Kat will be joining our small group family, and Jeff has chosen well, because she is a perfect fit. So, I'll tease a little by giving you a tiny preview of the wedding. We chose black and white damask as our colors, with a splash of red. Here's the reception site in Frederick, Maryland:

Gorgeous place. And we chose a classic
3-tiered cake with a floral topper.

For the bridal bouquet - Roses with callalies.
Stunning and simply elegant - just like Kat.

I'm doing their rehearsal dinner slideshow. Just thought I'd show you the children who would grow up to call one another husband and wife. Such a cool thought. I need to be praying for Micah and Caelan's wife, like NOW.

That picture of Jeff is like awesome blackmail material. Hah! He's adorable. They both are. I'm looking forward to celebrating with them on this wonderful day. I just need to be calm and cool like Jennifer Lopez......Right?@!

Mother's Day Madness

So, I had imagined this beautiful, serene, Mother's Day Celebration, kicking off with a baby dedication ceremony followed by a peaceful lunch with family, as a tribute to all the hard work I've put in as a mother. Three and half good years of service. Hah! Caelan cried the entire time he was up on stage....I'm not sure what we even said during the dedication.


He was fussy at lunch. He cried for the entire ride to see Auntie Heather's and Uncle Eric's new house. He napped for about an hour, and then started crying some more at dinner as we pretended to celebrate with my side of the family, honoring my mom. For which I have no pictures because well, I was too busy trying to console the inconsolable!

Well, I was humbled about my bad attitude on Mother's Day when I noticed today, during his early afternoon hysterics that his tongue had white spots and his hands and feet had little red dots. I rushed him to the doctor's office, and they immediately diagnosed him with Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease (HFMD). Sound serious, but it's rather not. It's a viral infection that works itself out in five days like a nasty cold. But it leaves in its wake a highly irritable, inconsolable child who has a fever, sore mouth and throat, and aches. He won't eat anything, and he doesn't sleep very much. He doesn't want to be held, but screams hysterically when I put him down.

Worse, it's contagious and now Micah is showing symptoms of a temperature too. Lord, heal my little guys quickly and bring them back to their happy, little double-dimpled, selves where they just want to wrestle me or shoot guns at me. I'll take that any day, over this! Sometimes, mothering can be very challenging. All I have to say is---thank God for Children's Tylenol. What in the world do mothers in 3rd world countries do without it?

Viva Meh-hee-co!

We booked my birthday trip since January to the Riviera Maya and it was wonderful. The resort exceeded everyone's expectations. Not to over-spiritualize things, but---the place was like seeing a small glimpse of heaven! I was getting ready to write a rave review, but I figured I should start with my blog....



First, and foremost, the time together with three couples was relaxing and meaningful. We had a lot of group time, and we also had individual couple time.

The girls had time to chat, and the guys bonded
some too. Hmhh...maybe a little too much?

We had pretty deep discussions. One of them was whether or not we committed gluttony on this trip. To know how much we ate at their four buffets and 4-course meals in the evening, you would have questioned us too. But look at this amazing food....who could resist?

At one of the dinners, Rob became part of the entertainment!

And most of our time was spent doing absolutely nothing. Unless you call going from the beach, back to the pool, back to the beach---something. And we did achieve some nice sunburns.

Patrick and I had some quality time together, which as you can imagine for parents of two young children--it meant everything for us to get away and focus first on each other.

It was also fun for me to get dressed up and smell like something different than diapers & spilled milk so whenever I could, I tried to get all dolled up. I did miss the kids some kind of awful. So while the low point on our trip was going home....

....it was soon replaced with another high point--seeing the boys again. The first thing we did when we got home was race to their bedrooms and see them crashed-out-asleep in their beds. We smelled them, and smiled. While we were gone for four days, little Caelan got two more teeth! I can't believe I missed it.

But I'm sorry to say as cute as they are, they don't deter me from going on another fabulous vacation. Thanks to my sweet, amazing husband for making it possible for us to do this. What an incredible birthday gift!

The Rings in Spring

"Sweet springtime is my time is your time
is our time for springtime is love time and viva sweet love. "
-- e.e. cummings

The Rings love Spring, especially when we get to be outside running in our front yard, enjoying the sweet breezes, and the beautiful new flowers in bloom. The boys get lost in the yard. Can you spy them?

While they run around, I go in search of new flowers in bloom.

And Patrick works the land. Okay, so he's laying down new sod,
but "works the land" sounds so much more rugged and manly.



And true to being all boy, Caelan finds ants to crush
while Patrick works the land. I just like saying that.



I'm enjoying watching them play as
I blog this from my office.
The windows are open and I can hear
them and smell the spring air.

Losing Touch with the Poor

This past weekend, we had the privilege of hosting an event at our home to raise awareness for the building of an orphanage and medical center in Eburru, Kenya to benefit David's Hope International. The husband and wife team behind the mission is Pastor Steve and Mary Njenga, who we got to host in our home for four days. I didn't know what God had in store for us when we agreed to host them, but it was more than I could have asked for or imagined.

When they first saw our townhouse, Pastor Steve asked, "How many families live here?" When I said just one, he then asked incredulously, "Really, how many kids do you have?" Oooh. When we offered them eggs for breakfast, they promptly declined and said, "We only have two meals in Kenya. If it's going to be a big meal, than it will be dinner so that we may sleep all night." Gulp. So then we gave them bread served on separate plates, and they asked for the family to share one plate. We said that we had plenty of plates and they replied, "Yes, but we don't want you to use too much water to clean them." And that was only the beginning.

I had received a fresh perspective from God, and had to ask myself, have I been living so long in the lap of luxury that I have forgotten the poor, the oppressed and the needy? Are my problems even big at all in comparison to not having basic needs? I looked around and saw from their eyes, all that I have and more: A stocked pantry which, if we never went to the grocery store for weeks, we would be okay. My children's abundant toy room. My walk-in closet with shelves of shoes and accessories. My multiple TV's, cars, phones, computers. What have I taken for granted? How can I have all this and not be flat on my face thanking the Living God every day?

Micah made a special connection with their 6-year-old son, Lucas. After seeing all our toys, he asked his mom, "Why do they have so much?" And Mary, unfortunately, couldn't give an answer. I would struggle too, if I were that poor, to see so much excess while others can barely feed their children? We gave Lucas a new tool set. Just one little box. His face upon receiving it was priceless. An enormous smile from ear to ear. He jumped up and down with pure joy and declared in Swahili, "I will show all my friends at home my new gift!" It cost me nothing to give the toy to him. It meant everything for him to have it.

We Westerners live on what is arguably the most lavish soil in the world. And we have some stuff, don't we? Nothing but boxes in our storage rooms labeled "stuff". The question is: Has this stuff corrupted us? Addicted us? Hardened us? I don't want to be guarded against a cold heart, I want a heart that burns with fiery passion for Christ and for a world He came to save. He had a heart for the poor and the needy. I want to take my place in the times to which I've been entrusted. Somehow automated checks to distant institutions and an annual love offering for Turkey Outreach just feels pale in comparison. I'm reminded it's not how much we've been given, it's what we do with all that we've been given that will count.

God is doing something fierce in my heart, and I am glad. I've seen the poor, I've been to the poorest of countries, but something about our little time together with the Njenga family has just broken my heart to the point that I am weepy over this people group. How can we serve? How can we pray? What can we do to be the body of Christ? There's a real trap happening in the U.S. when we stay stuck on our selves, and our own desires. We miss something incredible that God could be doing when we look outside ourselves. While this has been painful to watch, the pain perhaps is a great sign that I am thawing-- I am not cold anymore, and I don't want to be desensitized any longer. I thank God for having them here, and the small opportunity to provide them fellowship and a place to sleep, but most thankful for the impressions they've left upon my heart.

Here are some pictures from our time together:

Friends of Kenya having a Kenyan inspired dinner in our sun room. Pastor Steve later gave a talk over dessert.

My good friend Christy Germani, who was a missionary's daughter in Kenya, taught me a Kenyan Curry recipe. Rice, toppled with curry and loaded with the choice of peanuts, coconuts, pineapples, tomatoes, onions, mango. Some tandoori bread and light salad. It was a hit!

The Njenga Family: Mary, Steve, Kenneth and Lucas.

The three superheros ready to change the world.It's encouraging, isn't it? If they can do it, so can we.

Easter: A Multi-Celebration

What a fabulous weekend for the Rings. First celebration - Spring! The weather was in the 80's and the Cherry Blossoms were out. We headed to DC!

Uncle Sonny and Auntie Ivey
had Friday off, so they met us downtown.




Caelan couldn't stand how much fun it was.


Micah wanted to be as cool as his uncle.



It was fun taking pictures of trees,
but more fun taking pictures of cousins.
Patrick's cousin, Danielle, got caught in my camera.
It was so fun running into
Danielle, John and Baby Reagan.

Second celebration: Easter!

It is thee celebration of all celebrations. The Tomb is empty!
We worship a Risen Savior! Hallelujah.
Of course, we put on our Easter best.

And had a little fun at the grandparents
house with an Easter Egg Hunt.

Oh my gosh, tell me this kid isn't cute??

Best part of this Easter was Micah telling me the Easter story. "Mommy, He's alive! He died on the cross for you and me. And free (three) days later, He rose from the dead. And now He's alive!" He told me the whole story from beginning to end. Wow-- there's nothing more rewarding than a moment such as this.

Third Celebration: Grandpa's 70th Birthday!
Wow. Seventy!


Mom made dad's favorite roast beef, jello salad,
angel food cake with chocolate chips,
strawberry toppings and ice cream. Um. Yum.
And here's a catchy tune we sang to grandpa:





We pray your Easter was filled with great memories!
Micah and his friend, Liam, are still celebrating!
HOORAY!!