Celebrations

There was a lot to celebrate in my family this week. Not only are we all getting ready for the Holidays, but there was also a graduation and a wedding. My youngest sister finished nursing school. She has worked very hard to put herself through school, and managed to graduate debt free!! She had two job interviews the week of graduation, and has already received an offer to work in the ICU, and eventually receive specialized training in the care of cardiac patients. That is the exact specialty she hoped to go into. The pay and benefits are outstanding, and she looks forward to staring ASAP.

Congratulations Amanda!!!!

My other sister, Shannon, got married this Sunday. Her husband Joe is in the Army, and preparing for deployment to South Korea on January 1st. This created a need for some hasty preparations over the last few weeks, but it turned out quite nice when the day came. Joe has two beautiful little girls, Kayla and Alicia, that seem to be quite taken with Shannon. The feelings are definitely mutual. I managed to contort my crazy Holiday season scedule to make it to Denever early Sunday morning. I spent the day arranging flowers and wrapping up last minute details for the late afternoon ceremony. Shannon and Joe filled the room with lots of love and smiles, as my brother Shane, who was just ordained as a pastor this Summer, performed the wedding (his first). He did a great job!! Both families enjoyed a delicious dinner at Olive Garden following the marathon a pictures, and the guys even entertained us with a peppercini eating contest. Pastor Shane was victorious!!! Obviously, fun was had by all. Those of us in the younger set (how cool is it that I qualified for that?!) wrapped up the night with a trip to the local country music club for some line dancing, bull riding and general fun and conversation. I was exhausted when my plane hit the ground Monday afternoon, but it was definitely worth it.

Congratulations and Best Wishes Shannon and Joe!!!