Ernie's texas cousin Amy and her husband Allen came up to visit us north carolina folks last week.  They had their super cute kids in tow and I was able to snap a few photos of them with my niece Lyla.  

playground time!

Dad gets in on the photo taking action too.

Seriously? Is he not adorable? That last photo might be one of my favorites ever!!!!

Christopher has maybe the cutest ears ever! but I have a soft spot for a big eared kid as I was about 15 before I grew into my own.  My sister used to tape them down to my head when I was a kid- that's how bad they were. (or how mean she was. whichever)  

I mean seriously... 
How cute are they? It's too much.  I can't handle it.  They're wearing matching dresses... AH!!!!

more of these little ladies coming later this week.  I just had to share just a lil bit till then.  

I feel like I've lied to you...

It's been eating at me and I am so relieved I can finally confess.  My secret is now in the open.  I've been living in hawaii for the last 5 months following my husband on his life adventure.  Then I left.  It was sudden and secretive.  I planned on staying until early July but I just couldn't take it anymore.  I bought a ticket a week before I left and hauled it back to the east coast incognito.  I brought several of my close confidants into my circle of deception but there's one person I left out.  

This person.  

This lovely lady is a dear dear friend of mine. In another life she was my boss but in this life she's a best friend. So much so that she blessed me with her presence as a bridesmaid on my own wedding day.

 I just could not sit here in tropical paradise knowing the most special of all days was unfolding for one the most special of all ladies.  So I left hawaii and surprised Ashley and her new husband at their wedding in Kiawah Island SC (I traded one paradise for another) I couldn't help myself.  I even pulled her mother into my circle of deception.  

I don't regret a thing, you know what it feels like to surprise one of your leading ladies on such a special day? It feels awesome, and I wouldn't take any of it back even for a second, even an 18 hour plane trip. 

love you girl and bless your beautiful union.

Here's a sampling of some images I took along the weekend.  

this little lady is the niece of the bride and a total ham.  She's never met a stranger and loved having her picture taken.

bride's 88 year old grandma (who also came in from hawaii) and her boyfriend.  

If I look half as good at 65 as she does at 88 then I will count my blessings. 

this little guy was very interested in the food that was being set up at the rehearsal dinner.

Dear South, I missed you so so much!

Lisa and Jason made beautiful music for us every night back at the house. 

gift to the guests at the rehearsal.  They told us to help ourselves and help ourselves we did!

all I gots to say is
Derek you are a lucky lucky man...

oh these two...

I caught them dancing by themselves out from under the reception, just doing their own thing and appreciating the time spent together.  Melted my heart a little.  

The little nugget in the next 2 pictures is the 8 week old addition to their family.  I rode down to South Carolina with the 3 of them and cherished every second I got to stare at that little man.  

what a lovely weekend full of beautiful love and super great friends.  I can't even fathom for a second not being part of it all. 

thank you to the wright and farmer family for having one kick-ass amazing weekend and making that journey so so so worth it.

love to you all.  

It's true.  I'm back.  It was last minute and impromptu.  One of my main ladies was getting married and I just couldn't miss it.  (you know I can't miss a party) It was a great time. Pictures to come later this week.   

This is huli huli chicken.  This dish is to Hawaii what pulled pork bbq is to North Carolina.  It's how they do. 

What was most interesting to me is the chickens were rotated with a bicycle chain and a tiny little motor on the other side.  Keep it simple ya'll.  

This is the whole reason we stopped at the dole pineapple plantation.  Other people on this team have a deep love for all that is a dole whip.  

who knew there were so many varieties of pineapple...

this tree looks like this close up...

Whoa!!! Crazy Dr. Suess tree!  Super cool!

I'm going to go ahead and get my snob on and assume that I don't care much for pineapple wine.  It just seems wrong...

This is where all kinds of important surfing events happen.  Oddly enough there were no waves the day I was here. The water was so blue and so so clear.  At waist deep I could see my toes like I wasn't even in water.  So beautiful!!!!  I saw several sea turtles here and a whole huge pod of spinner dolphins forced everyone on shore while they played in the bay.  I've never seen a spinner dolphin and they're really quite cool.  

The spinner dolphin is famous for it's acrobatic displays in which they spin longitudinally along their axis as they leap through the air. (via wikipedia) 

bodysurfing...