Wedding photo shoot

Mr. and Mrs. John and Yuliya Parrot!

With the bridesmaids and flower-girls

With the Bride and Groom's families

With the parents

Yuliya and her mom, Lyuda

The Yakovlevs :)


Andre and me, his sister Olga and her husband Vladimir and his Mom

Mama and Grandpa

Mama and her sister, Lyuda

The Ceremony

The wedding ceremony went smoothly and we managed to get everyone (including all 30 family members who were in the processional!) down the aisle in the right order and without anyone tripping over the aisle runner! Here are a few photos:

Me with our niece, Nina

Andre and his sister, Olga

Our nieces, Anna and Danielle

Yuliya coming down the aisle with her pastor, Jim

The groom

Family Wedding

Andre and I have spent the last few days in Cleveland, TN (just outside Chattanooga) with Andre's family. His cousin Yuliya got married on Friday. His sister Olga and her family came down from Pennsylvania and it was really lovely to see them again.

Here are some photos from the rehearsal on Thursday. I was the wedding coordinator and let's just say I'm glad I don't do that professionally!!

The "organized" chaos at the church.

Yuliya and John practicing their vows.

The rehearsal dinner

And since it was Nina's (Andre's niece) 6th birthday as well on Thursday, we celebrated with cake at the rehearsal dinner.

Michaela's Mince Pie filling

Last week we introduced Michaela to one of our Christmas family traditions: making a big bowl of mince pie filling (fruit, applesauce etc.). While the big girls measured and mixed, she was allowed to stir the bowl and soon got the hang of it!

"Now, what do they want me to do?"

"Hmm, what IS this stuff?!"

"Ok, if I could just get to that spoon..."

"Ooh, sticky."

"Let's have a taste!"

"That was fun Mum!"

Christmas Cheer

On Tuesday, Andre and I had a date night, out for Asian food and then home to decorate. Since our apartment doesn't have much room for a tree, this is the second year we've done up the fireplace nicely. And again, we're pleased with the result!

Our new "wall art"

While in Peoria, Mum and I visited a local antique store and I found this most interesting piece which I couldn't resist:

It had to come home with us and now graces the wall above our couch. Here it is decorated for Christmas:

P.S. Getting it on the plane raised eyebrows at security!

Photos from our Thanksgiving trip

Andre and I had a great time visiting Mum and Dad in Illinois for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch, did lots of shopping, decorated their Christmas tree, and woke up to snow on Sunday!