Ieva's 2nd Flower Girl Debut...

...was just over a month after her first on September 6 for the wedding of Aurelija, Ieva's first nanny. Aurelija joined our family in August of 2006 when Ieva was 11 months old. She left us in November of 2007 to move to Lithuania's capital city of Vilnius where her boyfriend Balys lived so they could see what it was like to date while living in the same city. We had met Balys & thought he was pretty fantastic, so we were happy for them to develop their relationship in closer proximity to each other, but were heartbroken to lose Aurelija. We've stayed in touch with the couple - visiting when we're in Vilnius or when they're in Klaipeda and were thrilled when they got engaged over Easter. They invited us to the wedding before we left for the summer, and when we returned from the States they asked if Ieva would be their flower girl...an unusual element for a Lithuanian wedding. Ieva already had the dress, so we just changed the sash from green to red to match their colors.

the red version

We spent a glorious weekend in Vilnius around the time of the wedding: the weather was in the high 80's (a nice break from the 60's it had been in Klaipeda), the city was hosting "Vilnius Days" which covered all major streets & squares with local artisans selling their wares and concerts, we took our friends Jared, Carrie & Charlotte Schumacher and had fun introducing them to the city as well. Our highlight of the weekend was by far the wedding.On the train to Vilnius with the Schumachers

The ceremony was beautiful & much like many evangelical weddings we’ve attended except in Lithuanian. Since the reception wasn't scheduled to begin until after the bride & groom drive around the city taking photos, they had planned for the 60+ of us remaining to take a rousing driving tour of the city on 2 decorated trolley buses – complete with on-board entertainment & food! It was a very fun way to stall while the photo shoot happened. We returned to the church just before the bride & groom and each guest proceeded to line up in the lawn & present gifts to the couple, give greetings and take a photo. Of course, we had forgotten our gifts in Klaipeda, but it was still fun to get a few minutes to chat with them personally.Here come the bride & groom!

We had gone to the wedding expecting to know no one but the bride & groom and to not understand much. Instead, we were amazed by the number of LCC alumni there as well as how many people spoke great English & were very excited to talk to us! We were also blessed to be surrounded by such a vibrant, young Christian Lithuanian group of people. Even though I had to carry Ieva down the isle (again!) no one minded & she was a star in her beautiful dress. All in all, a wonderful celebration and a wonderful weekend!