At the Copa...Copacabana

I headed south to Brazil to visit good friends I met in Copenhagen, Cecilia and Gustavo.  

We met in Rio de Janiero for a long weekend.  I was able to use my Marriott points at the JW Marriott on Copacabana Beach and we had a great view.

 First things first...a delicious lunch of shrimp stew and grilled fish.

We took afternoon naps at the rooftop pool which also had great views of the beach.

Impanema Beach is around the point.

We headed up the Pao de Azucar (Sugar Loaf) for some great views of the city at sunset.

 Corcovado (Christ Redeemer) rising out of the clouds.

 Saturday we went to a couple art museums, one that we had to take a ferry to.  Gustavo was the paparazzi and he took most of his photos in raw (i.e. not jpeg) so I'll have to post those later.

Nothing like thirst quenching coconut water right out of the coconut - yum!

We spent the afternoon on the beach...the Atlantic was a little cold, but refreshing on such a hot day.  Saturday night we went out to the Lapa district (lots of bars and restaurants) with Gustavo's childhood friend and his wife.

Sunday we headed up to Cocovado (Christ the Redeemer).

 Then to the botanical gardens.

Then we relaxed at the pool before heading to Curitiba.

Celebration of Hope

I look forward to Willow Creek's Celebration of Hope every year.  It is a 3 week period where the church comes together and volunteers time and resources to support of global church partners.  One big part of COH is seed packing where the goal is 1 million packs of vegetable seeds for families in Central America and Africa.

The events are 2 hours of assembly line style packing.  Our station this year was filling up seed packs with cilantro.  Sean and I had a great system.

Shannon and Kevin had a great time at their first seed packing.

Busy working or busy socializing??

 Happy packers!

Run Fast Live Irish

That was the motto for this years Shamrock Shuffle.  It was a gorgeous morning in Chicago and we had a great run.

This guy ran the full 5 miles without a day of training....very impressive.

Congratulations Moyers!!!

What a gorgeous day and venue to the wedding of two fabulous people!

 I always love seeing the groom's first glimpse of his bride.

 And the bride's first glimpse of her groom.

 They wrote their own very touching vows.

 First kiss!

 We had a delicious brunch following the ceremony.

 First dance!

 Congratulations Lynne and Matt - love you both!

Country Wedding

Lynne and Matt's wedding weekend arrived and we all headed down to Tulsa, OK.

 The wedding and all the festivities were held at the rustic Post Oak Lodge - a great venue!

Who knew that they had great zip lining in Oklahoma...I thought this was a plain state.

 The afternoon was spent relaxing with the bride and groom.

 Then it was off to a rehearsal BBQ and bonfire!

 

 Nate, the best man, giving a wonderful speech.

 The Chicago crew!

 No country wedding is complete without a little...or a lot...of line dancing.

 Matt's nephew was hard to keep off the dance floor.

 ...taking after this aunt-to-be.

 Finishing off the night with a little Gangham style.

Now let's get hitched!!!