...I will be headed to the Czech Republic!
As many of you know, my brother Kevin served his mission there. He came home in September, returned to CR in October, and will be GETTING MARRIED on December 10th! He came up to Vancouver to visit us in the middle of October and told us about his plans to get married to a young lady he met while in CR.It was a shock, but we are very excited to have Barunka join our family.
Barunka's real name is Barbora (Barbara), but since that is also her mother's name, she goes by Barunka (pronounced Bah-ROON-kah). She is attending college in Ostrava, CR, and is working toward her degree in Graphic Design. We've seen some of her work - she is an amazing artist. I've had the chance to Skype with Kevin and Barunka a couple of times now. She's pretty shy, and worried about how her English sounds, but I'm glad we're getting to know her a little better.They will get married in her town, Uherské Hradiště (no idea how to say this, so we call it "UH"), by the branch president on Dec 10th. On Dec 13th they will be sealed in the Freiberg, Germany temple. I have learned that in Europe, the government does not recognize temple marriage as legally binding, so couples have to get married civilly first, then sealed. The church waives the whole wait-a-year thing in Europe. Learn something new everyday. Kevin and Barunka will live in CR until June, then they will move to Idaho so Kevin can finish his degree at BYU-I. As of right now, they plan to stay in the States indefinitely.
I AM GOING TO EUROPE!!!!
Jeff is being super supportive in my desire to be at my brother's wedding. He will be taking a whole week off of work to be home with the girls. What a good guy.My parents are flying out the day before my sister and I. Kimberly and I are flying from Portland to Frankfurt (giddy giggle), then Frankfurt to Prague. My parents and Kevin will meet us there. It's going to be a fast, crazy trip, but the closer it gets, the more excited I am. The farthest from Oregon I've been is Hawaii, and that was almost 10 years ago (side note: Jeff and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary in June....WOW!). I've never even been to Mexico or Canada. I honestly thought I would never travel to Europe.
So the past 6 weeks have been a flurry trying to get everything ready. (I am so grateful that I tried to emulate the Stanley's - I had 99% of my shopping/creating DONE before Halloween. That's been a total lifesaver this year. Thanks Steph for the inspiration!!) I had to apply for (and luckily already received) my very first passport ever. Had to purchase plane tickets. Help Mom send out announcements. Find luggage. Figure out bank fees, cell phone fees, etc. Let all debit/credit card companies know my travel plans. Etc, etc, etc.... This last week is crunch time. Lots of last minute things to do to get ready. But the time and $ spent is already worth it to me. I'm so excited and blessed that I have the means and opportunity to be at my brother's wedding and sealing.
I'M GOING TO EUROPE!(insert giddy little-girl squeals here)
