Alaska2

Tuesday was spent doing final wedding shopping. I was in charge of decorating, and there were a few things I needed to pick up in Anchorage. We also went to the Kobuk, which was a favorite shop of ours when we lived there, and visited Town Square, where we used to ice skate in the winter. We decided we were going to need a rental car after all, and so picked that up Tuesday after we finished the shopping.
Then we headed over to the airport to meet Nancy, Loei, and Walid. It was quite a big deal for them to be arriving, since they had worked so long and hard to get Walid his “green card”, not to mention the 27 hour trip from Cairo. Molly had gotten them buddy passes and worked really hard to make sure they were able to get there as smoothly as possible. All in all it was a huge deal for them and we were thrilled to be there when they arrived in Anchorage. I wish I had taken pictures, but we were all just too busy meeting and greeting. ;-) Poor Lolo was pooped, but in good spirits nonetheless and my boys were so happy to see him. Walid brought Gil an Egyptian drum that he had carried all the way. It is beautiful and Gil loves it. Mom and Molly were both there to drive the family and their luggage to Wasilla, and we stayed one more night in Anchorage.
Wednesday we finally drove out to Wasilla and then to Willow to hang out with Bonny and Jim. He’s a great guy, I could tell Bonny was happy, and they live at this awesome property with a cool house. Bridgette and Hatcher were so happy to see us and Hatcher even went over to the car looking for the boys, who had stayed in Wasilla with Uncle Benny. We had a great visit and I was wishing everyone lived closer, so we could’ve been hanging out there most nights!
Thursday and Friday were spent getting ready for the wedding. On Thursday we took a couple of hours out to meet up with some dear friends of ours, Kellee Ball and her children. We hung out at Wasilla Wonderland Park and then came back to the parent’s apt. building, where we all visited some more. I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of all the kids together! That really disappoints me. Sigh. Just can’t do it all. At least we got to visit.
Thursday evening, Bonny and Jim came over for final wedding plans and we got most everything planned and organized. Friday was spent doing all of the final preparations, with Nancy and Molly helping me make the final decorations, a group of us going to Target for wedding presents, and staying up until 3 in the morning helping Benny (bless his heart!) make fudge. :-) I’ll include a wedding picture of the table decorations in this post.