Welcome to the family, Aunt Shawna!

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This past weekend the family went to Las Vegas for Kevin & Shawna’s wedding.

Shawna has particularly endeared herself to me from the first time we met.  My mom was in the hospital in critical condition and (having no experience with babies) she agreed to care for Audrey when she was just a wee four weeks old. She would play with her, change her, and get her down for naps and then bring her to me at the hospital every three hours to nurse. She followed all my crazy instructions. She was so cool under pressure. Most people would be a bit stressed caring for a newborn for the first time – in a small hotel room at that – but she was as graceful as an experienced caregiver. She and Audrey had an immediate bond, and I noticed this weekend whenever they were in the same room, Audrey couldn’t get enough of looking at her…(of course, she did look like a princess in that dress and hairband – at least that is what Bella thought…so that could have been the reason too!) She was there for Kevin during the stress, and available to my mom for whatever she needed. I remember clearly saying to Kevin after only knowing her for mere hours – “You need to marry this one!!” He said he already had plans in the works for it…

This summer we got to hang again during our trip in Big Sky – and she and Bella hit it off as well. She even endured a long hike with all of the young ones with total patience as the cousins teased each other and took all of her mints, begging to stay by her the whole time. She is fun for us adults to hang with as well, thoughtful on top of all that helpfulness – and that seals the deal for me (not that I really had any say in the matter… 🙂

I couldn’t be happier for Kevin – as this is the happiest he has looked in years – and I also couldn’t be happier for our family getting to welcome such a wonderful sister-in-law into the mix. We had a great time at the wedding visiting with everybody – and Bella in particular had a great time with all the Lei’s at the reception dinner. 🙂

Congrats to my awesome brother and sis-in-law!