The Highest Peak

The first time I hiked my big mountain, one of the specific things I remember is the further I hiked, the better the view was. I remember when I wasn't too far from the top, I stopped a lady coming down to ask her how much further the hike up was. She told me that it wasn't to much more and that before to long I would basically come to the top of the mountain and that the view was beautiful there, no need to try and go to the peak, she never did, it was just a waste of time since there was already a beautiful view.

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However, when I got to the spot that I knew the lady had described to me, I looked at the Phoenix Valley below me and it was indeed BEAUTIFUL, buuuuuuuut, I couldn't help but wonder what it would look like, from THE VERY TOP OF THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN PEAK!!!

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So of course, I couldn't help but push myself for 15 more torturous moments UP the very steepest part of that mountain, till FINALLY I was on the peak!!! It was stunning!!! It was SOOOOO worth that extra hike up!!! I couldn't help but wonder about that lady coming down, WHY hadn't she ever gone ALL THE WAY UP??? WHY not to THE HIGHEST PEAK????

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As usual, I couldn't help but see the similarities between this and our walk with God! How often do we come to a place in our relationship with Jesus, where things are so good, that we don't push ourselves to go to the next level with him?! Think about those moments, those times in life, when we've come SO FAR in our walk with God, that when we look, the view with him is SO AMAZING, we think, HOW in the world could it get any better than this???

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BUT what if there's a higher peak that God wants to take you to? What if He has something MORE for you than what you already have? The last time I hiked this particular mountain, on my way up stopped to talk with a man who was resting with his young daughter. We got to talking and he was telling me how he's from Chicago, and there are NO MOUNTAINS THERE, everything was just flat. He was in such awe of the mountain and of hiking. He said that he had never done anything like this at all. He said that his wife and his older daughter had kept hiking up but that this daughter had enough and so he was just waiting with her. He was like, I mean, this right here is still so high and the view is so great, he'd never done anything like  this before and was still so thrilled with what they'd done.

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In my mind that man reminds me of how we are when we're first starting out in our walk with God. Everything we've done is SO NEW, and EVERY STEP TOWARDS GOD is indeed a GOOD THING!!! It's like how the view for this man was already so amazing and that's how it is living for God. Its like in Acts 19 when Paul talked to disciples, men that were ALREADY followers of Christ, "He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." (Acts 19:2) These followers of Christ OBEYED and went that step further in their relationship with Jesus. They went to a higher peak!!

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What IF there is a higher peak that God wants to take you to in your walk with him? What if God has something more for you than what you already have? What if there is something you need to do or change or give up in your life that will bring you to that highest peak? I encourage you today to go further with Jesus. Make the sacrifice, PUSH yourself up the steep climb!!! Sure its ok, to be like that man and his daughter, to rest and take a moment to enjoy the view , BUUUUT DON'T STAY THERE!!! 

."Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee ..." (2 Timothy 1:6) " 

Go my friends...

 GO to THE HIGHEST PEAK!!!!

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And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)

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Why'd the hiker fall???

So I was hiking 🥾 a mountain near our house and there was another girl with her dog and they were hiking way faster in front of me as we hiked up the steep mountain! All of the sudden the girl slipped, fell to her bottom and started sliding down the mountain on the dirt and gravel. She was really embarrassed but quickly got control of the situation, got up and kept going.

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Buuuuuuut I remember looking at the girl and being surprised she had fallen. She was physically fit, obviously a lot more than me, there's NO WAY I'd be able to handle hiking WITH A DOG. She seemed an experienced hiker, she looked athletic, she'd probably hiked this trail a 100 times before, it just seemed like she wasn't really the falling down type.

WHY'D THE HIKER FALL???

 As she walked away, I glanced back once more at her and noticed her shoes...AHA!!!

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Her shoes were WHY she had fallen down so badly!!! She wasn't wearing the proper shoes to hike the slippery dirt slopes of the Arizona mountains. She was just wearing regular old Nike sneakers, not hiking boots. It doesn't matter how many mountains you've hiked, IF your wearing the wrong shoes, eventually, YOU WILL SLIP!!!

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Spiritually speaking, the SAME concept applies in our own lives. It doesn't matter HOW LONG we've been living for God, if we're NOT wearing the right shoes, we're going to slip. I've seen it happen to people and I just look in shock, what happened? I thought they were so strong in the Lord! I thought they were experienced well in the things of God and living for him! I looked up to them spiritually as role model! How could they have slipped? 

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But then you glance back a moment and you really look, and you see their spiritual hiking boots were replaced with just good old, comfortable sneakers! Somewhere along the way, without you ever seeing it, they stopped praying, they stopped reading their Bible, they stopped seeking wholeheartedly after the things of God.

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We can't do that. We don't have time to get comfortable in our walks with God. We have to put on those hiking boots everyday and prepare ourselves for the hike.

Pray, read your Bible, go to church and don't stop!!! And if you do slip, JUST GET UP , put the right shoes back on and keep hiking!!!

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."                                                                                                                                 Ephesians 6:11

        We've GOT TO MAKE 

        THE HIKE TO HEAVEN!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

When you get back down the mountain...

If you've ever hiked a mountain, it's a pretty amazing feeling when you get to the top and then you look down. When you look down, you can clearly see every single path and trail and where they lead too. Looking at it all, yo think it would be impossible to ever get lost because every trail is so clear in your to your eyes. 

YET, every time you start the climb down, the clarity of where you are going and what trail to take is suddenly not so clear to you anymore. There have even been a few times i've started to get lost and had to stop and ask another hiker which way to the parking lot...and I think HOW can I not know which wat to go, when just a bit ago every path seemed SO CLEAR to me!?!?

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Sometimes in our walk with God, the same thing can happen. We have that mountain top experience with God and every path in life seems so clear...we think we'll never have a doubt or worry again about  where God is taking us on our journey with him. BUT then we come down from that glory high and eventually the cares of life can leave us confused and wondering where to go next.

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That happened to me a few years ago. I thought God had told me some things that were going to happen and it all seemed so clear...BUUUUT then LIFE happened and I remember just sitting there and I said God, it all seemed so clear not to long ago, I could see all those paths so clearly, I thought I could never be confused about life again, BUT now here I am at the bottom of the mountain and I don't know what to do or where to turn next. I was on the very paths I had clearly looking down on before, but now that I’m here, I don’t know where to turn next. God, Would you make those paths you showed me before, clear to me once more?

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And HE DID!!! You guys, if your confused and your paths seem unclear, just ask God to give you clarity in your life. Not only will he stop and tell you what to do next, He'll take you by the hand and walk with you every step of the way. Don't try and find your way on your own...

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STOP and ask the Master Hiker for directions!!!

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

♥Mary Frances :)

Just stupid, NOT Stupid-stupid!!!

Soooooooo miraculously, we ACTUALLY had some really nice weather this past weekend. Of course you all know what that means for me, I'm hitting the mountains!!!

Weeeeelllll I had been putting off buying new hiking shoes, cuz weeeeellll let's be real, hiking shoes are UGLY and although needed, they're kinda like buying new tires for your car-BORING!!!!On the way up the mountain, everything was JUST FINE!!!
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HOWEVERRRR, on the way down was a completely different story!!! First of all, a bee decided to chase me AGAIN!!! (Remember last year HERE!!!) I don't know WHY buuuuut they always want to just nestle in my hair and I'm like NOT cool with that!!!  

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Soooooooo I just take off running down the mountain and the bee starts chasing me. WEEEEELLLL all of the sudden my shoes lose traction and I slip and fall like I never have before. I slide down and fall on my back. One leg is pulled completely straight back behind me. Thankfully, i'm a very STRETCHY person and nothing was broken. Just a big cut on my elbow. (can you imagine the ambulance coming up the moutain-although it might be kinda fun being carried on stretcher down the mountain! LOL) 

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Buuuuuuuuuut the fall REALLLLLLY scared me. The whole time, the rest of the way down I kept praying and asking God not to let me fall again. Buuuuuuut then as an after thought, I said, AND GOD, I also PROMISE TO THROW THESE OLD, WORN OUT, HIKING SHOES annnnnnd will NOT go hiking again til I have bought new ones. And when I got home, I took those old shoes and threw them in the trash!!!

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You know why??? Because I can't expect to stay safe and then go directly putting myself back in danger!!! I may have been stupid to hike in them once, BUUUUUUUT I wasn't going to be STUPID-stupid!!!! 

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Often in life, we get ourselves into stupid spiritual situations. AND even though its all our own fault, God is merciful on us and brings us out of our own mess up. BUT we can't just keep the same old shoes and expect not to slip up again. We've got throw those old messed up shoes away, pay the spiritual price and invest in something new!!! 

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At one time or another, we can all be STUPID...

BUUUUUUUUUT...

We don't have to be STUPID-stupid!!!

 "For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him." (2 Chronicles 30:9)

♥Mary Frances :)

AMA 2018

A Mountain Apart Camp in Sacramento New Mexico....

BUUUUUUUUUT FIRST...

ROSWELL's ALIEN McDonald's!!! AHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

Annnnnnnnnnnd now...

On our way to camp!!!

Following in the caravan...did I mention that they speed??? LOL 

The food at camp is SOOOOOO GOOD!!! Lunch the first day was PIZZA!!!

The campgrounds are GORGOUS!!!

First thing our group did was go HIKING...of course!!! Hee, hee!!!

I will say, I got myself a little over heated with what I chose to wear...the weather was so lovely I felt a sweater would be FIIIIIINE...this AZ girl just got a little to exuberant about fine weather!!! LOL

Roswell & Ruidoso!!!

I had to do things to entertain myself on the 10 hr drive to Roswell...Hee, hee!!!

Writer's gonna write, write, write, write, WRIIIIIIIIIITE,  write it up, write it up!!!! 

Soooooooo when we got to Joe and Anali's in Roswell, THE FIRST thing lil Miss Alina did after she saw me, was reach for the toy I had given her for Christmas!!! Not sure if it was a coincidence or NOT, buuuuuuuuuut I LIKE TO THINK that she remembered that I had given it to her!!! Hee, hee!!! 

MAKING HER to get pics with her Auntie Mary!!!

The three of us, look at that lil smile on her face!!!

The next day we headed out to Ruidoso about 1.5 away from Roswell

What I looooove about this town is that theme is BEARS...Liiiiiiike MAR BEAR...sooooo my home!!! hee, hee!!!

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Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay so Anali told us about this AMAAAAAZING lil coffee shop in Ruidoso called SACRED GROUNDS, if you all go there, YOU HAAAAAAVE to try it, it's SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOD!!!!

BREAKFAST TIME!!!

My sister and I split the breakfast sandwich, egg, ham, pepper jack cheese and green chilis on  a FLUFFY cheddar cream cheese biscuit...it was SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOD!!! and honestly it was HUGE!!! I ate half of my half and then saved the other half of my half for later!!!

The thing that was sooooooooo cool about this café was that there was an outdoor deck that you could sit on to enjoy eating from...with the forest and a creek to overlook, with GORGOUSE WEATHER...it was PERFECT!!! 

After breakfast were going to go down to the creek, buuuuuuuuut ANOTHER man that was eating breakfast on the deck, told us that the town of Ruidoso was having a BED-RACING-FLOAT-PARADE-RACE that was starting in 10 minutes, weeeeeeeelllll of course we couldn't just miss an a once in a life time opportunity like this....LOL...

Really, it almost seemed like the kinda thing that would be going on in ROSWELL, only it woulda been ALIENS in UFOs … HA!!! 

After the parade, we walked back to Sacred Grounds and went exploring behind by the creek, 

it was sooooooooooo PRETTY, I just loved it!!! 

Beyond the struggle

HIKING
So as you all know at this point, I LOVE hiking, and in this recent year, I've gotten my sister to start enjoying it as well. However, with the weather changing into summer, we've had to find a new time to go hiking, because as you know, summers here in Arizona do NOT play around, with the temperature changing, we hadn't gone hiking for about a month or so.

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My sister and I decided that  we'd start waking up at 5 am and go for a morning hike, the weather is PERFECT at this time, although by the end of June, I'm sure we'll have to change our time til 4 am...EEEEEEKS!!!  

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Well we figured with it being our first day back on last Monday, the struggle up would be the hardest first day. However tho, it was not! I mean, we pretty much just FLEW up the mountain, weeeeeeellll...NOT LITERALLY but you know, it was pretty easy going up, we were like WOW, that's cool!

AND THEN SURPRISE

We figured it'd be EVEN EASIER the next day, buuuuuut surprise of all surprises, IT WASN'T, it was harder!!! Annnnnd the next day even more, it was like that the rest of the week. I realized it was because the first day our muscles weren't sore because we hadn't been hiking, but NOW they were, causing the hike to be more of a struggle than the first time. It seems so strange that it we would feel MORE RESISTANCE in our hiking than we did in the beginning, but that's just the way it is, you can't sit down and just give up, you've got to KEEP PUSHING through it every day, until you've broken through.

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Spiritual Hiking

Did you know that it's the SAME way in our walk with the Lord? Sometimes, it's later on in your walk with God that you REALLY start feeling the struggle!!! It may have been the easiest thing to  make that decision to live for God, or to walk away from sin, or turn yourself in a different direction. It makes sense and you knew it was right, so you do it. It's NOT until the next day that you start feeling it, the resistance to your decision, it's pulling at you. AWW MAN, today it's harder, I'm out of breath, I didn't realize it would be like this. And you just want give up,

to SIT DOWN...

Keep Pushing forward

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut you got to keep going, you've gotta PUSH THROUGH THE STRUGGLE, it won't always be THIS HARD if you'll just keep pressing on!!! Beyond the struggle, there is VICTORY!!! Don't give up my brother's and sister's, catch your breath, TAKE A DRINK and keep on moving!!!

VICTORY IS YOURS,

IF YOU'LL KEEP ON KEEPING ON!!! 

" I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14)

♥Mary Frances :)

T has a CMM!!!

Sooooooooooo T, my big sis, had a MAJOR CLASSIC MARY MOMENT last week. We were both borrowing my dad's car due to the fact that mine was still in the shop ANNNND, T had hers at the car wash for a 3 hr job...YES it was that bad...kids...I tell ya!!! Anywayz, we went out to eat and then afterwards when we were leaving the car would NOT START!!!

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I was like, OH SNAP, you have seriously got to be kidding me!!! NOT another car out of commission in this family!!! Plus it was soooooooooooooo HOT OUT!!! My sis is like, it must be the battery! I'm like, OR maybe it's the fuel! It was almost on E when I picked it up that morning but I figured it would make it for a LITTLE bit, usually you drive at least 5 miles on E...YES, I've tried it MANY times, hahaaaa!!! 

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Sooooooooooo my sis is like, well I'm going to go walk to the car wash while you wait from AAA to come because I gotta get O by 1. I'm like, Ok buuuuuuuuut it's soooooo hot out and it was a estimated 70 minute wait for them to get there,  i'm like, gonna go wait inside the mall. Well my sis walks away with MJ and they leave the keys in the ignition, the last thing my sis says to me before she walks away is that she couldn't get the keys out, they're stuck!

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I'm like, whaaaaaaaaaaaat??? Keys don't just stuck in, so i'm jiggling it all around and NOTHING! I try keeping my foot on the break, I thought maybe she hadn't done that, still NOTHING!!! Then I happen to glance at the gear-shifting-thing-a-ma-bob annnnnnnnnnnd I see that it's in R. I'm like, R??? That's REVERSE!!! I'm pretty sure it won 't start UNLESS the car is in PARK!!! 

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So I put the car into PARK, turn the ignition and WHAT DO YOU KNOW, it starts RIGHT UP!!! I'm like, Theresa! Theresa!!! GET OVER HERE YOU TWO!!! They come over and I'm like, DUUUUUUDE you had the car in REVERSE, it won't start unless it's in PARK!!! She's like, well, I put it in reverse cuz I was backing up...

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I'm liiiiiiiike WOOOOOOOOOW!!! You can't BACK UP THO if you can't start the car!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!! Remember that people, YOU CAN'T START THE CAR IF IT'S NOT IN PARK!!! We were like laughing sooooooooo hard!! It was pretty epic!! My sis FO SHO had a CLASSIC MARY MOMENT!!!

Apparently, I'm influencing her in...

MORE than just HIKING!!! Hee, hee!!! 

♥Mary Frances :)

September Weight Loss update!!!

Weeeeeeeeeeelllllll this month I got down to a GRAND total of 91 pounds lost...WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!! I would LIKE to try and get down to 259 by the end of this month, I don't know if I will BUUUUUUUT I am going to PUSH for it...Like a woman in labor...okaaaaaaaay maybe not that much...ahahaha...Like the epidural version of that...bahahaha!!! I have my one year with my surgeon at some point this month of October and I would REALLY like to impress him with a 100 pound grand total loss...I have lost 20 pounds since my last check up with him buuuuut I would like to impress a LITTLE bit more!!! 

Sooooooooooo the other big thing in September was being able to fit on ALL the rides at Knottsberry farm!!! That was such a HUUUUUUUGE deal for me!!! you have know idea how much I have ALWAYS wanted to get on the silver bullet, the supreme scream, the ghost rider and THIS YEAR, FINALLLLLLY!!!

#NORIDELEFTBEHIND

 Okaaaaaaaaaaaay to be perfectly honest, there was a kiddie ride in Camp Snoopy I didn't fit on buuuuuut I don't think that counts since I'm NOT a kid!!! BAHAHAHA!!!

Sooooooooo for coffee, now I can buy a Starbucks drink and keep it in the fridge and drink it every morning for three days or so, drinks NEVERRRRR lasted me that long before!!! I usually downed a drink in less than 10 minutes!!! LOL 

 

Of course MORE fitting into clothes...Hee, hee!!! 

 Annnnnnnnnnnd I'm back to my beloved HIKING!!! 

 The exercise that NEVERRRR bores me!!! 

I plan to tackle Squaw Peak by the end of this month!!! 

Soooooooo Goals for October are:

1. get down to 259 

2. Hike Squaw Peak

3. Start practicing running for the Fountain Hills Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving!!! 

4. Buy a new Fitbit

♥Mary Frances :)

Wedding Weekend Smorgasbord!!!

Soooooooo I decided that instead of doing separate posts for EVERY EVENT of this weekend, I'm just going to go ahead and do THE WHOLE WEEKEND in ONE POST!!! Sooooooooooo this was an awesome-FUN-REALLY GOOD weekend!!!

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So after Hanna picked me up from the airport, we headed straight to her parents house, she dropped me off, picked up the wedding dress and headed to San Jose to begin wedding preparation. I stayed with her mom and family and began doing some food prep. Before she left Hanna was like, Mary if you get hungry or ANYTHING, all you have to do is whisper food and my mom and family will start pulling stuff out!!! AHAHAHAHA!!!

Mocha mom was like, Ok Mary, are you ready to work? I was like, YES MA'AM!!! Because, I  was thinking in my head like, MY MOM would probably reach out of heaven with her cane and bop me over the head if I dared had any other thoughts...I can still hear her ALL THE TIMES I'd be socializing instead of working, MARY, GET IN THE KITCHEN!!! AHAHAHA!!!

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Annnnnnnnnnnnd we started off with the tea prep...let me tell you all something, you have NOT had good ice tea UNTIL you have had Mocha Mom's Ethiopian Ice tea...it IS soooooooooo THEBOMB.COM!!! Mmmmmm....

Everyone at the reception was just RAVING about it!!! I heard people all over talking about it, the guy in front of me in the drink line was like, I don't even know what this is, I'm going to try it first, then he put a little in his cup and tasted it and was like, DUUUUUUUUUUUDE you guys, this is THE BEST TEA I'VE EVERRRR HAD!!!

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One of the ladies from the church that was in the kitchen was talking to me about it, she was like, I HAVE to get her recipe, I was like, YOU CAN TRY, buuuuuuuut, that's HER OWN SPECIALTY!! Just because you get the recipe, DOES NOT MEAN IT WILL TASTE LIKE HERS!!! Trust me, I've TRIED...it resulted in Stultz choking when he TRIED to drink it!!! LOL For years, one year for my birthday, Hanna gave me all the spices and tea in a jar with directions...yeah...that didn't quite go as planned!!! BAHAHA!!! Then when he finally ACTUALLY tried Sis. Kifle's, Stultz was like, this does NOT taste like YOURS DID...Pshhhhhhhhhh!!!

Annnnnnnnnd here I am with my FIRST plate of Ethiopian food...Very excited!!

Then we drove the hour to the wedding rehearsal in San Jose...

Hi from Abel!!!

The Bridal party eating...

With the cutest boy everrrr!!!

Surprisingly he went RIGHT to me when we walked into the church....AWWWWWWWWWWW who doesn't love Da Auntie Mar Bear!!!

Annnnnnnnnnnd it's WEDDING DAY!!!

 

Awwwwwwww Sis. Kifle looking all beautiful in her dress!!!

Mesgana and Hanna!!!

Sorry, I didn't get pics of the whole bridal party!!!

HERE COMES THE BRIDE!!!

The groom's FIRST glimpse of HIS BRIDE!!!

Bride and her Pappa!!!

AWWWWWWWWW!!!