Vilnius or Bust.....

Last week I flew half way around the world to meet a precious baby girl. One of my best friends Jennifer and her husband Kelly are teaching overseas in Lithuania. They have a new baby Giuliana Leigh and I got to meet her.

I arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania on Friday evening. Kelly picked me up and the airport and when we got to their apartment these to beautiful ladies greeted me.

Jennifer and Kelly left Texas in August and found out they were pregnant as soon as they arrived. So it has been a long time since we have seen eachother. In fact her entire pregnancy.

And can I tell you Jennifer has always been beautiful but her and Kelly sure do make beautiful babies.

I was pretty much exhausted when I got there so we took it easy. My 1st Lithuanian meal was good ole enchiladas. Yumm! The next day we headed out to get a few things. It was Giuliana's 1st official outing and what a better place than the mall.

Jennifer got her all bundled up.

Isn't the hat awesome

What a culture shock. The place was called Akropolis and it was a VERY interesting people watching place. This store Maxima XXX it is like the Lithuanian version fo Walmart. I could have walked around there for hours looking at all the things they have that we have...but different. Hard to explain but still cool.

They have a special "baby" aisle that you can check out in if you have a baby or are expecting a baby.

But the funniest thing is instead of magazines and snack food they have baby stuff in the aisle and....

yep I guess they figure you might need the stuff to prevent more babies!

I had the pleasure of bringing Jennifer all of the supplies for her torture advice....better known as a breast pump. Eventhough pumping milk is not the highlight of a new baby gettig to watch her dad feed her for the 1st time is pretty special.

Sunday morning we woke up and got ourselved looking pretty and headed to church. Kelly and Jennifer found an English peaking Lutheran service just a short walk away.

Look at this pretty girl and her Dad

Both have beautiful blue eyes.

1st Family Picture

After church we visited with some of their friends and then Kelly had a council meeting so us girls took a walk around town. It was so beautiful all the architecture.

Giuliana all bundled up ready for the walk after church

Check out her cute "buggy"

We took it easy the rest of the day and then walked to a nearby pub for dinner. Kelly suggested I try the fried bread. It was interesting (deep fried bread with a garlic cheesy sauce on it) but tasty.

 Jennifer thought this picture would be funny.

Monday we took it easy. Went out for a little walk and just enjoyed loving on Giuliana.

In the courtyard of their apartment there is this tower with these really beautiful angels on it. I really loved it.

We got to talk to Kauli via skype for over an hour. It was nice. She got to see Giuliana and everything!

Tuesday we ventured out a little further and looked at a bunch of local shops on Pilies Street. Vilnius is famous for their Amber Jewelry and it was really fun to look at all the interesting pieces and I was able to find a few to bring some home.

We walked by several famous landmarks including this cathedral

Monday night Giuliana got a nice warm bath in the sink. She loved it. Look how beautiful she is.

Snug as a bug

Kelly rocked her to sleep while reading her some history lessons out of his AP US History book

Wednesday we took a bus tour around the city. It was a little chilly bit I am really glad we did it. Giuliana slept the whole time.

We drove right by Jennifer and Kelly's School

Mom & daughter checking out the scenery

Thursday we headed out to the US embassy to get Giuliana's passport and US birth certificate. Unfortunetly you can't take a camera in so I didn't get any pictures. We also had to make a quick trip to the pediatrician for a little case of eye irritation. She did fanastic.

Thursday night was my last night so we headed out to get some pizza.

Here is the happy family walking by the Subačius gate right by their house. It is one of the orginal gates to the "old city" and their apartment is just across the street.

My taste of Lithuanian beer

When everyone gets married in town they have a padlock engraved with there name on it and lock it to this bridge. It was really neat.

Kelly had the pleasure of pushing Giuliana back up this nice little hill home. He was worried my picture wouldn't show the true steepness of the hill.

We had some ice cream Lithuania style when we got home

Check it out...it is in a tube like sausage

Friday morning it was time to leave. We got the cab driver to stop at the scenic outlook and take a picture of us because we realized that we hadn't taken one with Jennifer and I in it all week.

Giuliana wanted to sit next to me one last time!

Watching Jennifer and Giuliana walk out of the airport was very hard on the heart. At least I know they will be back home for the summer in June.

I flew FinnAir home....nice airline. Had my own little TV and couldn't pretty much watch whatever I want. Which had its minuses....I didn't sleep a wink for the entire 8 hour 50 minute flight.

This picture of our flight path to JFK shows how far we flew.

We flew north of Iceland to avoid an volcanic ash. So we skimmed across the southern coast of Greenland. The sky was clear as could be so you could see the glaciers and mountains wonderfully. It was beautiful

After almost 24 hours in either airports or in the air I finally arrived back in Dallas. It was late and because I spent the whole flight watching movies I had to crash at Grandmother and Grandads for the night. But no worries I woke up bright and early to drive home....I missed my boys...

especially this one