BeautyRevealed | The Blog of Melissa J. Dillon

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
in all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”

- Proverbs 3

We are so humbled and blessed by the outpouring of love and care that we have received from all of you… the comments, the emails, the notes, the phone messages and gifts have been pouring in, and we are grateful and overwhelmed by God’s goodness and kindness through all of you. Ava Baby is one treasured girl already, and it has made Mark and I both weep with gratitude. Thank you, thank you, thank you all.

We are all packed and leaving for Minneapolis tonight. We were surprised at how quickly the meetings were set up with the surgeon and doctors. Tomorrow we meet at 8:30 with a specialist for more tests, and then we meet with Ava’s surgeon, Dr. Saltzman, at 1:00 pm. Then we will meet with a Social Worker to get a tour of the neo-natal ward and discuss insurance and other particulars. Please pray that the Lord would just go before us and make this transition at Fairview as easy as possible. It will be so good to finally be able to sit down with doctors and get some answers to our many questions.

Ava Baby and I are will be staying with Jamie and Angela until she is born… we just don’t want to take the risk of not making it to the hospital in time for the delivery with Ava’s condition being so fragile. Mark will return home tomorrow night so that he can continue to work until I go into labor. Then he will be on paternity leave until she is well… which is such a relief to me that he will be able to be by our side the entire time. He’ll come down for the weekends even if I am not in labor yet, so please pray for safe travels for him as he goes back and forth during this time.

I will be taking the computer and keeping you updated through the blog. Hopefully I will even have some time now to return emails. Just know that we appreciate so much all the love and support you all have shown to our little Ava and to us. Bless you all for your prayers! Keep em’ coming! Love you all.

“Silver Bells, Silver Bells… It’s Christmas time in the city.”

- Bing Crosby

Last year’s Christmas in the City was so much fun that we decided to make it an annual tradition. This year we decided to take the Light Rail from the Mall of America so we could have the full city experience.

We went to downtown Minneapolis and headed to the Macy’s building to see the Christmas display on the Eight floor.

This years theme was “A Day in the Life of an Elf”. We can’t wait until next year when our little Muffin can see what’s going on! We’ll have a ten month old next Christmas… wow!!!

It was so much fun to experience Santaland… it was so well done.

Next we stopped downstairs for some much needed Starbucks. Then we headed to Barnes and Noble for a bit (we are a book family!) while we waited for our reservations at “The Local” Pub. Great food and a fun atmosphere.

We left the restaurant just in time to see Santa’s float come by in the Holidazzle Parade. Sorry about the blurriness… my picture taking skills are really not that great at night. I’m definitely not the photographer in the family!

Then we headed back to the Mall of America via the Light Rail…

…where we caught the late showing of Disney’s “A Christmas Carol”. I must say that I highly recommend this movie… especially if you can watch it in 3D! Such a fun time and soooo Christmasy! (Although I thought maybe a few parts might have been a bit scary for children. I recommend it for a little older children).

On Sunday we headed back to the Mall of America for some Christmas shopping as well. It was a full weekend, and we came home exhausted, sore, and very, very happy. So many wonderful memories were made this year. Jamie’s already planning next year’s “Christmas in the City” adventure… we can’t wait!

Oh, and Angela, you must share your recipe for Tortellini Soup… it was spectacular!!

“If a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can hear the voice of God.”

- George Washington Carver

So our camping trip took a bit of a hit this year. At the last moment Jamie and Angela were unable to join us due to sickness, and we were trying to think of ways of postponing it so that we could all be together. But alas, with many work schedules to juggle, it wasn’t going to happen… so we decided to swallow our disappointment and go without them.

As it turned out, this may not have been the best year to “break them in” to Northwoods camping, anyway. It was chilly this year! We were bundled up in our winter’s finest and mostly stayed close to the warm fire or played games in the tent when it was rainy or windy. We didn’t even venture out for a hike this year, not wanting to get too far away from the fire! (All except for Jodie, who is the true adventurer in this family. He took daily hikes with Jack).

It was cloudy almost the entire time, which is really hard on picture-taking. But I still tried to get a few to capture the memories of our time at Owen Lake this year. The Northwoods is still gorgeous, no matter what the weather, and it was actually fun to brave the elements for a few days.

Papa, Marmie and Mark cooking around the campfire.

Our favorite meal that we look forward to every year is Jodie’s famous campfire breakfast. Usually we have oatmeal around the campfire for breakfast, but on Saturday mornings he makes us a huge feast. Mmmmm.

We had a little raccoon “friend” this year who so badly wanted to share our food rations with us. He actually unzipped our camp kitchen storage shelf and helped himself to our hamburger buns before Jack woke up to scare him up the tree. The men shooed him away, but our little masked bandit came back every night to try again. I don’t think poor Jack got much sleep out in the wilderness at night, so he took many naps during the day to make up for it. Good Boy, Jack.

Sunday was a bit warmer so Mark and Dad threw around the football a bit… while Jodie grilled up some of the best tasting burgers… ever.

So although we had so much fun this year and felt a sense of accomplishment from surviving the cold, we have decided that for all of our sakes (and our baby’s sake!) we will go earlier next year when it’s warmer. Jamie did confess that he was glad he was home sitting in his cozy easy-chair, while we all were “roughing” it. No excuses next year, Bud… you’re going camping!

We made a quick trip down to The Cities yesterday to help Jamie and Angela with some wedding preparations. Then we enjoyed some time walking around St. Paul in the afternoon… it was a gorgeous day (such a blessing since it rained all day back home). 

The closest I’ve ever come to Paris? Patrick’s Cafè! I think I’ve decided that a little French Bakery would be my dream job. I’ll have to think on that dream for a while… hmmm. Just look at all the wonderful food!

I realized when I got home that most of the pictures that I took on Saturday either had Angela in her wedding dress or the bridesmaids in their dresses… And, obviously, I can’t post those. So I don’t have too many from Saturday’s “girl’s day out” (No, that’s not Angela in the wedding dress above!) 

Mark and I got to stay at Angela’s parents house, so we were able to meet many of Angela’s family for the first time which was such a blessing. Jamie is marrying in to the greatest family! We are so happy to have many new friends as a result of this blessed union. I was able to spend time with Angela’s mom, two sisters and two sisters-in-law during the wedding dress/bridesmaids dress shopping.  

It was such a special day on Saturday. First thing in the morning I woke up to the beautiful sound of doves cooing outside the window. As we were getting in the car to head out we heard it again and it flew right by us. We really felt that it was a gift from God for Angela. “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.” Angela used to have a website called Dove’s Eyes, as well. It was very meaningful to hear and see a dove that morning. 

We went to The Wedding Shop in downtown St. Paul. Angela knew for the most part what she was looking for, and the attendant brought in 3 dresses for her to try on to start with. Would you believe the dress was the first one she tried on?! She tried on a few others to see if there were any others that she liked better, but when she put the dress on again, we all just knew. It was it! Just lovely… she was breathtaking. I can’t wait for her to walk down the aisle. 

Then, on to the veil. The attendant handed her the first one… wow! No need to go any further, she had just found the perfect veil! Can you believe it? Yes, it was just that easy. It was as though the Lord just went before her and picked out everything ahead of time… such a blessing!

This was Angela’s wonderful attendant… she was such a sweet girl (she even let me take pictures… which isn’t usually allowed). 

Next, we made our way to David’s Bridal. Angela had made an appointment to try on wedding dresses there, but considering she had just bought the perfect one, we decided we could start looking at bridesmaid’s dresses. I am so honored that Angela asked me to be one of her bridesmaids along with her sisters, sisters-in-law and friend. Jodie will be the best man, and Mark is one of the groomsmen. There are 6 attendants on each side. It’s going to be a fun wedding! 

When we walked into David’s Bridal, her sister Ruthie was holding a beautiful dress that she thought would be complimentary to Angela’s dress. It turned out to be the one! This will be my sixth wedding to be in (including my own) and I have never seen anything like this… everywhere we turned, the favor of the Lord was there! The dress was on clearance, and after making a few calls to other stores for all of our sizes, the bridesmaid’s dresses were able to be checked off the list. Even her mother’s dress was the first one she tried on! I was so thrilled for Angela, because for my own wedding, I went to so many shops looking for the perfect dress and was beginning to fear that I wouldn’t be able to find it. I finally did, but it was quite stressful for a little while. I had prayed that Angela’s day would go smoothly and that the Lord would lead her to the right dress. I had no idea it would be the first dress… the first veil… the first bridesmaid’s dress… and the first mother-of-the-bride’s dress! It was unbelievable. 

It was such a special day for me. I was so blessed to be a part of all the happiness and excitement of finding the perfect wedding gown. She is going to look gorgeous… I can’t wait until August 8th! Thanks Angela for such an honor! And Char, Ruthie, Becky, Ruth and Kristin… I had such a fun time with all of you. We’re so blessed that Jamie is marrying into such a precious family! I’ll see you again soon!

(More Minneapolis pics coming soon).

12:30 am… We’re home. We’re tired. We’re happy. We’ll post pictures soon. xoxo.

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold,

everything is softer and more beautiful.”

- Norman Vincent Peale

We had a fabulous weekend visiting Jamie in The Cities this weekend. We did some Christmas shopping (and we almost completed it all), we ate a lot of great food and we went to the Michael W. Smith Christmas Concert at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. It was such a fun way to kick off the Christmas season.

On Saturday before the concert, we tried to eat at our favorite Italian restaurant, Cossetta’s (above), but it was an hour long wait, so we decided to try out “Patrick McGovern’s Pub” just down the block instead. It was a great place with lots of atmosphere. Mom and I had the Irish Stew… it was so good. It warmed us up after walking quite a few blocks in freezing downtown St. Paul… it was c-c-cold, ya’ll! 

The Michael W. Smith concert was so wonderful. He had the Minnesota Symphony playing with him which was absolutely gorgeous and he had Melinda Doolittle on tour with him (from American Idol). She has an amazing voice and really added a lot to the concert. Our seats were actually really close (thanks to Jodie), although, you can’t tell by how far away it all looks from our little cameras! We need to invest in some nice lenses so we can zoom in a lot more. You can click on the pictures to make them bigger. 

Jamie got us rooms at Bethany which were right outside his apartment door so that worked out really well. We went to Bethany Church on Sunday morning for a wonderful service and then went to Panera Bread for Soup and Sandwiches. Then more Christmas Shopping before heading home to the Northwoods again. It was such a special weekend. It kick-started our Christmas Season perfectly! Thanks everyone for a wonderful time! 

“Creative people are rarely tidy.” – Unknown

This past weekend was hunting opener for all the guys. So the ladies headed out as well… to a creative weekend at the “Crafter’s Cottage” in Pine City. Three days of scrapbooking, card-making, Christmas projects, eating, laughing and fellowship. These ladies were so creative and inspiring! I’m really excited about all that I got done this weekend, and my new goal is to catch up on all of my scrapbooks this winter. I am many years behind, but I realized this weekend that if you just set aside a few weekends here and there, it’s amazing how much you can accomplish! Today I am working on cleaning out my Creative Closet and organizing all of my scrapbooking supplies so I’m ready to go. 

The Cottage was adorable. It sleeps 10 women in 5 rooms with single beds, and it has a beautiful kitchen, dining room and living room to use. Our meals were catered so we wouldn’t even have to stop and cook. Nice! The huge crafting room had everything you could think of to use: tools, cropping systems, color printer, extra supplies, brads, ribbons, everything! You name it, they had it. The hours flew by. It started to snow, so the ladies put on Christmas music… and no men were there to complain! I missed my hubby, though, and it’s always nice to come back home. And he’s glad that he gets to eat again, now. Sheesh.