I met Ali about 4+ years ago when some friends and I came home with Drew for a Disney trip. She was an adorable bright eyed little 10 year old girl then. She was a dancer and had really long hair. She was kind enough to let us girls bunk in her room.
She and I grew closer over the years that Drew and I dated. We got to spend time together in Nebraska at Emily's wedding, on Disney trips, during her stays in West Palm Beach, and over Easter celebrations in Celebration. I grew up with a little brother, but never a little sister! I always had so much fun hanging out with Ali and getting to know her! Heck! She taught me to love High School Musical! (Which completely changed my life, thank you very much).
I was thinking tonight of all the fun things I want to do with Ali this week. I was like, "maybe she has some cool nail polish I can use on my nails", "maybe we can go shopping", "maybe she will want to watch a chick-flick with me". To sum it up, I miss this girl and I need to hang out with her. I don't like being so far away from family!
Ali is the best dancer I have ever seen. I am not being exaggerative, dramatic, or just saying that because I love her, it is true. She is a gifted and talented dancer. She makes me cry every single stinkin' time I watch her dance performances. I think it is amazing that the Lord can give people such fantastic talents. Ali uses her gifts to glorify God which is probably what makes them such emotional performances for people. You can completely tell that she is not dancing alone, but with God. It is incredibly beautiful.
Drew is really cute in how protective he is of Ali. He always talks about how he wants to be polishing a shotgun when she goes on her first date. I feel like I may need to intervene at that point, but he has every right to be protective. She is a stunningly beautiful young lady with a heart of gold and a spirit of innocence. Some day, some boy is going to be very blessed by her companionship. I pray that he is a godly man who will protect her and treat her like a princess. And knowing Ali she will accept nothing-less.
Ali is also very talented at making videos. She makes them all the time and they are adorable! She does anniversary videos, music videos, sentimental ones, funny ones, all in all this girl is pretty dang good at everything she does!
I will never forget when she spoke at our Rehearsal Dinner. She could barely speak she was crying so much. It was precious. She talked about how much she was going to miss Drew and what a great guy he was....the entire room was bawling. Seriously! There was not a dry eye in the house! It was really sweet and touching.
All that to say:
Ali I think you are an amazing girl! I am so proud of everything you do and all that you are! You are a woman of God and you have a gentle, kind spirit. You are so funny and so beautiful! I am blessed to have YOU as a sister. I look forward to growing even closer with you over the years! I think about what the future will look like for the Darr family often and I am excited for it! I love you and can't wait to see you this week!
Love,
Mary
This is a picture from my bachelorette party before the wedding! Everybody put on funny costumes!
This is a flash from the past! This was taken before Emily's wedding a few years ago in Nebraska!
And this of course was most recent, a picture from the wedding.
