This past weekend we traveled to Illinois to help celebrate Alissa's wedding. Alissa is one of Beth's nieces and she hitched-up with longtime bo Peter Wright. Yes ... she found Mr. Wright and she married him!
Preparations
When we arrived on Thursday, preparations were in full swing. We were greeted (sort of) by the new family pet, Cheyenne. Some say her name is really "Shy Ann" because she is very very afraid of strangers. She didn't actually let any of us touch her at any time over the weekend.
The front of the house looked like a real circus as a crew was there pitching the giant tent to be used for the reception. Once the tent was up we all helped out by setting up tables, chairs, napkins, and center pieces.
Lots was going on inside the house as well. Sweets for the reception were being gathered in the dining room, last minute arrangements were being made with the caterer, and Kaitlin was painting a sign to be used for the reception.
Rehearsal
The rehearsal was at the church on Friday at 4:30. Everything went very smoothly. The pastor and the wedding coordinator really knew what they were doing. Emma & Ryan seemed up to the task of being Flower Girl and Ring Bearer. And I didn't see any panic in the faces of the bride and groom to-be.
"Incident"?
At the end of the rehearsal Emma broke down. She started crying uncontrollably and went to her Mom's lap. At first we thought that maybe she was tired. But then she told us she thought she wouldn't get to see Alissa anymore after she got married. Emma had a teacher at pre-school who got married and didn't return to school. So Emma thought she would lose Alissa.
High-Speed Chase
After the rehearsal it was my job to drive both our family and Beth's mom, Beverly, to the Wright's house for the rehearsal dinner. But I didn't know where the Wright's house was. So the plan was for me to follow Terry & Pam.
But Terry & Pam were still in the church when we were ready to leave. So I spotted a car with a young driver and two of the grandparents in it. I figured I could follow them.
It seemed like a good plan.
As we got underway, however, it became clear that it is hard to follow someone if they don't know you are following them. It's even harder if they don't know where they are going either and are trying to follow the car in front of them. We came to a light that was almost red and the car I was following gunned it. I decided not to try to beat the oncoming traffic and stopped at the light. We could see our target up at the next stoplight. I was determined to catch them.
When our light turned green, I gunned it and started weraving between cars. The car we were trying to catch got in the left-turn lane and we got right behind it. Only it was the wrong car. We then realized we had passed the car we were trying to catch and it was going straight. No problem. I waited in the left-turn lane and then moved back into the straight lane right behind the real car.
We made it the rest of the way without incident.
Wedding Day
The wedding day turned out to be beautiful despite calls for rain. It was a gorgeous, hot, humid, and breezy day. Perfect for a wedding!
Beth took Emma over to the church at 9:00am to get dressed and be part of all the pictures. My job was to bring Braxton, Bayley, and Beverly at about 10:00am. Unfortunately there was a very bad accident at the corner of Orchard and Randall Road. Two fire engines, an ambulance, and a number of other emergency vehicles were at the scene and Randall was shut down. We had to take a lengthy detour to get to the church, but we made it on time.
The wedding was beautiful. The pastor spoke to the incredible value of the love between spouses. Even if you lose all your earthly possession you still have something great as long as you have each other. The ceremony closed with a slide show made up of pictures of Alissa and Peter as they were growing up. Beautiful!
Reception
The reception also turned out great. It was very windy, but everything in the tent held together. The wedding party entered the tent in a procession with each couple getting their own introduction. When it was time for the Bride & Groom to enter they played the theme music from Rocky. Cool!
The food was excellent. The caterer had provided a Swedish brunch. There was an egg bake with slices of beef, Finnish pancakes, chicken pot-pie, ham, cinnamon rolls, and lots of other food. They also had "hot-dog people" for the kids to eat.
Then there were the toasts. A toast from the best man, a toast from Alissa's sisters, and a toast from the Bride's father in which he got choked up. It was a very touching collection of things he had learned from Alissa as she grew up and it also touched on how poor this family was when Alissa was born.
Congratulations, Alissa & Peter!!!
+ posted by David
Monday, June 30, 2008
What a Weekend!
This past weekend David, Bayley, Braxton, Emma and I traveled to Illinois to attend my neice Alissa's wedding. Emma was the Flower Girl with cousin, Ryan, the Ring Bearer. Bayley passed out programs and the others of us just enjoyed the whole thing. With an outdoor reception planned, there was the good chance for rain. But none really came and the day turned out to be beautiful and sunny. Alissa and Peter carried the whole day off with grace and generosity, making time for all of their guests and endless photos. Emma was in love with the princess looking bride and hung on Alissa's every move. I have several pics of Emma wherever Alissa went. :)
Our family stayed in a hotel with my mom and got to spend some visiting time with her after the wedding day had ended. The day was over by 4 since the wedding started at 10:30. Our drive home was uneventful and, after picking up Zoe from a friend's home, we have just been hanging out. Zoe was at church camp all of last week and did not come with us to the wedding. She was missed and asked about.
Braxton, Brad and I met with the Oncology docs, this morning, to go over plans for the next year. Braxton is doing very well and his scans look great. He will have his port removed at the end of July and can begin getting his stamina and strength back. YEAH!!!
Please keep Braxton in your prayers as he gets back to being a normal kid.
-posted by Beth
Our family stayed in a hotel with my mom and got to spend some visiting time with her after the wedding day had ended. The day was over by 4 since the wedding started at 10:30. Our drive home was uneventful and, after picking up Zoe from a friend's home, we have just been hanging out. Zoe was at church camp all of last week and did not come with us to the wedding. She was missed and asked about.
Braxton, Brad and I met with the Oncology docs, this morning, to go over plans for the next year. Braxton is doing very well and his scans look great. He will have his port removed at the end of July and can begin getting his stamina and strength back. YEAH!!!
Please keep Braxton in your prayers as he gets back to being a normal kid.
-posted by Beth
Friday, June 27, 2008
Day of the Ice Man
There's a job for everybody and everybody has to have a job. Today my job is to be the Ice Man.
Today the family gets ready for Alissa's wedding (Alissa is Beth's niece), and the reception is going to be held in the front yard. While the food will be catered, even caterers need ice. My job is to get the ice.
This morning I was sent out to Walmart to obtain 75 lbs of ice. And while there I was also charged with the purchase of zip-loc bags and garbage bags.
You might think a trip to Walmart would be simple. Not true. Not when the bridge is out and there is a not-so-well marked detour through the woods and wilds of Illinois. Others have been sent that direction and have not returned.
So today this is the job for a hero. This is the job for Ice Man.
+ posted by David
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Traveling Circus
While Zoe is still at Church Camp, and Paul & Gretchen are in Cold Spring, the rest of our family piled into the mini-van and headed to Illinois. Beth's niece Alissa is getting married this weekend!!
We had a fairly uneventful drive. Nice, dry weather for the trip and since today (Thursday) is an off-day for traveling, there was not much traffic with which to contend. So we left Minneapolis at about 10:00am and arrived in Yorkville at close to 5:00pm.
It looked like a circus when we arrived. Usually people say that our blended family looks like a circus, but this time it wasn't us. Alissa & Peter are planning to have their reception outdoors at Alissa's parents' house. So today the rental company was over erecting a giant party tent for the yard. Up goes the "Big Top"!
Then we all helped out with setting up tables & chairs, tying up silverware bundles, and laying out table cloths.
Emma was very excited to get to "Auntie" Pam's house and meet the new dog, Cheyenne (with the emphasis on SHY since she is scared of everybody). When the sun went down, lightning bugs came out and we spent some time catching them and putting some in a jar. We don't get many lightning bugs in Minnesota, so a whole yard full here in Illinois was quite the sight!
Finally I booted-up my lap-top to see how the Twins did. Another win! 8 in a row!! And another "Crabby Patty" for Justin Morneau (to see why we call them Crabby Patties check out A Night at the Ballpark in Braxton's blog).
The Twins have not lost since they invited Braxton down to the field 8 games ago.
GO, TWINS!!!
+ posted by David
We had a fairly uneventful drive. Nice, dry weather for the trip and since today (Thursday) is an off-day for traveling, there was not much traffic with which to contend. So we left Minneapolis at about 10:00am and arrived in Yorkville at close to 5:00pm.
It looked like a circus when we arrived. Usually people say that our blended family looks like a circus, but this time it wasn't us. Alissa & Peter are planning to have their reception outdoors at Alissa's parents' house. So today the rental company was over erecting a giant party tent for the yard. Up goes the "Big Top"!
Then we all helped out with setting up tables & chairs, tying up silverware bundles, and laying out table cloths.
Emma was very excited to get to "Auntie" Pam's house and meet the new dog, Cheyenne (with the emphasis on SHY since she is scared of everybody). When the sun went down, lightning bugs came out and we spent some time catching them and putting some in a jar. We don't get many lightning bugs in Minnesota, so a whole yard full here in Illinois was quite the sight!
Finally I booted-up my lap-top to see how the Twins did. Another win! 8 in a row!! And another "Crabby Patty" for Justin Morneau (to see why we call them Crabby Patties check out A Night at the Ballpark in Braxton's blog).
The Twins have not lost since they invited Braxton down to the field 8 games ago.
GO, TWINS!!!
+ posted by David
Another Crabby Patty!!!
Justin Morneau hit another Crabby Patty (home run) in today's Twins game!
That's 12 Crabby Patties for 2008.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Baseball, Turtles, and More!
It has been a fun week here in Minnesota! We've had encounters with baseball, turtles, rockets, cars, airplanes, dresses, and dogs!! And all of it was good!!!
On Tuesday Braxton had a special opportunity to go on-field prior to a Twins game. He got to watch the players take batting practice and met a few of the players who autographed a baseball on his behalf. The most special moment was when Carlos Gomez, the Twins new Center Fielder, came over and met with Braxton, signed his hat and glove, posed for a couple of pictures, and then presented Braxton with the bat he was using during batting practice. Way cool!! And the Twins won that night 2-1 over the Washington Nationals.
Last Thursday was the 22nd annual Turtle Derby at the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital (where Braxton has been receiving his treatment for cancer). Every year they have a day of turtle racing to raise funds for the hospital. Beth took Braxton, Bayley, Zoe, and Emma to the races and they had a blast! There was a race every five to ten minutes. They had lots of festivities around the races, too. Braxton got to broadcast one of the races back to the patients on Floor 5B (where he had all of his treatments). The turtle sponsored by Floor 5B was "Slo-Mo" and he made it all the way to the finals. At that point, however, he must have felt a sense of accomplishment because he wouldn't move during the final race. Usually the race is not considered finished until all turtles have at lease gotten out of the "inner ring," but the judges decided Slo-Mo wasn't going anywhere.
Thursday night featured a soccer game for Emma. Her team is the "Rockets." It was a lot of fun watching the clump of children follow the ball back and forth across the pitch. Emma is more aggressive this year. At one point the ball came to her in front of the opponents goal. She had to get it lined up properly to try to score, so she stopped it with her hand and set it in front of the goal. The crowd roared with laughter!! She had fun!
After the soccer game, Rich and Barb took Emma by one of the local hotels which had a parking lot filled with vintage cars that were in town for a weekend car show. Emma especially enjoyed the pink cars!
On Saturday morning Paul had the chance to fly in an airplane. We drove up to Little Falls (the birthplace of Charles Lindbergh) and went to the municipal airport. They were having an event where local pilots volunteered to take children up for free plane rides. Paul even got to pilto the plane for a little bit while he was up on his 10 minute flight. Lots and lots of fun!!!
While Paul and I were up in Little Falls, Barb came by and took Zoe and Gretchen out shopping for dresses. Cathy finally has a wedding date picked out (August 22) and the girls have been invited to participate as flower girls. They had a great time and came back with beautiful dresses.
On Sunday Zoe went to camp and Beth took Bayley out shopping. I took Braxton, Paul, Gretchen, and Emma to one of the dog parks in Minneapolis. Of course we took Sunny & Rufus, too. It was a really nice day and everybody had a lot of fun watching and playing with the dogs. There were about five pugs at the park. There were also two Saint Bernards. And there was a Chinese-Crested that had the hair on the top of its head dyed pink. Boy was that an ugly dog!!!
+ posted by David
On Tuesday Braxton had a special opportunity to go on-field prior to a Twins game. He got to watch the players take batting practice and met a few of the players who autographed a baseball on his behalf. The most special moment was when Carlos Gomez, the Twins new Center Fielder, came over and met with Braxton, signed his hat and glove, posed for a couple of pictures, and then presented Braxton with the bat he was using during batting practice. Way cool!! And the Twins won that night 2-1 over the Washington Nationals.
Last Thursday was the 22nd annual Turtle Derby at the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital (where Braxton has been receiving his treatment for cancer). Every year they have a day of turtle racing to raise funds for the hospital. Beth took Braxton, Bayley, Zoe, and Emma to the races and they had a blast! There was a race every five to ten minutes. They had lots of festivities around the races, too. Braxton got to broadcast one of the races back to the patients on Floor 5B (where he had all of his treatments). The turtle sponsored by Floor 5B was "Slo-Mo" and he made it all the way to the finals. At that point, however, he must have felt a sense of accomplishment because he wouldn't move during the final race. Usually the race is not considered finished until all turtles have at lease gotten out of the "inner ring," but the judges decided Slo-Mo wasn't going anywhere.
Thursday night featured a soccer game for Emma. Her team is the "Rockets." It was a lot of fun watching the clump of children follow the ball back and forth across the pitch. Emma is more aggressive this year. At one point the ball came to her in front of the opponents goal. She had to get it lined up properly to try to score, so she stopped it with her hand and set it in front of the goal. The crowd roared with laughter!! She had fun!
After the soccer game, Rich and Barb took Emma by one of the local hotels which had a parking lot filled with vintage cars that were in town for a weekend car show. Emma especially enjoyed the pink cars!
On Saturday morning Paul had the chance to fly in an airplane. We drove up to Little Falls (the birthplace of Charles Lindbergh) and went to the municipal airport. They were having an event where local pilots volunteered to take children up for free plane rides. Paul even got to pilto the plane for a little bit while he was up on his 10 minute flight. Lots and lots of fun!!!
While Paul and I were up in Little Falls, Barb came by and took Zoe and Gretchen out shopping for dresses. Cathy finally has a wedding date picked out (August 22) and the girls have been invited to participate as flower girls. They had a great time and came back with beautiful dresses.
On Sunday Zoe went to camp and Beth took Bayley out shopping. I took Braxton, Paul, Gretchen, and Emma to one of the dog parks in Minneapolis. Of course we took Sunny & Rufus, too. It was a really nice day and everybody had a lot of fun watching and playing with the dogs. There were about five pugs at the park. There were also two Saint Bernards. And there was a Chinese-Crested that had the hair on the top of its head dyed pink. Boy was that an ugly dog!!!
+ posted by David
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