The Final Hours

Saturday night was the rehersal dinner.  We had wonderful food at Nicolas in downtown Portland and then headed home.  It was about 10:00 pm and we still had many tasks to finish before wedding day on Sunday.  Josh decided to avoid traffic on I-5 and took a different route that brought us to a bridge crossing.  We almost made it to the entrance when we were stopped by a police brigade.  We were puzzled until we saw the first of the participiants in an interesting event.  For 20 minutes we sat and waited for thousands--yes, thousands--of naked or mostly naked bicyclists to cross the bridge first.  Not sure of the significance of this and I could only contemplate how "comfortable" that ride must have been!  Not much sleep this night!

Wedding Day:  Josh, Wally and the crew of bridesmaids and groomsmen make their way out to the Columbia River Gorge and Bridal Veil Lakes to start setting up.  Jessi and I head to downtown Portland to have her hair done.  All is going well, our only task left before we head out to the Gorge is to pick up the salads that were ordered.  But.....the restaurant where they are being held is on one of the main thoroughfares that is....wait for it.....blocked by police for a parade!  There is no way to get to the restaurant directly and there are no parking places in sight because of the parade!  What is at issue here is the fact that we have 3 very large coolers full of ice in the back of the car into which the salads will go.  After driving around for half an hour (the clock is ticking, the bride needs to get to the site for photos!!!), a car finally pulls out and we are able to park.  Now we both heft heavy containers and run the 3 blocks to the restaurant only to find that the salads are in large trays and will not fit into the coolers.  So we now contemplate hauling the empty coolers back and then returning to take all the salads back.  But, all is not lost, the very kind owner of the restaurant offered the help of one of his employess who brings out a cart, loads up the coolers and the salads and hauls them back to the car for us. 

We ultimately arrive at Bridal Veil Lakes and the wedding happens.  I have no photos of my own, but my dear friend Sherry put her photos up on her blog this morning and I can share them with you!  It was a glorious day, blessed in every way!

Down To The Wire.....

It's raining today, we are hoping this is  the end of it.  Yesterday was sunny and warm, tomorrow......we shall see!  I can't believe how much we have accomplished in just two days.  The list of things that had to be made by hand seemed overwhelming, but between us we accomplished them all:  made 7 picnic blankets, cut out and prepared table runners and table toppers, cut and glued sooooooooooo many "pinwheels".  Yet to do:  sew the programs, tie the pinwheels to be hung on the site, prepare the centerpieces, and of course the food and the decorations on site which will happen tomorrow between 9 am and 1 pm when the pictures start happening.  By His grace it will all happen!

And...there was even brief pause for rest and reflection this morning!

Wedding Sweatshop and Rehersal

This sweatshop has no union, bad wages but great benefits!  We are actually accomplishing many of the multitude of tasks left to finish before Sunday!

And we still managed to make to the rehersal.  The guys had a great time "praticing" their arrival in the canoes!

T-4 ..... And Counting.....!

This is the scene in Tigard, OR, this morning.  We have 4 days to cut, sew, paste, tie, clean, organize and put togther this...and more....by Sunday 2 pm.  Much prayer is needed; much sleep will not happen! 

Summer At Long Last

The paper told us on Saturday morning that in Whatcom County we had gone for a total of 249 consecutive days with the temperature never reaching 70 degrees.  Add to this lack of heat a perpetually grey sky and fairly consistent rain, and you can understand why people went a little crazy this weekend.  We surpassed 70 by several degrees and the sky was bright blue and cloud free.  It was glorious and so needed for our psyches!  People were EVERYWHERE,: every park was full, every beach was full, BB Q's and wading pools were hauled out and bare feet saw the light of day for the first time in 8 months!

Our day was full, we had three different celebrations to attend which required detailed planning.  First on the agenda was Liam's first birthday!

Michelle (redhead to the left) is Liam's Mom and a young and talented English teacher at Sehome.  She's one of my favorite people and I was honored to be included in the celebration.

From Whatcom Falls park and Liams bash we headed to an open house at our home church in honor of one of my favorite members of our church family, Lisa.  Lisa sings like and angel and has just completed her degree in voice at Cedarville University in Ohio.  She is beautiful inside and out and is vivacious and affectionate.  Love this girl.

I knitted her some socks!  I think she was pleased!

We completed our round of party-hopping at my good friend, Lynn's, home where she was hosting an open house for her daughter, Elise, who will graduate Summa Cum Laude from high school in just 5 days.  I had an integral part in helping to bring Elise into the world! Lynn's husband works in Eastern Washington and has to commute back and forth weekly for his job.  It takes him about 7 hours to get home, so we decided that I would be Lynn's "coach".  We attended Lamaze classes together and I was the one who got the call in the middle of the night to take her to the hospital and coach her until Rich was able to arrive.  Thankfully, he made it in time for the actual birth and it was one of the highlights of my life to be a part of this event.  I think Elise turned out pretty well!

She will attend Whitman this fall and Lynn will join me in the ranks of "empty-nesters".  Where did all that time go?