Random Photos from the Wedding Festivities

The lava fields were amazing and the wedding was beautiful,  but there were a lot of other fun random times!  Here are some photos (taken by us or Kari or Aunt Connie) that show those moments.

It didn't take long for Helena & Charlie to warm up to each other!

 Mom, Dad & Katie practicing the walk up the aisle.

Uncle Rob doing what he was looking forward to most - spending time with his nieces & nephew.

Aunt Connie so wanted to spend time with her brother's grandchildren, and they finally went along with it in the last hour.

The new member of our family!

Helena has loved bikes for awhile (we always say hi to them when we walk into our building).  The smile you see in the above picture, that didn't leave her face once for the entire 45 minute bike ride.

I ate at Voodoo Doughnuts twice, never with my donut-loving husband) but one time with my fun-loving niece Emma!

It was really really nice to be with family, extended and immediate!

My sister is married!

The reason for our trip to Oregon was to be there to witness my sister's wedding day!

You know how something is real but all of a sudden it hits you as being REAL?  That's what happened to me when the above photo was shot.  The photographer had taken a picture of the 4 sibs and then called for a photo of the sibs with the in-laws.  I thought, "Okay, John & Kari, come on in," but then I heard Katie say "There are seven of us."  "Seven???  Oh yeah, Chris. That's right. Come on in, Chris. Welcome to the family."

They got married in a beautiful hazelnut ranch.

Emma was a great flower girl, and Charlie & Helena handed out bubbles.

 

Doesn't my mom look great in her dress?  Besides the bride, who looked amazing, and the handsome groom, my mom was the best looking one there!

Instead of one cake, they chose to get a variety of delicious cakes and tarts for dessert.  Yum, yum, yum.  I had a sampler plate of the lemon poppyseed cake and the key lime tart, and heard gushing comments about the chocolate cake, the fruit tart, and the frangipane tart.  Again, yum.

 On March 22, 1975, my mom married her love.  On March 21, 1981, my mom's sister married her love.  Do the math and their weddings were 6 years minus one day apart.  

I married my love on July 8, 2006.  My sister just got married on July 7, 2012.  Do the math and it's 6 years minus one day apart.

That's right.  Katie & Chris were meant to be  :)

Back from Oregon!

 We may still be on Pacific Standard Time, but Helena & I are back in Toronto.  We had a great visit with my side of the family (minus three) in Oregon.

Meeting my nephew Charlie was really nice.  Funny how Skype made it so I felt like I already knew him a little bit, but after hearing him laugh in person, listening to him say "olive" for the first time, watching him run around with his stuffed animal Ridges, now I know how much more there is to him!  He & Helena got along pretty well, as long as they weren't taking toys away from each other!

It was also really nice to see Eric, Kari, and Emma.  It didn't take long for Emma to warm up to me again, and it definitely didn't take long for her to start loving her cousin!

We definitely stayed busy.  For a few days we headed down to Eugene and shopped for Katie's wedding.  My mom found a great dress for July 7 and Helena found lots of fun mirrors.

Other random fun things we enjoyed: getting frozen yogurt,

playing at the park,

reading books,

and playing with Eric.  For some reason Helena LOVED her uncle.  He'd walk in the room and her eyes would light up and then follow him around the room.  After dinner she'd regularly walk over and sit in his lap.  She'd very willingly have him hold her.  She just couldn't get enough of him!

Charlie is very good with a spoon, so good that he fed Helena oatmeal twice!  Check out his skills - he doesn't even have to watch what he's doing!

 

My mom waited at the airport with Helena & me.  We both were first flying to Minneapolis, but her flight left 3 hours later.  We had a tearful goodbye at the gate, after which Helena & I settled into the plane.  A few minutes later, a flight attendant came up to me and said, "Your mom is getting on the plane, so we've set you guys up in the last row."  WHAT?  The Delta crew members had seen our goodbye, found out my mom was flying later, and then arranged for us to fly together at no fee.  We were so excited and are still so thankful!  

Thanks for letting us visit, Oregon family!  We look forward to seeing you again in July!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Despite having already celebrated Thanksgiving in October, we decided it was well worth it to drive down to Portland in order to celebrate with Charlotte's brother and fam at their new house. It was a great four-day vacation! For some reason we didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving Day, but Kari did cook a beautiful and delicious meal. Much of her family also came over, so it was a real party.

The next day we headed downtown to watch the Christmas Parade. Here are Kari and Emma riding the MAX.



After the parade we headed into the Gorge. The Oregon side of the Columbia River has the most waterfalls in a single area in North America - 77! Of course we stopped at Multnomah Falls.



We also took a short jaunt into the woods and saw Ponytail Falls. Do you see John in the picture?


For those of you who are Tony Hawk fans, we also visited Burnside Skate Park. It was built, without permission from the authorities, by skateboarders under the Burnside bridge. This skate park is supposedly one of the most challenging in the U.S. and is featured in the first Tony Hawk video game. Very cool.



Oh, and look who did some shopping on Black Friday!