Back-to-back weekend--wedding and birthday

The last weekend of July started off with my co-worker Jennifer's wedding. Her birthday is July 27th--the same as Aaron's--so she planned her wedding for the 26th, the last day before she turned 30. Below are some of the deli folks from the Co-op being their beautiful selves.




Our deli manager, Jeanette, is giving some last minute advice to the bride...



and to Vy, the groom.




Their wedding was in the Rose Garden of Avery Park. It was a beautiful ceremony--very heartfelt and really an expression of who Jennifer and Vy are. (Their wedding invitation opened out to show a pic of the Willamette River that Jen grew up near in Eugene and the Mekong River of Vy's country of origin, Viet Nam. The invitation ended with the Chinese quote "The rivers of our soul spring from the same well." A card was enclosed asking that people donate to Medical Teams International, their favorite cause, rather than give gifts. That's Jen and Vy.)

After the ceremony we walked through the park to a sheltered picnic area for a potluck and barbeque. Below are a couple of photos of the table decorations that I was so impressed with.



How danged cute and natural is that?!?




And take a look at the table! One continuous piece of wood. It was really cool when everyone was sitting down together.




Jennifer's aunt was going around during the reception asking groups of Jen's and Vy's family and friends to pose together and she'd take a Polaroid photo of them. Then she'd mount it in a big scrapbook and give them colored pens to write notes around the photos. Below is the deli crowd writing in the book. What a great idea.




Instead of a wedding cake they served a big assortment of pies from their favorite bakery in Eugene. The pies were accompanied by champagne and some very sweet toasts from Vy's best man and brothers. Then the happy couple squared off for their first dance as a married couple
and that was the end of the show for me and Courtney.





Back at the ranch, or more accurately, back at Maya and Eder's, my sister Kissy and her husband Paul and their son Matt had arrived from Maryland. They timed their Oregon vacation to be here for Aaron's 13th birthday celebration.

Here's my sister below, sitting in our backyard and waiting for birthday party guests to arrive.




And here's Paul and Kissy as the crowd gathers.



It was a very sweet and fun party. This is Charlee and Jessi, buds from work. We had about 20 people there. It was a gorgeous afternoon and we all just hung out in the backyard and talked and sipped drinks and ate good food. Several people, when reading "no gifts" on the invitation, had asked what Aaron likes in food. My answer, of course, was chocolate. So we had more than enough chocolate at the party as well as two fabulous chocolate buttermilk cakes from the Co-op bakery.



Everyone brought really fabulous food. I wish we'd taken pictures of the spread on our dining room table. It was quite impressive. Goat brie, a huge bowl of blueberries, deviled eggs, marionberry cobbler, breads, salads...and more and more. Ben ate his weight in blueberries. He even took a moment out of playing hard to sit with his Poppi.




OK! Times up and he's back on his feet!



We brought out the bucket of Ben's toys, which he did slow down enough occasionally to play with, but mostly he was kicking the soccer ball, pulling his little wagon around full of stuff, and just generally keeping a move on. Aaron and Matt, though, had more fun with Ben's toys than Ben did. (That's OK. Whatever keeps them out of trouble.)




They're two cute guys. And both lots of fun. I think everyone had a good time at the party.




I really wanted Aaron to feel welcomed into our Corvallis community of friends, as a good way to celebrate his entry into the teen years. Seems like kids really need to feel the love and support of more than just their immediate family--they need a community behind them. There were others, that I really wanted Aaron to meet or get to know better, who couldn't make it, so I think we'll have more potlucks in the backyard until the weather gets too cold. Then we'll move inside.

A couple days after the party my sister and her family took Aaron and they went on a three-day trip to Crater Lake, Diamond Lake and the sand dunes along the southern Oregon coast. That was a great trip for Aaron--he got to see more of Oregon and see some really amazing things, especially Crater Lake. So his teen years are good so far. But good luck to us all.

Thanks for continuing to read our blog. Happy summer, more later,

Valori