Wedding

We're back from our trip to CO and WY for C&D's wedding. We had a terrific time at the wedding, meeting D's family, and catching up with my parents and aunts and uncles.

The Night Before the Wedding
We all met in Cheyenne for dinner at local Mexican restaurant. The food and service were both superb and DS and I enjoyed getting to know D's dad and his wife. They've spent a lot of time down in Loreto, Mexico, so it was interesting to hear of their experiences down there. Following dinner, most people headed over the C&D's house to meet Miss Daisy the kitten and see the new landscaping that C&D spent much of the summer putting in. Finally, we headed over to the fire station where C works to get a tour.

The Wedding
The wedding was casual and very nice. It was outdoors at the amphitheater in the park where the lodge of the reception is located. The weather was cooperative, with the crisp air a good temperature and clear skies above. C&D walked down the aisle with Arte and Winston (the dogs) who wore special collars with flowers matching C&D's. They were just adorable.

The Reception
The lodge where the reception was held was a great location for a wedding. Get this people: they rented the entire lodge for the evening for a total of ... wait for it ... $75! C&D did so much work to get it looking all proper for a wedding reception and did a terrific job. All of my brother's HS friends - consisting mostly of the basketball team that won state their senior year - made it to the wedding, so it was a reunion of sorts for my brother. It's amazing how close his group from HS has remained while most other classes, such as mine, do not keep in touch at all.

The Post-Reception Night
The lodge has a large room upstairs with about 20 twin beds in it. My mom, her brother and his wife, C&D, DS & me, and D's dad and his wife all spent the night in the lodge after spending the evening chatting and playing games (my dad and his wife stayed for games, but choose to sleep at a nearby hotel that evening). I was a bit concerned at first because there was no shower and let's face it, I'm a bit of a priss, but it all turned out just wonderfully. The only snag in the plan was that various people were snoring and making noises, making sleeping conditions less than ideal; however, I am so glad that C&D decided to have the whole family stay over with them and get to know each other, so the lack of sleep was a very small price to pay.

The Next Morning
Everyone woke up fairly early. We took a hike around the nearby pond in hopes we'd see some beavers, but had to settle for a squirrel. My dad and his wife, along with my dad's sister and her husband, rejoined us in the morning at the lodge for a breakfast cooked by C&D. Since our family is so spread out all over the country, it was great to be able to spend more time with everyone. Following breakfast, gifts were opened. Finally, we all pitched in to load up the decorations - C&D brought in tables, various furniture items, vases, indoor trees and all sorts of other things to give the lodge a warm feeling - and rented tables into a van. We said our goodbye's and headed for the airport.

I was pretty bummed that both DS and I forgot our cameras, but fortunately we bought my mom a digital camera for her BD, so hopefully her pictures came out nicely.

The dogs were quite happy to see us and it sounds like they had a great time with the pet sitter (who was new to them ... she works for the pet sitter I have been using).

Tomorrow I have an interview for a volunteer position, followed by a hike with S and baby A. Also, my new chunk of workout and nutrition goals start tomorrow.