Wedding Weekend

Well, after a few years of engagement bliss, my brother, Brent and his fiancé, Praskovia (Patty) got married. The event was held on the 9th of August at my dad and stepmom’s house in the Barview area of Coos Bay. The location was fantastic, and both Saturday and Sunday were a gift from the mythological God of Weather, Enlil. As many of us can attest, August is often a foggy and windy month on the Southern Oregon Coast, but you could not have ordered up better days. Not a cloud in the sky nor a breath of wind.

The week leading up to the 9th was crazy. I moved into my new house on Monday night, the 3rd…many thanks to all my friends who helped. Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with unpacking and repacking for the wedding. Thursday night I was finally feeling more settled in the new house and by 930P I was off to the airport to pick up the “Denver Crew”. Ryan, Sadie, Laura and Jack all arrived safely after checking in for their flight with one minute to spare and racing through security. It was great to be picking them up and have them all in Oregon, instead of me in Colorado again. We made a trip to the Burgerville drive-thru and a quick stop at the house…and headed south to CB. (My mom went down earlier in the day to check into our rental house at Lighthouse Beach.) We arrived in CB at 230A and by the time we got to the house it was 315A. The drive was good, but we were all pretty tired.

The mornings seemed to include a walk down the stairs to the beach and a big family style breakfast of bacon and pancakes at Dad and Beth’s. Friday was spent setting up for most of the day, the rehearsal, and dinner at the Portside in Charleston. Saturday was filled with more set-up and by 12N we were going our separate ways to get ready for a 2P wedding. The wedding was beautiful. The reception was also held at Dad and Beth’s under a big tent. My dad’s sister, Aunt Charlotte did the cake and transported it from Fortuna, California in pieces. A friend of my stepmoms did the catering and the food was fabulous. Memo Jasso from Brown’s Studio did all the formal photography. The entire wedding was a wonderful culmination of old and new friends, and old and new family. The day was unforgettable and a perfect example of an Oregon Coast wedding.

By Sunday we were all tired, but about twenty of us were ready for a morning of crabbing. Thanks! Dad and Uncle Bobby for the boats and setting the crab pots so early. By 10A we were all settled into “our” spot in a cove on the north spit and happily eating warm, freshly cooked crab. As kids it was a big Saturday activity to go crabbing and cook them on the beach. I love fresh crab. And the crabbing was fabulous, the best I have seen in the last twenty years. By the time we headed to the dock around 1P we had over 100 cooked and cleaned crab. Seriously, a lot of crab, and that was after we all ate three a piece while we were out there.

On Monday the last of us were headed back to our homes, except Ryan. He was staying with Grandpa D and Grandma Beth until Saturday when my Mom would pick him up in Eugene for a few days with her. (Ryan is headed back to Colorado with my mom on the 20th.) Jack rode back to Portland with me, and my mom had Laura and Sadie with her. We made a quick stop in Eugene to see Brent and Patty’s house. Jack and I picked up pizza for dinner, and we all just hung out at the house on Monday eve. Laura and I took Sadie out the airport at 10P for her trip to NYC for work on the red-eye…and Tuesday morning Mom dropped Laura and Jack at the airport for their trip back to Denver.

By Tuesday afternoon, everyone was back to their respective homes, and I had my new house all to myself for the first night. WooHoo!