Weekend

Well this last Friday I flew to Spokane for my brother, Yancy's wedding. I'd flown up in June for Lucie's graduation and was able to have a quick visit then, but it was wonderful seeing everyone again. We arrived to a lot of fog and rain (and me with no proper jacket! Ah well....)

We arrived safely, waited for the bus and rode it to the downtown bus depot. While we waited for Enterprise Rental to come "pick us up" I went into the bus coffee shop and ordered a green apple jet tea (something I haven't found down here yet and had loved when I lived in Washington). It still tasted good but was far too sweet....guess I won't be missing those anymore! I also grabbed Jase and I each a M&M sugar cookie that I used to get often, but those too just weren't the same yumminess as I remember. I guess its true what they say...you can't always go back home.

Enterprise showed up and drove us to their lot; turns out they were short on cars and boy were they really pushing for us to take a huge red pickup. The rental guy was filling out all of the paperwork when this very nice Chevy 300 rolled onto the lot. I asked them "what about that car?" but was essentially ignored. As he was typing away the pickup pusher kept insisting that gas in Sandpoint was down to $1.86 a gallon (I didn't see anything anywhere near that low....the little sneak!) and that the truck wouldn't be expensive to drive but we were insistent, so after they checked the 300 in and gave it a quick clean we had the paperwork changed and were soon rolling out of the lot in style.

Jase had his Dick's burger (I still fail to see the appeal in those greaseburgers...seriously, it must be a guy thing). We stopped by Lucie's place to pick her up and then headed over to Hula Hut so I could get my blackened Ahi fix. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....dang I love that stuff! I ended up getting 2 orders of it and had the other one for breakfast the next morning. I also found out that the brown sauce I was going nuts to figure out was their version of teriyaki sauce. So now I can make it at home! All it is really is Ahi steak, roll it in black poppy seeds and white sesame seeds and then lightly grill on all sides so it is still pink in the middle. Cut into thin slices and serve with rice, wasabi and teriyaki sauce. Yeah!!!! No more craving something I can't get down here...now I can make it for myself whenever I feel like! Now those Ahi steaks that have been in my freezer for the last 2 months can come out and see the light of day....

We stopped at Rosauers to pick up perogie supplies, a couple packs of bacon, some eggs and a huge cheesecake sampler pack before Jase dumped Lucie and I off at her place and left on his own adventures for the night.

Lucie started playing Rock Band while I ate my first order of Ahi and then I hate to say it but I passed out on the couch (I want to say it was around 6:30). While I slept Lucie made her own perogies (sorry honey!) and then read until her roommate came home from work around 10. Shortly afterward I woke up and we had a slice of cheesecake before everyone went to bed. I slept out on the couch because I didn't want to kill Lucie's air mattress, and while it was very comfortable I woke up fairly stiff in the morning. I managed to get in the shower and dressed up and, by the time Jason came to pick us up, I was walking mostly upright again. I should mention that this has been happening all too often lately (the stiff back, not sleeping on the couch). If I get moving around it eventually straightens out...I just need to stretch it more.

Back however to the weekend....Jason dropped me off at the temple and then he and Lucie went for a drive until after the ceremony when he would be needed for the photo session. I went in and didn't see anyone I knew but Leah and Yancy pulled up right after us and so I finally got to meet Leah's wonderful parents and her supercool sister. I also met a few grandparents, a sweet aunt Jan and a few other relatives that I am not sure of the connection, but I have to say that Leah's family seems like they are a lot of fun. Yancy's roommates from Provo walked in (which seemed completely weird but it was sweet to see that they were willing to drive the 10 hours to Spokane for the wedding). By this time I had finally spotted Dad and Arlene so I sat with them until we were called in for our session.

It was so beautiful there in the temple,and so touching to be able to be a part of it. I can never thank Yancy enough for encouraging me so I could be there.

Afterwards the rain miraculously stopped long enough that Jason was able to take pictures outside...most of the leaves had fallen to the ground already and I am sure the grass was too mushy to walk on, especially with Leah's dress, but I think Jason managed to take some very lovely shots anyway. Mom and Peter showed up about halfway through the photo session so they were able to get some pics with the bride and groom before we all headed our seperate ways....dad and Arlene had already left for Sandpoint to prepare for the reception, Yancy, Leah and her family went back to the hotel and then out to eat, while Jason, Lucie and I met mom and Peter at Longhorn BBQ for lunch.

Afterwards we went back to Lucie's to grab our bags and then we drove to Sandpoint. Pulling up the house was a lovely blaze of light in the growing twilight...and inside Arlene had the fireplace going and candles burning everywhere. The effect was enchanting. We stowed our gear in our bedrooms and then guests began arriving.

Arlene had asked me to cut and serve the cake but I admit I did a horrible job. It wasn't until afterwards that I thought "hey, I should have asked Dad for a spatula". Instead I cut nice slices at first and all was going well, but then the top layers started to slide off the bottom (darn buttercream!) so my slices were getting larger and larger. Roy asked for a slab of cake (and a slab is what he got!) and a few other people asked for larger slices, but Dad came along later in the evening, took one look at my thick slices, and quietly started tossing them in the garbage! Actually I didn't mind because it let me off the hook and everyone cut the size of cake they wanted after that, so I was free to mingle.

My aunt Joan, her husband Paul, and my cousins Doug and Tracey showed up, which was great because I hadn't seen them for a few years. Doug's wife Rhonda is pregnant and their daughter is so big now....it was strange to see how old she was now until I got a look at both of Tracey's boys...freaking heck, they were little kids when I last saw them and now I think the oldest is a senior in high school. Dang that makes me feel old! We sat around and visited for awhile...even after everyone else had left before they finally had to go home. I forgot how much I miss them....and it was wonderful to get to catch up on things.

Sunday we had a family breakfast...Arlene was so tired from the day before that she didn't get up before we left, but Miya and Roy came back over from his mother's place. We laughed and talked until finally Jason and I had to leave. We'd planned on leaving at 10 but I think it was after 11 before we got in the car and started the drive back to the airport and home. Jason wanted to be sure and stop by Safeway for some Longhorn BBQ sauce and a cookie....sure enough he remembered to grab the cookies but had forgotten the sauce! By that point we were so pressed for time that he couldn't run back in, so he's lucky that he still has a bottle and a half of it at home!

I'd charged up my camera batteries and packed every memory card I own...wouldn't you know it that the only pictures I ended up taking the entire trip were from the window of the plane! I'd wanted to get a shot of Bear Lake encased in fog but by the time I mentioned it to Jason we had passed the turnoff. Unfortunately the fog didn't look good the next morning and we were in too much of a rush anyway. I was thinking of getting a few shots of rain on a red berry tree in my parents front yard, but didn't get around to it in time. Bummer, but I have some lovely shots in my mind and I guess they will have to do. Besides, Jason took a ton of pics so I will just have to steal some of his.

The flight home was fairly uneventful, a little turbulence at one spot but the landing in Salt Lake was just fine....I may end up liking to fly after all. Coming home was wonderful. My own stuff, my own bed, my cats waiting for me. Sammy all but leaped into my arms when I came in through the door, and poor Jasper somehow got sick while I was gone. Its now Tuesday and he still isn't 100% better, but he's not as lethargic as he was when I came home. I can only hope he gets to feeling better soon.

All-in-all it was a wonderful weekend....but ,as Dorothy says, "there's no place like home".