A Wedding and Family Reunion

One week ago today Larry and I flew to Portland, Oregon to spend a few days with my family. The occasion was my niece, Hannah's wedding. The alarm clock sounded at 3:00 A.M. on Thursday, just three hours after getting into bed the night before!

Almost from the moment we arrived in Portland (10:30 A.M. on Thursday) until our plane took off again on Monday (3:00 P.M.) to fly home, our time was packed full of fun! After collecting our luggage and getting a rental car, we headed for Island Cafe--our favorite place to eat in the Pacific Northwest. It's an outdoor, tropical-themed eatery, at the end of a large dock on the Columbia River.

Next, we drove to our former neighborhood in Beaverton, Oregon (Portland area) where we lived for six years, just prior to moving to Texas. It was so enjoyable to visit with two couples who were favorite neighbors, both homes just across the street from our home there. I even got to pet the cat who used to play in our yard.

Then it was time to head up to Vancouver, Washington where we had lived for seven years before moving down to Oregon. Leaving Oregon to get to Washington means crossing the Columbia River, near where we had eaten lunch. We had just enough time left to check into our hotel in Vancouver before driving back across the Columbia River into Portland, Oregon to spend the evening with our son Jim and daughter-in-law Patricia.

All too soon it was time to head back across the river into Washington. We arrived at the hotel just minutes after the rest of our family completed their drive over from Montana. Perfect timing--unplanned!

Early the next morning (alarm clock sounded at 5:00 A.M.) we headed back across the river into Oregon for some visiting with former friends in Hillsboro (about 15 miles west of Beaverton). Larry was happy for the opportunity to attend the 6:30 A.M. men's Bible study he had participated in before moving to Texas, and I was happy for the opportunity to visit with a couple of favorite friends from the church we had attended. That home is the home of Tom the judge, whose story I just recently posted on my blog.) His wife Julie is also a friend of mine, so she and I then headed over to another mutual friend's home (Karen) where we enjoyed breakfast and a couple hours of "catch-up" time while Larry was at Tom's house.

Next...we headed back across the river to our hotel for fun with our family--both of my sisters and their husbands (along with the 8-year old granddaughter who has been raised by my sister, Dianne, since infancy), plus my dad and his lady-friend Marilyn. Dianne and Chuck were staying in a large suite at the hotel, so that became our central gathering place. Fun and laughter were always present in that room!

That evening (Friday), Jim and Patti, along with my niece Suzanne and her husband Brian, showed up at our gathering place. A little later, my brother, Bill showed up also. At that point our family gathering included fourteen people--all in one room! Think noise--fun noise! Just before we parted for bedtime, my brother-in-law, Ed gathered us into a circle. We held hands as we prayed for the next day's wedding festivities and for the new life Hannah and Andrew were about to begin together. A time of fun at the indoor, heated pool and spa was the perfect ending to the day.

Saturday morning was filled with getting ready for the wedding. The fun memory of that morning is the hilarious exchanging of clothes and shoes among the three sisters--me and my twin sisters who are only one year younger. The three of us are pretty close to the same size, and we grew up sharing a bedroom and our clothes. I guess it's true that some things never change! This exchange of clothing happened throughout our time together at the hotel. What fun we had with each other!

The wedding (at 1:30) was beautiful, of course! In late afternoon the family (both sides of my brother, Bill's family) gathered at Bill and Shawnee's home in Woodland, Washington (about 20-25 miles north of Vancouver) for a barbeque supper. After supper many of us gathered around the piano for a hymm-sing (complete with four-part harmony), with my sister, Colleen as the pianist. It wasn't long before Bill's father-in-law Warren suggested that Colleen switch to the antique pump organ (which had formerly belonged to him). Wow! What a treat that was! Mid-evening we all headed back to the hotel for pool time and late night visiting. Another perfect day was done!

The next morning (Sunday) we gathered once again--the whole family together (both sides of Bill's family) for the worship service at Bill and Shawnee's church. After church all of us, including some friends who had come to the wedding, re-grouped at a fish house for lunch. Following lunch, a bunch of us headed out for an excursion to Mt. St. Helens--the huge volcano that erupted in 1980. Although I've been there many times, it's always an awesome sight, and very sobering to once again stand at the site of massive devastation and loss of life for those who either refused to evacuate or weren't able to escape the fury of the volcano.

Visiting on Monday morning was mostly limited to breakfast time together since everyone had to pack up to head home. When the time came for my sisters' families to hit the road, it seemed to take forever to say our goodbyes, since we knew that it might be our last time all together for a very long time.

After they left, Larry and I still had "time to kill" before our flight home, so we managed to fit in two more visits before our flight time. We got a quick visit with our friend, David Beatty who had lived with us for a year before we moved to Texas. Then we met my brother, Bill for lunch just before leaving Vancouver to head back across the river to the Portland airport. (We drove across that giant of a river six times during those five days.)

It was an amazing family reunion! It wasn't quite complete without my brother, Tom and his wife Nancy, but with only that exception, the visit with each other, plus friends and neighbors was absolutely perfect!