wild eleven

 

For our anniversary this year, Mike and I did something extra special: We watched my little sister get married. Avalon and Craig chose September 20 as their wedding day, hoping to get a mild, sunny, beautiful day like the one we had in 2003. Well ... that would have been nice. What they got instead was wild weather and a wedding plan that changed from minute to minute.

The wedding was scheduled for 5 p.m., and we were in the car a little after 4. We were driving down a country road, when we happened to look over and see a whole herd of cows start LEAPING and running together in circles. The wind had picked up -- we could see the dirt in the barnyard swirling around -- and the cows were frantic to get to their shelter. Smart cows! About 5 minutes later, we got to the highway, and the sky just opened up. The rain was so heavy and there was so much lightning that all we could do was pull over and hope we didn't get hit by a falling tree or another vehicle. The boys were pretty freaked out by this time, but they managed to keep it together until the rain let up enough for us to continue.

We finally made it to my parents' road (still with time to spare before 5!) only to find whole trees and big branches down everywhere, including one right in front of the house. So instead of adding to the chaos at my parents' house, we hung a left and went to hang out at Bethany's house and await further instructions. It was pretty bad. In addition to the trees down everywhere, the tents for the reception were down, and the entire dessert/candy bar my mom had set up (with candy in glass jars) was destroyed before anyone could get it inside. Plus, you know, everything that was left standing was soaking wet.

But the show must go on. My parents' neighbor got out his big truck, and people pitched in to get the tree moved and the tents set back up, and then it was go time. My dad made this lovely little platform out in the woods, with benches he made himself using tree trunks cut in half. There were paper lanterns in the trees, and the path was lined with railroad stones scored by my brother-in-law. The ceremony was short and sweet, and before we knew it, Uncle Kent had introduced the new Mr. and Mrs. Joachim, and it was time for the reception. I kept trying to corral the boys for a family picture, but there was an inflatable giant slide/bouncy house thing (filled with water from the storm, naturally!), so by the time I got everyone together, they were all sweaty and wet. Oh, well. At least they were having fun -- and we had a truly interesting way to celebrate our anniversary!