Sera Ann toasts the bride and groom!!
And she toasts them again!
Aunt Jess and Uncle Dan celebrated their wedding on the shores of a pristine creek, in the yard of their dear friend Havard who lives just outside the quaint town of Silverton, Oregon. The weekend was perfect...the weather could not have been better, the setting was beautiful and romantic, it was a joy to be with all the family and friends, the food was absolutely mouth watering and Jess and Dan were, most definetly, in love.
Once the wedding plans were set, Nate and his cousin Shawna began plotting and scheming how to make a vacation out of our trip for the wedding. In the end, our family and the Fullingtons (Shawna's family-Shawna, Jon, Logan and Dillon) rented a house on the Oregon Coast for the week prior to the wedding. Many other family members either joined us or rented a place close by - which turned the week into one big, wonderful family reunion. The shores of Oregon are absolutely spectacular and we spent much of our time hiking around the beaches, climbing on rocks, looking for sea lions, and just enjoying our time together. It was so nice for the kids to be with their cousins - they really bonded very quickly. Every morning Max would wake up and excitedly ask "are 'the cousins' still here?"
And it was good for Nate and I to spend some time together with Shawna and Jon -Shawna is like a sister to Nate and he really misses her. It was good for our families to be together.
After the week, we all headed to Silverton for the wedding weekend. Jess and Dan had asked Tayah to be the flower girl and Max to be the ring bearer. Also, Nate and Nick worked on a special toast they gave to Jess and Dan at the rehersal dinner...it was fun to see them pool their memories of growing up with Jess. Dan and Jess had asked Dan's Aunt to perform their wedding ceremony - his Aunt is Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and while I was too nervous to say much to her, it was exciting to meet someone whom I admire so much.
Two weeks after the wedding in Oregon, Jess and Dan had a Door County party for all the family and friends that couldn't make it to Oregon. We went up to Door County a few days before and stayed the week after the party. We continued the tradition of spending a morning at The Farm, we went Go-Carting, swimming, ate ice cream, played on the beach, had some great runs, went shopping (Krista) and biking (Nate) and hit probably every playground between Sturgeon Bay and Washington Island! As always, it was a blast. Here are some pics of our time in Door County and at the wedding party.
The newlyweds - Jess and Dan - just before cutting the cake.
