January, 2010

Berkeley, California

The whole reason for our trip to California was to attend the wedding of Terry's niece, Lindsey.  Her wedding day, New Year's Eve, 2010, would have been Terry's mother's (and Lindsey's grandmother's) 100th birthday.  What a way to celebrate! Shawn's parents, Rob & Catherine, are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this year and had long planned to have all their family join them for a trip to Disneyland the first week in January.  Since Shawn's sister Sheila planned to come from Cyprus with her family, and all the rest were going to go, the timing for the wedding was a no-brainer.  Shawn & Lindsey live and work in Washington, D.C., but met and lived in Berkeley and have lots of friends in the area.  Because they wanted to spend as much time with them as possible, they planned lots of activities during and after the wedding - several days worth in fact.   

During the ceremony, performed by Shawn's mother who is an ordained minister, the couple mingled sand from the shores of Puget Sound (Lindsey is from Port Angeles) and sand from the shores of Lake Tahoe where Shawn grew up.  The festivities included a talent show, with the opening act a beautiful duet by the Bride & Groom.  Lindsey's niece Claire sang a song on stage and loved the spotlight.  Isaiah's little daughter Harmony had to be coaxed to sing but did so in the circle of her Daddy's arms.  Shawn's sister Erin, her friend Ginny, who did the arrangement and also played a clarinet, along with Marie, a niece, did a beautiful classical piece.  Bridget sister of the mother of the bride Gael, sang a beautiful rendition of Always.  Terry offered the newlyweds some advice in the form of an updated version of the Victor Borge punctuation monologue she's done over the years.  Our grandson Jeremy even took to the stage and did a vaudeville skit that he has done before.  Jorn & Sheila (the couple who came from Cyprus) treated everyone to a German wedding skit in which EVERYONE participates.  The Bride & Groom were the Prince and Princess; the parents of the bride and groom were the wheels on the carriage, the siblings were the horses, all the children were the trees in the forest, Isaiah was the charioteer; and the rest of us were the pebbles on the path.  It was hysterical and a lot of fun.

This was also the first time that most of Terry's brother and family have met our grandchildren, so we had lots of catching up to do.  Claire was quite taken with her cousins and kept them occupied.  There were hors  d'oeuvres, a buffet catered from Shawn & Lindsey's favorite restaurants, dancing, lots of toasts, a quiet room with dozens of board games (a favorite pasttime of Shawn's family), and a welcoming in of the New Year at Midnight. 

The next few days were filled with all sorts of activities, brunch, hiking to their favorite spot, bowling, dinners, rock climbing, and a high-tech scavenger hunt in San Francisco.