On Friday March 5th, we flew north over the Grand Canyon to Spokane WA and drove to Richland WA to be with Teresa and Nate for their Wedding. Teresa and Nate met in Richland after Nate took a job there with a nuclear engineering firm. Nate had completed his doctorate from MIT. Their first meeting was two years ago. Teresa is the oldest of three Akers and Nate is the oldest and youngest in his family. Friends joined with family for a dinner on Friday before the wedding the next day.
Saturday morning we all awoke in the beautiful spot on the Columbia River to enjoy breakfast and a long walk before donning our Sunday best for the 2:30 wedding that afternoon. It was held in the Christ the King Catholic Church in Richland. A lovely sight for a wedding. Family and friends gathered from near and far to enjoy the ceremony and reception following.
At an appropriate point in the ceremony Teresa's flower girl niece became a tad bored at the lack of direct personal attention and decided to relax, then lay full out then to whimper as the vows seemed to ignore her and proceed as though planned for others. The scene is more aptly described in pictorial form above.
Proud family smiled for the camera following the ceremony. There were smiles ranging from large to budding on the faces of Claudia, Kila Benge (Nate's cousin), Beverly and Bruce (aunt and uncle).
The setting of the reception was adjacent to the hotel facing east to the River. Large paned glass cast afternoon sunbeams on the party. We enjoyed an extremely well selected course of Hors d'œuvres accompanied with both spirited and non-spirited beverages. Hors d' oeuvres (pronounced /ɔrˈdɜrv/; French: [ɔʁˈdœvʁ] literally "apart from the main work") or appetizers are food items served before the main courses of a meal. The French (singular and plural) is hors d'œuvre; in English, the œ ligature is usually replaced by the 2-letter sequence "oe" with the plural often written as "hors d'oeuvres" and pronounced /ɔrˈdɜrv/. There are several related terms, such as a one-bite appetizer, as an amuse-bouche....or others. And they were lovely.
Following this usual brief interlude for pictures, we had a lovely dinner catered by Nate's aunt and her two daughters Heather and Melanie. They did their work with magnificence. Menus adorned the finely decorated round tables
Nate's family and Linda's care giver were all able to attend. We were so happy to see them all. 
Teresa had prepared every detail and Nate did the gentleman's dance practice so very well and then performed it with precision. You may even see him counting the steps with his lips.
The new Father-in-Law David did likewise as he was ever gracious with Teresa
Finally the happy new family finally getting a chance for some nourishment with the setting sun lighting the beautiful park and river bank.
Cake cutting time. Nothing too messy but certainly delicious. We had at least three choices of cake along plus cookies and candy . Sweet ! 
In addition to all the good food, it was a night for dancing and shoes. This pair was the hit of the night. 
Let me present the Carstens Siblings Beverly Benge, David, Claudia Simmons
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state of Oregon before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. The river is 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, and its largest tributary is the Snake River. Its drainage basin is roughly the size of France and extends into seven U.S. states and a Canadian province.
Our lovely home away from home looking east. Very nice place to stay
As we drove to Spokane on Sunday, we enjoyed the sights of a crop duster. I even encouraged Claudia to get closer as he did each pass on this field but she declined. At one pass I could count the rivets on his underside. 
Later on Sunday we passed over Sedona shining through the thunder clouds as we approached the airport and home. The colors were exquisite.
Fini
1 comment:
Love the pictures! David gave me this link so plan on our newly created family keeping up with your daily adventures. Thanks for coming to the wedding! It was great meeting you and Claudia. Finally, the meet and greet of Nate's family is complete! :-) Hope to see you soon!
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