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Friday, January 15, 2010

Stizzy ties the knot part 2: Elko edition

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The night after the Salt Lake reception, we got up early and piled in the cars for the drive to Elko for the reception there that night. For some silly reason, I decided I should drive. And then it got snowy. Real snowy.

We were seriously going between 20-25 mph. At times, all I could make out were the tailights of the moving van in front of us. And the silly windshield wipers kept getting ice chunks frozen on them. Chuck rolled down the passenger window, reached out, and 'flicked' the windshield wiper free of ice. He then instructed me to do the same on the driver's side. I have never 'flicked' a windshield wiper before, and I seriously doubt I'll ever do it again. On my first try I missed the wiper altogether, so when on my second try I got a hold of it, my excitement got the best of me and instead of flicking it, I just held on. And on. I know, right? Of course it snapped off, leaving Chuck and myself in a state of shock. We drove the next thirty miles with me awkwardly/unsafely leaned over so I could see out Chuck's half of the window. I kept nervously giggling and telling Chuck how funny the whole situation was, to which he responded, "It will be funny when we get out of this alive."

Which we did! We stopped in Wendover and Chuck replaced the wipers and then took over driving, thank goodness!

We also regrouped with the rest of the caravan (showing off in their four wheel drive rides). Luckily the weather cleared up and the rest of the drive was drama-free.

Clyde and Will and myself enjoyed fabulous naps in the afternoon while Chuck helped set up at the church, and then it was time to go!

The Elko reception happened to fall on our sister-in-law Aleesha's 22nd birthday, which meant that the whole family was together and able to celebrate! So we had a little surprise birthday party (complete with cake!) for her right before the reception. Love ya Leesh!

(Grandma Thomas chatting with Steve's sister Lisa, Steve's mom Kathryn, and Steve's sister-in-law Julie)
The reception was so fun! Everyone was so relaxed and we had lots of time to spend talking and enjoying the yummy hot chocolate - complete with every topping or mix-in you can imagine! Chuck and I sat at a table with Steve's parents, sister, and sister-in-law and had a great time getting to know them a little better. My seven-year-old niece Courtney and I also spent a good portion of the reception pretending we were distant cousins of the bride who made the trip over from England and using really dreadful British accents :).

Chuck's Uncle Bill and Aunt Gina and three of their kids came all the way from Pennsylvania, and it was really fun to meet them and hang out a bit. Here they are at the reception with my cute niece Mallory.

Courtney posing with the cake.

The happy, happy couple eating some cake. It was goooooood. I know, I ate some the next day for lunch.

Will systematically attached himself to each member of the Thomas family, but it was especially fun to see how much he connected with Uncle Bill since they happen to be named after the same person, Chuck's late Grandpa Thomas (Bill's dad). So here's our picture of the two Williams!

4 comments:

Leslie said...

Love the hot cocoa bar idea! What a fun thing for a winter wedding!

mama izatt said...

For awhile there I wondered if we would make it in time to set up...25 mph across the Salt Flats takes forever. We could see that semi way ahead of us, but we had no idea you were that close ('till we found you in Wendover).

Leslie...that cocoa was a wonderful idea of Amanda's. We have enough stuff left over to throw a cocoa-tasting/sledding party. I wonder if we will get up to Nampa while there is still snow on the ground.

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