Best weekend.

This weekend we had the amazing opportunity to go to the Oregon coast for 3 days for my dad and his new wife's wedding. We got there on Friday evening and checked into our hotel. We knew beforehand that the remnants of Hurricane Oho would be coming down our way and let me tell you, it was INSANE! It rained ridiculously hard for two days and it was so windy. It was cool to watch the ocean churning with the hurricane. Anyway, we went to their rehearsal dinner at McMenamin's that night. We had Cajun tots, truffle fries, and I had a really good burger with mushrooms, peppers, cheddar cheese and onion on it. My husband had a pretty good steak with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Then my Aunt and I split a gluten free dessert - strawberry polenta cake. It was actually really good, we were pleasantly surprised. That night was so much fun and we were laughing and enjoying each other's company the whole time.
My husband and I went back to the hotel that night and swam in the pool. He used the sauna they had and I put my legs in the jacuzzi. I'm not supposed to go any higher than the knee in a hot tub. But it was still so nice. Then we went back to our room.
The next day, Saturday, was the day. Originally they were going to have the ceremony on the beach and I think the reception was going to be in a garden of some kind. But because of the literal hurricane weather, they had to go with a plan B. I loved their plan B!!! We got to a place called the Surfsand resort in cannon beach and helped set up for the ceremony and reception. We put up lights, set up the arch, put candles around the table, and I used my dad's camera to take a few nice shots of the set up before it was tampered with ;) Then I went with my sister to another hotel room where they had a makeup and hair crew for the bridesmaids. I wasn't a bridesmaid, so I didn't get my hair and makeup done. But it was so much fun to be there and watch them do her hair and makeup. I had to ditch out after a few minutes to get back to the hotel with my husband so I could finish some homework before the wedding.
Then we got to the wedding. We walked in and signed a guest book and put our thumb prints on a picture of a tree (such a neat idea) and my Aunt found me and pinned my corsage on my cardigan. Didn't know I would get one, and it made me happy to feel included in the wedding. My sister and Brother were a bridesmaid and groomsman so they were involved in the ceremony itself. My husband and I along with other family sat in the front row. They had wonderful (celtic?) music of some kind for the party to walk the aisle to. When my sister appeared in the doorway to walk down the aisle with my dad, I just about died sobbing. I was making sad little sounds too. My sister looked so gorgeous and it was so sweet that she (in a way) was the one to give my dad away. I kinda cried too when I saw my baby brother (who is now about 5'9" at 13 years old) come down the aisle after. Oh! Another wonderful little tidbit: the bride gave my siblings and I little necklaces (my brother I think got a pocket knife) and the necklaces are beautiful little silver hearts and on the back, engraved, say "family, 10-10-15" I choked up so much when I was given the little gift before the ceremony by my now step-grandma, Anne.
Anyway, when the bride came down the aisle, I was smiling so hard. She looked so beautiful and it made me so happy to think about her joining our family. I happened to look over at the DJ who was motioning for us to stand as the bride entered. So I was the first to stand up. Luckily everyone followed when they saw. The ceremony was beautiful and the bride (my now step mom) wrote a little speech to my siblings and I which made me of course bawl my eyes out. Then they did their vows and exchanged rings, which made me bawl my eyes out. When I began to cry, I looked up and saw my sister in the bridal line looking at me and I pointed at her and mouthed "don't you start crying now." and I lost it. Happy tears of course. The bride and groom looked so happy and it made me cry so hard (hormones contributed to my excessive waterworks). Happy tears, like I said. After the ceremony was a little cocktail hour with drinks and yummy little foodstuffs. Then dinner came along and it was AMAZING. I knew the menu ahead of time, but when we got to it I was stunned. It was a small buffet with fresh caesar salad, potatoes, steamed vegetables, beef bourginon, and some kind of creamy chicken. My husband and I went for the bourginon. It was basically a beef soup/stew with bacon, beef, pearl onions and mushrooms. It was delicious. Then came the dancing! First it was the first dance for my dad and step mom. The next dance, the DJ had all married couples come out to the floor and dance with the bride and groom. He dismissed the couples by how many years of marriage and of course my dad and step mom were first off the floor, but surprisingly my husband and I weren't next! But as the song progressed it was down to two couples: my step-grandparents and my stepmoms preschool teacher and her husband. It ended up being that her preschool teacher and her husband had been married for something like 51 years. So beautiful. Then for the next three or four hours, my husband and I danced with little breaks. It was awesome! I was on my feet for that long and took short breaks. It was so fun. My husband and I swing danced and waltzed and a couple other things. I think we tried a tango of sorts, but decided that it was just a little too much for me :) I danced with my dad to the only Dave Matthews song that was played that night which meant a lot to me because my dad and I love to listen to good music and Dave Matthews is a mutual favorite of ours. It was really funny at one point he comes up to me and asks "what's that one Apple Bottom jeans song?" and I died laughing. He wanted to play "Get Low" by Flo Rida. They did play it and it was one of the only songs my husband and I didn't dance to due to the fact that um... well... let's just say I didn't know my dad knew how to dance that way. haha.
  There were toasts and speeches along the way, a cake cutting, and a bouquet toss. The hurricane weather stopped just a little while before the sun went down and the sun came out as it was setting. It was wonderful. We took some pictures somewhere in there too.
  The end of the night came and I was sweaty and tired from dancing, crying and eating so much. :) We helped clean up and said goodbye to family, then went to our hotel and slept deep.
  The next day, Sunday, we packed up and checked out of our hotel. We went for a little hike down a trail to a little ocean access cove where some of my mom's ashes had been spread. Then we drove a long time, stopped for lunch at pita pit and eventually made it home.
  It was a wonderful and memorable weekend. One of the best memories of my life with my family. My husband said he felt even closer to my family and even more accepted by them as family. We even learned that with new step-family members, we have 5 generations of men coming soon. Meaning my step mom's grandpa, her dad, my dad, my husband, and my son. I hope we are able to get a picture with all 5 generations. Even though it's not blood relation, they are family and it is so cool that we will have 5 generations of family together.
  I'm still so exhausted from the weekend, but I can't wait to see pictures from the wedding. And my dad and his lovely wife get to go to Hawaii for their honeymoon which is awesome. Overall, one of the most memorable weekends of my life.