The Sweetest Wedding Ever

 All the best to Paige and Mikey
            Tahoe- - Mike and Paige's Wedding

    Our family had yet another occasion to gather recently.  It was the wedding of our brother, Mikey.  He married Paige, who is the sweetest girl!  We were delighted to see them get hitched, and of course we were happy to be together again as a family. Tahoe was the destination which pleased one sister to no end because she had dreamed that she was going to win a car.

If you have been paying attention, you know this would somehow turn out to be a goofy and joyous occasion.

    Mike's best man was our other brother, “John the Holy Ghost.”  See, there are three important Johns in the family.  The middle sister married one and then they named their son after his dad.  That makes John the Father and John the Son.  Brother John just had to be the third John of the unholy trinity. 

      L to R John the son, John the holy ghost, and John the father.



    We came together in the little mountain town the day before without a single snafu, a miracle, considering people came from four different states and twice as many cities.  How did people do these things before the advent of cell phones?  The wedding was to take place by the lake at 6:00 the next evening. 

    Sometime after lunch on her wedding day, Paige realized that the pictures on the internet advertising the wedding site were a bit misleading.  It had shown that the trellis, as well as the chairs would be festooned with flowers and ribbons.  They assumed that these decorations would be there for them.
They weren't.

  
Oh my goodness.
Oh my goodness.

What to do?
What to do?

The sisters and brothers went off in four directions to gather supplies. (It was sort of like the “Stone Soup” wedding in the movie “Fandango.” If you haven't seen this movie, get it on your Net Flix or whatever.  It is a great “sleeper.”)

Would you believe that South Lake Tahoe has no Michaels?  No Target?  No JoAnns?

    We finally found a fabric store hidden behind a small motel and got ribbon and tule.  Miles of tule.  Others found flowers, and we spent all afternoon making poofy flowery wedding bows and then decorated the area for a proper wedding.  It was lovely.

         Now this is the way a bride should come down the aisle!
                         But alas, she put the champagne down and walked like a proper bride.


    Meanwhile one family member, The Anonymous One, worked all afternoon learning to text on the phone he has owned for a year and a half.  He told Rob before the ceremony began,  (and I paraphrase for properness) “I am a texting DUDE!”

    The wedding and the vows were sweet.  Paige and Mike both cried, which made the rest of us cry, too. The pastor ended with a pastorly prayer.  At the amen, The Anonymous One's phone beepy beeped to indicate that he had received a text.  It was from Rob (who was seated in front of him) and it said,

    “Did you remember to turn your phone off?” 

    As you can probably guess this caused muffled snorts and then laughter in the form of a wheeze like Mutley the cartoon dog for almost two solid minutes.

    John the father made a video with his Flip and there was some semi-audible input from me heard in it. 

“Knock it off!” I said, in one syllable, in a teeth-grinding, hissing stage whisper, which caused more wheezy laughter.

    There were lots of pictures taken.  They are full of sweetness   and love,  except for the ones I am in. They are not so sweet.  I look as if I just removed a spear from my own thigh for some reason. 

    No one in any casino was giving away a car either, but the weekend was still a success.  A new car is nothing compared to a loving family gathering.

                 Now for the "Ever After."