Catie's Wedding Day

 It's been a busy few days.  I drove to Port Angeles Friday morning and rode with Jenni and Wayne up to Salt Creek Campground about 10 miles? the other side of P.A.  I was so tickled that the sun came out and stayed out.  Pictures below.  My favorite part of the ceremony was what Catie said to her Louie and what he said to her.  It was great to meet their friends and family too.  His best man and another best friend had to cancel at the last minute because they got covid but another friend stepped in and he was just great at his impromptu speech with the champagne afterwards.

Catie's dad (from Florida) officiated and he did a wonderful job. He's an engineer by trade. His ex-wife (from Utah) came with her two kids. I hadn't seen her in decades and it was nice to talk to her. She's a writer.  Catie's two half sisters were there (from FL)  The oldest is 3 months older than Catie and she's a doctor.  Some of Louie's friends came from Florida, Texas, and even ENGLAND!   Nice boys. I enjoyed them all.

Catie made all the table decorations and they were a work of art. She works at thriftbooks.com and had taken a dozen books, cut holes in the middle, and made nature scenes in them. Pages from the books were strewn down each table. She had little slips of paper for people to write messages on and they were clipped to this line on the window. Those will be in her memory wedding book.  Besides crafts, Catie is into photography and she hired a professional who got a ton of good pictures.

I was there for about four hours. The wedding cake was a pyramid of delicious brownies with a topping that Catie's dad made for her with his woodburning set.  Those brownies, by the way, were WONDERFUL.  Real chocolately and moist but not too rich. My son-in-law Paul probably ate 7 of them. Ha Ha Instead of a big cake, they had three pies. And the food was a taco bar where everyone made their own. Catered by a Port Angeles taco outfit called Little Devils.  (I think?) Just love my memory.

Sadly, I heard today that Louie had to go back to Kent (to take care of their cat) and Catie had to go to bed at Jenni's as she got sick. Probably just worn out. I still remember getting a horrible headache after my wedding was over. Release of stress I think.

I had insomnia the night before so I was pretty tired most of the day. Was glad when I went to bed last night that I was out like a light. Poor Mary and Andy. They had a motel in P.A. but they had to drive all the way back to Vancouver as Jake had a soccer game this morning.  Mary sent me pictures today of how Poppy was super glad to be back.

I went to Lois Black's Celebration of Life this afternoon. BIG TURNOUT. I probably knew 85% of the people there.  I had planned to go to another funeral at the Presbyterian Church a couple of hours later but my hips and legs were having none of it. Some days are just like that. I ran to PennySaver Market on the way home to pick up a pea salad and sandwich for dinner tonight. Also grabbed two small bags of potato chips and gave one to a homeless guy standing outside. Since I bought a lotto ticket, I'm hoping my good deed will be repaid by God.  haha  I'm such a dreamer.

I finished another jigsaw but think I'll move on to other hobbies for a while. I got a text from one of Mary's friends who wants me to paint a rock for another friend whose dog died.  I've also decided that if I'm going to get all the books read that I want to read, I'd better get with it. Unfortunately, though, I still find it really hard to get too far into a chapter before I'm needing a nap.  I started East of Eden yesterday and I can tell it's going to be one good read.

Mary finally got a surgery date so Jenni and I will drive to Vancouver on May 22. Mary's surgery is in Portland on the following day and she'll have a few days' in the hospital and then 4 to 6 weeks recovery at home.  Next Saturday I'll have another funeral out at the VFW in Hadlock. Sid Hubbard.

And here are some of the photos I took.  As usual, I didn't really get everybody there and I had to delete a few that weren't worth keeping for one reason or another. You'd think I'd be better at this picture taking as long as I've been doing it.

                                                             Catie's Dad, Dave Merrill

Andy,Mary,Catie,Louie, Jake  (Poppy was going to be in the picture but they had to take her away as she adores Catie and kept wanting to jump up and kiss her in her dress)

Catie's half sisters (Carl in red) Audrey in black. Audrey & Carl's mom, Michelle on right. Other two kids are Michelle's.

Two of Louie's friends. Daniel on left (from England)  sorry I forget the other guys name. I think he's married to a friend of Catie's.

                  Erin in the white sweater, friend of Catie's with Wayne on the left

                              Catie's mom, Susan and her husband, Paul Weinstein

                             Jeremy (I think) and Cailey, Catie's maid of honor

                                                            some of Louie's pals

                                       Catie's grandpa made those wood sticks on top

                                          One of Catie's centerpieces made from a book

                                                                 Memory board

  

                                             Heading for a picture under the trees

                                                 Several toast speeches were given

                                                      Filling out the marriage license

Paul getting one more yummy brownie. Mary and Sue on left

                       the photographer out on the rocks below getting a beach shot

Catie's cousins, Shannon McIntire Dykeman and her husband and twin daughters. Jenni and Wayne on the left

                                   A short part of what I videotaped. Mary took a longer video.