Wedding and Honeymoon Photos!

 

My husband William and I ten minutes after our wedding in the Portland Oregon Rose Garden in 2001.  He's the HOT GUY I "bought" for TEN DOLLARS off the Internet!

            This post won't make a "lick of sense" to you if you haven't read the FIRST TWO before it - that would be "Best Ten Dollars.." and "What Happened to That Hot Guy...".  Look on my blog in March and you will find them.  They are riotously funny and absolutely true.

                    I bought this hunky guy online for $10!

              After we were married in the gorgeous Rose Garden we took photos (sorry that was before we bought a digital camera, so these are scanned hard copies);  then my cousins Dr. Bob and Anita took us down to their private club in downtown Portland for dinner.   

          They gave us wedding presents: a neat painted tile of the Portland Harbor that shows the high rise building where their apartment is - and we still have it.   Also, we got a book filled with the history and photographs of the famous Rose Garden.  We couldn't have pulled off the whole wedding without them.  God bless you guys, Bob and Anita!

              Since we were unfamiliar with Portland, they led us out to the airport where William had reserved a Bridal Suite for us at the Holiday Inn.   Again, they saved our "Bacon" by making sure we didn't get lost on our wedding day in the heavy Portland traffic.   I don't think we could have found the motel because Portland has one way streets and it's confusing.

My Cousins, Dr. Bob and Anita from Portland.  William and I and the Judge on their left.  It was a gorgeous day.  The rain that always happens in Portland, STOPPED that day just for our wedding.

             My famous cousins (he's written several books, been on talk shows) dressed to the "nines" and looked great for our photos.  Cousin Bob and I share the same grandparents, the ones mentioned in the very first blog post I wrote.  (Before My Beginning)     We are all a bit wacky but NICE.
   

Holding the license that was so difficult to get, Judge and William and I pose.

              This judge was our last resort for someone to marry us.  Good thing he didn't have a racquetball game scheduled.  He was pretty cool.

The Portland Rose Garden was such a beautiful place to get married!

         NONE of the people in the background were guests.  We only had Bob and Anita, our witnesses.  Remember, this was a wedding planned and executed long distance in only a WEEK.    The people around us were TOURISTS!   Some Japanese took photos of us.  Guess they thought we were something to show back home.  Hope they "Photo Shopped" it to make me look skinny!

Our Bridal Suite at the Holiday Inn had this huge jacuzzi!

           The Holiday Inn Bridal Suite was something else.  I had never been in a hot tub or jacuzzi in my life.   We brought candles and music for atmosphere.  Don't think we even noticed after we shut the door!

Taking a break at the foot of the huge Multnomah Falls outside Portland Oregon.

           The next morning William took me out to a sumptuous breakfast at a local restaurant.  Can't remember where because I only had eyes for HIM!

I am smiling because my feet hurt so bad from hiking --- I GOT TO SIT DOWN  for a bit!

                After we checked out of the hotel after breakfast, we headed out of Portland to visit the famous Multnomah Falls on our way back to Yakima.   Here I am resting my poor feet.   (Don't ever buy new shoes and try to hike in them!)   Owie, owie!    I had to sit it out while my "monkey William" clambered all the way up to the top of the falls.  They are really, REALLY tall. 

He had a REASON to be smiling that day! (Grin.)

                  The water spray coming down from that gigantic falls wet everybody who got close to it.  The bridge across a chasm was really popular for tourists to take photos.   Of course you got a FREE SHOWER while standing there with your camera.  Then the mosquitoes ate you!

Several crystal clear gurgling springs run down from the cliffs above the main falls.

This famous falls has a great restaurant, visitors' center, gift shop, and lots to do.

                    You can't see it from this angle but there is a huge boulder that fell off the top of the falls years ago, into the huge pool below.   (Can you imagine the tourists' faces when that sucker landed!!)   It was the size of a BUS!  The Falls has a nice all native stone building with a restaurant, gift shop and some snack booths.  We've been back there twice over the years to visit the Falls.  It holds special memories for us.  (My feet too...)

                After we got back to my apartment in Yakima, William took me to Outback Restaurant for dinner - a place I'd always wanted to go, but couldn't afford.   There we had Shrimp Cocktails, huge steaks, giant baked potatoes, asparagus, homemade loaves of bread, and a hot fudge cake for dessert.  They brought this huge cup of hot fudge.  I almost tripped over my tongue, hanging out a foot or two,  when he brought that out... YUM!!


               The next morning we followed our plans and headed up Highway 10 to Mt. Rainier about 50 miles north west of Yakima.  My dad was born there, in that area in 1898!   At a very cool rain forest campground and picnic area, with a visitors' interpretive center called Ohanapecosh (yea, those Indian names are killers) we ate lunch and hiked around.   There are these lush, green forests, with giant ferns, mossy rocks, and lots of shade.  It was just wonderful up there.

The water was sooo cold, and it sang as it flowed around the mossy rocks.  Breathtaking!

             
     

William hiked up to some of them like this one and took these great photos.

                    After two days of hiking and honeymooning, I  completely "petered out" and had to plant my still lardy butt on a log and let William (who had boundless energy) hike up and take more photos for us.    I sat and watched everybody else pass me by and made excuses.    I may have faked an sprained ankle....

He hiked my legs off. But that forest was unbelievably gorgeous!

                William looked totally HOT.  I did NOT.    After no sleep for a week and a half, I was lucky if I could even chase down my face much less arm wrestle it on every day.   I wanted a ice cold Coca Cola and a NAP!
            

He'd done white water rafting before.  It was a WHOLE NEW BALLGAME for me!

            On Sunday after introducing MY NEW HUSBAND to people at church (Gee, my church friends were probably saying to themselves, "wasn't she single LAST WEEK?  I could tell, their mouths were hanging open.) we headed for Wenatchee to Nan's house.  We had to get ready for our early morning White Water Rafting Trip down the Wenatchee River the next day!

          Keep in mind I had NEVER done anything like that in MY life.    After getting up at the "crack of dawn," driving to the launch site, we had to wriggle our butts into these used wet suits, WHILE IN A CAR! (If you have never tried, in heat, in June to get naked and get into a rubber wet suit about five times TOO SMALL for your fanny, YOU HAVEN'T LIVED!)  

       They didn't have dressing rooms.   (Maybe they charged for people to watch idiots like us try to squeeze into our wetsuits OUTSIDE IN THE OPEN!  Yeah, I would have paid to see THAT!

          We got into two rafts and launched down the river  (and nobody told me beforehand that I HAD TO PADDLE!)    Well, I paddled my fat butt off for SIX hours, getting drenched, almost barfing my breakfast up, from trying to balance in the raft while the whirling water and rocks spun us about, bouncing us up in the air and sinking us down into DEATH holes.   And they wanted ME to paddle?

           William was having a blast.  Me, not so much.  I got sunburned, about died of thirst in the middle of a raging river, had to pee like a race horse, (but who do you ask to "pull the raft over for a minute so I can.....?") and wore myself out completely, trying to keep that GRIN OF HAPPINESS plastered on my red face.    We stopped and at one point HAD TO CARRY the raft around a dam!  

William getting wet in a water fight among the rafters.

                  This was the only fun part.  We got to throw, shoot and toss water at the other people in the other raft!   We got totally SOAKED.   Then back at the rendezvous site, we were were bussed back to the original location, where a sumptuous feast awaited.   The guides were raunchy, told dirty jokes while flipping burgers, chicken, hot dogs and juicy steaks on the charcoal  grills.   Cold salads, chips, cookies and pop awaited to fill in any gaps in our ribs.   I had NEVER tasted anything as good as that simple food barbecued on a hot fire!   I think I ate somebody's dirty hat by accident.

        The real fun of the whole day came when we had to go back to our very HOT CAR, (that had been sitting in the sun, baking for SEVEN hours) and try to PEEL off those smelly, sticky wetsuits while inside it!  Yeah, that really made my day.  I think William had to use a crowbar to pry off my wetsuit!

       I had to prop my eyelids open with twist wrap wires so I could direct him how to find Nan's house, which was 25 miles away.  Then I crashed and slobbered all over myself in her driveway....  They BOTH had to leverage me out of the car seat and into her house since my legs had turned to jelly.

This unbelievably scenic garden was built on top of a mountain in Wenatchee!

              The next day we slept like  TWO dead people.   Nan and we had gone out for Chinese food after she got home the night of the rafting trip.   William and I crashed in bed early with full bellies and actually got some SLEEP for the first time in four days. (grin)  For the next several days we visited all kinds of wonderful tourist traps around Wenatchee, Chelan and Cashmere, and the Leavenworth Bavarian Village.


       Ohme Gardens, which perched atop a mountain just outside Wenatchee, was just amazing.  The last time I was there was with Nan and Carol two years before.  I had just sat and watched THEM hike (because I was so out of shape - like a jellyfish with legs.)   I was sitting, wrapped in a blanket in a folding chair at the edge of a precipice, and I almost got eaten by an Eagle!   Now, this time, because of exercising for 6 months, I actually was able to hike with William.    That place was gorgeous.

This rock pool had water the color of a robin's egg.  Fantastic.

          There were several green pools like this, colorful flowers of all kinds, wooden natural structures made of whole logs, trails, trees that were twisted and old and very huge.  

William had just climbed down from a huge tree where he was playing monkey.

             After that, we headed for Cashmere, WA, to visit the Chelan County Museum and park.   There were old antique trains, farming equipment, old time furniture, original pioneer cabins, all kinds of neat things, plus an indoor museum that specialized in artifacts of the original Indian tribes of the area.   William really loved the whole thing.  We've gone back twice since then over the years.

William got on this antique tractor at the Chelan County Museum in Cashmere, WA

Tons of real old log cabins dotted this huge park full of antiques of all kinds.  Like us!

Another view of the cool buildings at the Chelan County Museum.

          Smart me, I had finally gotten some comfortable shoes so I could hike  (my ugly walking "tennies!")   Wish we'd had a digital camera back then.   We took about 20 rolls of 35mm and much wasn't very good.  Next place we went was to the famous Leavenworth Bavarian Village for lunch.

The museum inside had Indian artifacts and paintings. I loved this one.

The Bavarian style shops and restaurants were amazing.

             Everything in that town was GERMAN!   The food, the design of the shops, the restaurants, even the gas stations, and naturally the staff of the park.  There was live bands, art exhibits, and men in leather pants.  Yeah, that was something to see!   German music played constantly.  The shops were filled with tourists that time of year.  We had a good time looking around and eating out. 

This is Leavenworth Washington where you can see men in Lederhosen!

                   On the way back to Nan's in Wenatchee, we stopped off at the place where they manufacture and ship "Applets and Cotlets," all over the world.  If you have never had them, you are missing a real treat.   That was in Cashmere, WA, between Leavenworth Bavarian Village and Wenatchee.   There aren't any photos of the inside of the store and factory, because once inside, we were stuffing FREE samples in our chops with both hands, so fast we forgot about the camera.  At least a cookbook and a candle holder I bought there survived of all the boxes of candy we bought to take home.

   They make Turkish Jellies with nuts, (or not) and some covered in chocolate.  The ones without the chocolate were dusted with powdered sugar and cornstarch.  We bought a dozen boxes the last time we visited in 2008, SUPPOSEDLY to give to friends.     Not ONE survived the trip (two fat mice named William and Melinda ATE ALL OF THEM!)

 We did lots of driving around that part of the state, eating out and seeing sights.  Out of necessity we took one day just to crash and sleep, to rest up.  Pretty soon it was time to visit my 15 year old son Austin at Scout Camp up in the mountains above Yakima.   We planned to have dinner at the camp with him and see the camp parent's show after.  

               Keep in mind, that Austin did NOT know I had married William!  When he last saw me I was picking William up in Portland at the airport to share a vacation holiday as a SINGLE woman.  He took it pretty much in stride, probably suspecting something was up since I was on the phone with William every night in Yakima for the last 2 months.   They hit it off pretty well.  Austin had NOT had a bath or done laundry in a week, due to the rough camping conditions and having to keep his eyes on all the  rascally little buggers he was supervising for a week.   Poor kid. 

My son Austin was shocked to hear I'd gotten married while he was gone!

              The camp show put on by all the Boy Scouts was funny, skits and jokes.   Austin had been a leader over younger boys (now he understood what it was like to be a parent!)  The boys had played tricks on him and the other leaders all week long; generally the younger boys were little pests, and drove him crazy for a week.    We had great grilled huge steaks, and lots of good food there.    William had always wanted a son, but only had four daughters.    He was enjoying the whole thing, and Austin.
            

My oldest Brad met us at Wanapum Dam Park to meet William.  Austin came along.

         I had phoned my two older sons with the news of my new husband the day after we got married.    Brad was the only one who could meet with us before William had to fly back to Denver to his job.   We met up at Wanapum Dam Park, which borders the Columbia River as it makes its way down to the Pacific.    We took photos with Brad, who had a new puppy. 

I had to say goodbye to my new husband for three weeks until Austin and I could move to Denver.  Austin went with William and came back two weeks later to help move.

                   At the end of our ten day honeymoon, I was exhausted, sunburned and very eager just to have some time alone, to rest.   William and Austin decided to travel back to Denver together so Austin could get to know William's daughters and him.   

         He had three of four girls and their kids visiting, one living at his huge house there.   Tanya was the only one married and was expecting a new baby.  Her husband was getting ready to go to a new Army school and assignment so she and their little daughter about three were visiting there.

              I had talked on the phone with three of his four daughters over the last couple months, so they knew me.  But none knew HE'D GOTTEN MARRIED either!!    Rebecca, a divorced mom of three active kids was living with him temporarily and there was Stephanie the youngest, 23, who was leaving for a church mission in England in about three months.   So, Austin had fun with all of them while he was in Denver.

After my bad car accident I had to walk with a pole for a while.  We went to the Medieval Fair in Denver this day.

          Back in Yakima, I was busy packing, getting rid of stuff and preparing for Austin's return to drive a U-Haul trailer and our cars out to Denver in three weeks.    He came back in time to help out; we cleaned our apartment, said goodbye to friends and drove to Denver.   It was a long drive and we had car trouble but at last we arrived.    William had rented a suite for the weekend so he and I could have some alone time.    We had four great, tiring days, and then I went to live at his house.

          About two days later I was going to get my Denver Driver's License so I could start substitute teaching in the fall in the local schools.    Well, leave it to me to get confused in a big, busy city with tons of traffic.   I made a left turn where there WAS NO LEFT turn and drove right into oncoming traffic!


          The last thing I remember was seeing a mini van and a Land Rover rushing toward me, and thinking, "Oh, Sh_t, they're going to crash in to me!
                        
            Well, they slammed into me like 40 tons of concrete bricks   Broke my car in half!  Just about killed me.  Well, it did kill  my car, which was supposed to be Austin's.   I think he was more upset about the car being totaled than me being in the hospital.   

        I woke up in the hospital hours later, having had serious surgery and losing half of my intestines, crushed a leg and got a huge concussion.   Guess I must have had a hard head.   Was in the hospital for 12 days!!  I was happy even if broken and full of stitches when I came home to my new husband. 

         William was a great nurse.  I survived, but was out of action for a long time.   My life with William was really an adventure, even if I started it out in Denver with a horrendous car wreck!   You might say I started my new life in Denver off with a BIG BANG! 

                Yeah, that would be just like me.  I don't do anything halfway.  

                A year later we were living in Wisconsin!   We were sealed in Eternal Marriage in the beautiful Saint Paul Minneapolis Temple exactly one year after our civil marriage and have been happy ever since - see the 2 blogs previous to this one  (Yeah, I am lying.  We want to kill each other about once a week), but we do love each other and plan to stay together the rest of our lives.   

                                    The adventure is not over yet!
              This June we will celebrate eleven years of marriage.

William and I a year after we got married in the Rose Garden.  We are Mormons and were married for all Eternity in a beautiful private ceremony in this temple in Minnesota.