As I mentioned in an earlier post, Traci and I went back to California to celebrate our marriage with my family. My sister Cindy, Brenda, and my mother spent the past year planning to ensure that our visit would be memorable. The original plan was to have the reception at one of the local Indian Casinos; however, after some consideration, everyone agreed that it would be more intimate if we kept the guest list to about 50 and held it in Cindy and Jack's backyard. Several people contributed in many ways to make our special day unforgettable. Before I write anymore, I want to give a special thanks to the following people: Cindy, Jack, Brenda, My Mother, Liz, Christine and Aunt Belen.
The Vega Family
The Oberg's
Grandma Rose made it out for the event
Cindy did a heck of a job of keeping the guest list at around 50 people and had spent the last year getting in touch with friends that I hadn't seen in years (some as many as 15), close friends of the family and most importantly our relatives. It was great re-uniting with everyone and introducing them to my new bride... Even though the wedding was almost a year ago, I still consider us in the honeymoon phase. :-)
High school buddy Mike
As most of you know, I grew up not knowing my father. As a matter of fact, before the reception, I had only met him twice. Once when I was about 13 (I remember very little) and the other time was when I returned from Desert Storm where Cindy, Jack and I went bowling with him and had dinner. Since our visit, I have spoken with him about a 1/2 dozen on the phone. Cindy made contact with him and encouraged him to come up and see us. He came up a day early and we were able to spend a little quality time getting to know each other. I learned that I have 4 brothers and 1 sister somewhere in the Bay Area and that he is a very hardworking man who spent time as a police officer, beautician (he said he did this to meet chicks.. he met my mom) and has spent the better part of his life running his own janitorial business, Mr. Clean.
Me and my dad John
Mom, Me, Traci and John
In case any of you were wondering where I learned how to be a smart ass... well, I can now tell you that the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. He gave my mom the business his first night in town. :-)
On the day of the reception, Traci and I helped set up and readied ourselves for the exciting evening ahead. Everyone started arriving about 4pm and I had an incredible time getting re-acquainted and introducing Traci to all these special people. The night was perfect!! We had a catered BBQ dinner, Tiki lamps for ambiance, a keg of Dos XX and two beautiful cakes. Cindy had two cakes made, a carrot cake for me and a strawberry one for Traci.
Brenda testing the keg
Our cakes
Being very nice
The day following the reception, family members who had kids were invited back to and hang out with Traci and I and help eat the leftovers. We played some cards, opened gifts and lounged around trying to recover from the night before.
Jack cleaning up the last of the mess
We left Paradise a couple of days later with enough memories to last a life time!! Thanks to all who came and celebrated with us.
If you would like to see all of the photos, you can click on the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/traciandbill/ParadiseReception
Bill and Traci
1 comment:
What a great celebration, extend it as long as you can!
I'm loving the blog, keep it up Bill!
Post a Comment