"It's a nice day for a White Wedding..."

This last weekend we drove to Portland for Alicia's wedding. We had a great time. I'll start from the beginning.

Alex and I started the weekend adventure on Thursday. We drove 5.5 hours to Boise, Idaho and arrived just in time for some dinner. We ate at a place called Chicago Connection as suggested by Terry (Jones), a former Boise resident. Chicago style pizza + salad bar = Yum! Our pizza looked something like this, with some extra veggies and meat hidden under the cheese. It was good, but we both only made it through 2 slices before we were full. No problem, the leftovers filled the void nicely when I woke up hungry at 3 a.m.


The next morning, Niklas and Karen met us at our hotel and we continued the journey to Portland. I offered to drive so they could sleep and ended up driving for most of the time. Did I mention I'm a control freak and do much better as the driver rather than the passenger? It worked out nicely and somehow I was able to do all of the driving without too much discomfort. We got to our hotel in Portland with enough time to freshen up, change clothes and hop in the car. We gave ourselves an hour to get to the wedding and thank goodness. Portland traffic is awful! It must have taken us a half hour to get on I-5, less than 1.5 miles from our hotel. Luckily, we made good time once we got on the freeway and arrived just in time.

Alex meeting Alicia's Oma, just before the ceremony.


Bridesmaid and Maid of Honor.


I love this moment in the ceremony when the bride makes her entrance. Alicia did not disappoint, she looked beautiful.


Saying their "I do's".


I wish I had video of the next part because you'd really have to have the audio to appreciate it. After they the pastor pronounced them husband and wife they totally walked out to Billy Idol's "White Wedding". It was awesome!

The now official, Mr. and Mrs. O'Hara.


We had a minute to chat before the reception. Alicia was telling us about everything that hadn't gone according to plan. Here she was showing us her "white" roses. Personally, I thought they looked great. I would have preferred them over white for the contrast factor, but that's just me.


Next, upstairs for the reception.


We ate. We mingled.


The men bonded.
(What's up with the "rose" reflection in the window? What is that??)


... and the girls... sat.


Later we did some people watching by candlelight. It was so romantic.


The newlyweds first dance.


Father/Daughter Dance.


Cutting the cake. I don't know what flavor it was (raspberry and vanilla??), but it was way good. Like so good that I may have asked Alex to take a piece knowing that he couldn't eat it and I would have to eat it for him. Just trying to help the guy out.


The bouquet toss. Or should I say bouquet toss fail. The bouquet landed on the ground and all of the girls just stared at it...


I can't say what happened next since our clan pooped out, but I'm sure those that stayed had a great time.

The next morning came early and we did our last little bit of hanging out with Mom and Dad before it was time to head back.

Karen and Dad at the hotel.


Sportin' the 27 week belly.


Giving you all an illustrated example of why my picture should not be taken on little sleep, no makeup, and a prego belly to boot. The inner hotness is there.. I just haven't found it lately. Or maybe it's reinvented itself as the literal hotness I feel everyday. I swear my body temperature is like 100 degrees!


We had lunch at Azteca. Here's one of my Mom's classic let-me-take-your-picture-while-you're-eating photos. Not flattering! I wasn't willing to pull myself away from the chips and salsa long enough to get a decent photo. They were so good!


One last group shot, minus dad who was playing photographer.


All in all, we had a great weekend... and now I am sufficiently homesick for Washington. As if I wasn't before.