Sacromento trip: The blessing of family

I’m currently in Sacramento for my cousin Tiffany’s wedding, which is being held at a winery outside of town. Have been re-united with my dad, who’s hair is growing back after spontaneously shaving ALL of it off, a surprise to my mom 4 weeks ago which left her in tears! It’s been a blast seeing extended family and meeting a couple relatives I didn’t know i had. Erin came in this afternoon from Spokane, where she is almost finished with her Masters in Education. I haven’t seen my sis since she left for Japan in January!

We all headed to the wedding which was at a winery in the central valley of CA. It was sunny and warm, with temperatures in the 80s. As soon as I sat down in the middle seat, my typical spot since childhood with my siblings on either side of me, I was slapped hard on two bare legs by both siblngs. When we were little they used to fight over me as I endured the middle seat as an attempt to keep some peace between the children. When we were all in Europe as young teenagers a slapping game started and we tried to see who could make the biggest handprint on each others’s skin. Strange, I know. Oh the memories. It was the first time we’ve all been in one car for a LONG time and the bare legs were just too much temptation to bear apparently.

My cousin looked beautiful! She’s 6’3 with red hair, her fiance taller with a HUGE, and very friendly family, whom we came to know during these wedding festivities. The wedding guests hiked to the top of a hill where the wedding ceremony overlooked the winery and surrounding vineyards. It was refreshing to walk on this healthy green grass. They were married, and the celebration began with wine tasting and hour-dourves in and around the visitors building. My siblings and I were seated at the “singles” table, along with my 16 year old cousin catherine. The night flew by, and was very fun to spend time getting to know people, enjoying the company of family, and tasting wine with my sister, who I’d never guess would actually like the drink. I enjoyed a couple of dances, one with the groom. When it was time to go my family piled in the car with my brother driving since he was the only one who hadn’t had any alcohol, and within 3 minutes were lost. It quickly became chaotic, and various family members began a heated arguement as my sister and I videod the scene on our cameras and cracked up in the back seat. Hilareous! This made for an extremely comical car ride to the picnic this morning as we listened to the replay on our cameras. At least my family can share the humor in the situation! The picnic today was excellent and we layed on the grass soaking up some delicious vitamin D from the sunrays that I probably have been lacking after half a winter in the dark. We enjoyed more conversations with family and then said our goodbyes. After dropping the rest of my family off at the airport and hugging my sister who I won’t see for at least ANOTHER 4 months or so, my dad and I packed up his gear from his adventures and headed north on I-5. I was surprised at the greenery and the rolling hills in northern california and southern oregon. It reminds me of Europe with quaint towns and lots of farmland with cows and sheep. My dad and I took turns sleeping and driving, and spontaneously decided to attempt to make it to portland instead of spending the night in southern oregon as previously planned. We made it there by midnight, and enjoyed our sleep after 9 hours of driving! This morning we hiked for about 5 miles in a park in portland, packed up, and met Ella, the OT who I will be going to Uzbekistan with, at the hospital she works at. We spent almost 200 dollars on supplies for the orphanage and gifts for the people there. I'm sure it is worth it! I'm planning on spending the rest of the week with friends in Seattle, packing, and tying up odds and ends around here in the US!

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