June 16, 2007
I had a beautiful flight out. It must be because the last few times I have flown anywhere, it was late & dark & I was tired, but this whole plane ride was amazing. It was still sunny & gorgeous & the view was amazing. Looking down on Mount Hood from the sky was exhilarating & breathtaking & I spent my time tracing the crazy random paths of streams & rivers winding along the earth ...didn't remember how beautiful the world can look from above. Interesting note...the Great Salt Lake from above has sections that are intensely blood red...the reason: brine shrimp. Massive quantities of brine shrimp.
Later that night, after greeting family at both houses & ending up at father's, my dad decided, the night before the wedding, that we embark on one of the most difficult & nearly legendary tasks known to Scandinavians...the making of the kransekake...Norwegian wedding cake. Know that might sound a bit dramatic, but even my seasoned Norwegian aunties have rarely attempted such a feat. So...many hours & attempts later (pictures were taken to document this) my sisters & I were finally finished. (Just don't look too closely...or have an official Norwegian inspect it). But my brother was very happy, so it was very satisfying.
My Norwegian Daddio demonstrating the rolling of the almond dough.
The kransekake pans.
Kransekake Attempt #1:
Final Attempt: (don't look too close)
The wedding: beautiful, insane, emotional. My little brother is a married man...ahh! I love him so much!
The gorgeous couple!
So Taylor didn't hold her piece of cake up quite high enough & my brother had to lean down & ended up biting her finger! Oops...lol.
My Mom & her husband Troy are so cute. Um...they started dancing & there was a dip. LOL.
Had crazy sister sleepovers...the three of us in a bed doesn't really work... My baby sister, Marta, sleeps like the dead & manages to kick everyone off the bed & steal all the covers. Elisa ended up on the floor & I was uncovered & squashed against the wall... Classic. Love sister sleep overs. Lots of sister wrestling was involved as well.
Sisters Upside Down:
French Kissed By Mandela AKA Beaky the Explorer, my mom's African Grey Parrot. I love that silly bird.
Elisa made me pancakes!! Aw...
Everyone Needs a Fat, Orange Cat...this is Hemmingway AKA Froglips (yes, there was a poor unfortunate frog involved in this nickname)
Then my dad came back & picked us up to go on a "hike" ...only then he promised Taylor, who is very hugely eight months pregnant & not a super enthusiastic hiker anyway, that it was just a picnic. Huh. Well seeing as it was 102 degrees of dry Utah heat, & Father's Day weekend & the canyon is five minutes from their house...all the picnic areas were packed...drove all of the way up the canyon...nothing. Long story short...ended up hiking up the canyons carting the bucket seats from my dad's mini-van. Hmm. I don't make this stuff up. Just laugh & take pictures. Poor cute Taylor...she was such a good sport.
My Brother, The Troll =]
Then, after all the crazy awesomeness of the brother wedding weekend, I ran to the airport to catch my flight back home to Portland. This is the first time I have ever flown on Southwest Airlines. Hmm. Well the Salt Lake wing for Southwest smells like a giant foot. There were millions of crazy people & then I got all my belongings swabbed for explosives. They seemed very surprised that no traces were found...you know, psycho bomber me... Also the pilot was crazy. Came over the intercom during takeoff saying, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." Not particularly comforting.
Wow, what a weekend!
