The Utah wedding

We had hardly been in the US for a month before time came to pack our suitcases again – this time for Chicago, where my parents live. My mother had been to visit us in Clermont-Ferrand when Mikus was born, but my father and grandmother had yet to meet him and due to some other travel plans this was the ideal time for me and the boys to spend a month with the family we had missed so much while living in France.

We settled in and let the boys pick up a routine, and then came the other travel plans I spoke of, a trip to Utah for a wedding. My parents, brother and sister Z were instrumental in making this trip a success, it was hard enough logistically figuring everything out much less emotionally. Still, somehow I found myself alone on a plane headed west, for the first time in two years not only sans children but a thousand miles away from them.

I met my husband in the airport where we rented a car and headed south. For him, a bachelor party awaited. I had decided soon after receiving the wedding invitation that I wasn’t going to lounge around and wait for the boys to be finished with whatever it was they were going to be doing, that I was going to have my own fun. So I continued southeast, to Arches National Park. I spent the next 30 hours hiking, camping, taking photographs and missing my two boys. More on the Park in a later post.

Dirty, tired and hungry I retraced my steps northwest to the town I had dropped Roberts off in. He had already departed with the groom-to-be and a majority of the bachelor party crew for Park City, central to the wedding festivities, but I stopped to visit one of the casualties in the hospital. (It isn’t a bachelor party without someone ending up in the hospital?) An ATV accident landed one friend in the hospital with a punctured lung, two collapsed lungs and a cracked rib, while another escaped with cuts and road rash; both were extremely lucky considering the circumstances.

It was after midnight when I finally rejoined the others in Park City where the rehearsal dinner had ended and I was by far the dirtiest and smelliest person in the hotel. Two showers later I was snoring away for my first uninterrupted night of sleep in three years. 1,300 miles away my parents were busy spoiling the two little interruptions silly…

The final couple of days passed just as quickly as the first two. Park City is the home to the Sundance Film Festival, and nearby ski resorts were major locations for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Further claims to fame include filming parts of “Dumb and Dumber” in the city, and being the original home to the Mrs. Fields Cookies chain. We got to check out Main Street for a quick brunch and ice cream the first day, and breakfast the second. A beautiful little tourist town, there was a Sunday market, plenty of dining options and miles of mountain biking, skiing and hiking trails within a very short drive.

But we were there for a wedding, and so on Saturday we headed to Salt Lake City. The sealing ceremony was to take place in the Salt Lake Temple in Temple Square. As we are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we did not participate in the ceremony, but instead awaited the newlyweds in the beautiful temple grounds.

For those of us unable to see the marriage ceremony the couple had an exchange of rings in a ranch not far from Park City. In the soft afternoon light with a creek gurgling just next to us, we watched our friends say their vows and exchange rings.

Very simply, a beautiful ceremony and reception – the happiness of both bride and groom evident in every facial expression, word and movement. I am so very glad that they found one another, and I wish them happiness in their coming journey together. (Happiness, and children!) Because despite a missed flight and an extra three hours wait I was extremely delighted to see my two boys again, and reminded what a blessing it is to be not only a wife, but also a mother. Thanks to N & K for sharing their special day with us, it was a joy. And thanks to my family for caring for Lauris and Mikus and giving me a long-anticipated break, the extra sleep has recharged me for at least a day or two!