Summer Vacation 2010, Part 2

Part 2 of our vacation posts picks up on Monday, June 7. After a much needed night of sleep we had an easy morning and then went swimming with sister-in-law Heidi and her kids. When we got back to their house, some of the kids went swimming again in their bathtub to rinse off.

Monday evening means family night. Heather's brother, Brian and his family came over to visit. Heidi had picked up some beef and turkey after hearing about our Brazilian garlic sirloin and bacon-wrapped turkey skewers, so it was a cook out night. Although I was on vacation, I couldn't help but offer to grill. We loaded up the grill with meats and veggies - mmmm!

Little miss independent Sara trying to eat with her utensils with uncle Aarron looking on...

... And then howing Aaron and Heidi how she can take off and put on her sandals.

Heather and Heidi

In preparation for the wedding, the women decided it would be fun to get matching dresses for the 20+ girl cousins. They found a great deal online for the dresses and wanted to add a little purple sleeve on them. Carrie (Brian's wife) and Heidi took on most of the stitching and Heather joined in to help wrap up the work.

We had a Family Home Evening, played games, told stories, and had a great time.
The next morning we had planned to go to the zoo. We happened to go during international oceans week (who knew?) and there were several activities for the kids. Most decided to get their faces painted to match a fish of their choice. Bryant, like his dad, didn't want to have his face painted. My nephew, Jacobi, was one of my favorites...

The girls on a bronze bear statue.

"Look, dad. Bamboo!"

Sara enjoyed the petting station and nearly had her pecked by the chickens as she tried holding a cracker for them to eat.

After the zoo we went swimming again, and that evening went to the minor league baseball game in Greenville. We had a great time with Aarron and Heidi and a good visit with Brian and Carrie as well.

Wednesday morning came a little early as we had to travel about 2 hours to Columbia, SC for Michele's temple session. After that we traveled another couple hours to Ninety Six, where Heather's parents live. From then on, Heather was tirelessly working on the wedding cake and helping with decorations for the reception. I had the pleasure of doing some end of quarter work while on vacation that happened to be in the middle of all the decorating chaos on Thursday. Did I really miss out? I don't think so...

Friday came and we got loaded up again to go back to Columbia for the wedding. We all stayed at a hotel near the temple, played in the pool, hung out, and got ready for the wedding on Saturday.

For those that are familiar with some of the stories of Johansen weddings, this one was surprisingly normal. No marriage licenses were forgotten, everything was on time, and seemed to move very smoothly. I guess that's what happens on the 11th wedding out of 12 kids. Practice and planning must have played a part. Saturday was hot and very humid to be dressed up. The kids did relatively well during the wedding and everyone seemed patient for the pictures afterward.

Sara was tired and ready for a nap by the time we got around to taking this picture. Her friend is Benjamin's (the groom) sister who Sara made friends with earlier in the week.

The happy couple - meet Benjamin and Michele Gibson!

After all the pictures and lunch we had to travel another 2 hours to where the reception was being held. On the way out of town I saw this and had to take a picture. The "El Cheapo" gas station had gas at the lowest price we had seen on the trip. It certainly was el cheapo - look at the hole in the sign!

The final preparations were being made at the church for the reception. Heather asked me to help her assemble the tiers on the cake. We had to insert dowels and position the tiers around fresh flowers. Kinda tricky. Here's the finished product:

The kids were troopers. In fact, I think the kids lasted better and longer than I did that day!

Sara decided she wanted in on the bride's dance. She got some giggles going in the crowd while trying to steal some attention.

And one more picture of the Gibsons just after sharing some cake.

We ended the day with another 2 hour drive to Heather's sister Jennifer's house which was on our way to the beach. Because of the travel we missed the clean-up duty which is a first for us. We had a great time visiting with all of Heather's family. Despite the confusion that can ensue with 12 kids and their families, everything went really well.

We learned that after the reception while families were traveling home, Heather's brother Joseph blacked out at the wheel and drove off into a field. His wife, Becky, who was following in their van (and obviously freaked out by seeing her husband go four wheeling in the dark) stopped to make sure everything was okay. No injuries and they were lucky it was a field. A couple minutes later their son, Jared, noticed flames underneath the van that Becky had parked on the side of the road. It was too late to move the vehicle. They got everyone out and watched it go up in flames - tires popping, airbags, and the gas tank all blew out. It melted power lines overhead. They didn't lose very much in the fire (aside from a vehicle) - fortunately most of the luggage was in the other vehicle.

That wraps up week 1 of the two week trip. The next installment will cover the rest of my time in SC.