A Cultural Experience

This past weekend, George and I were invited to attend the wedding and reception  of a former co-worker's son and his beautiful bride who happens to be Albanian.  This turned out to be one of the funnest wedding receptions we have ever attended, as well as being a fantastic cultural experience.

What a sweet little grandma!  You could tell she loved the entire celebration!

The proud parents of the groom--Mike and Lynne

Mike and George--they sat by each other for so many years at board meetings.  When I would go, I laughed how they swiveled in their chairs exactly at the same time, pulled their microphones down at the same time--just basically were the Bobsey Twins!  Hah!

(Pause the music on my playlist at the bottom so that you can hear the music on the video.)

The band was an Armanian group who had been flown in from New York.  Although we couldn't understand Armanian, the music was so distinctive with such a fantastic beat, it just drew people in to participate in the fun.  The bride and groom dance in the center and people throw dollar bills at them.  By the end of the evening, the floor is literally covered with money. 

All four of these friends work at the school district with George.  Pam and Patti are twins--let's just say, they really had a great time at this reception.  I don't think they quit dancing!  What fun!

It was so fun to see the former superintendent and his wife there, along with other friends.

Also, in attendance and sitting at our table was one of the board members, Carol. 

Finally, George wanted to be part of the fun, too.  This kind of dancing is for young and old.  They either dance in a circle or with their two hands up at the side of their body.  Then they just keep time with the music. 

Let's talk about the food!  Never in my life have I seen more food!  These steaks were the fourth course of the meal!

1st Course - Cheese, smoked meats, various olives, and breads

2nd Course - Greek Salad

3rd Course - A huge chicken breast and two very thick slices of pork (I am so mad that I didn't take a picture of that, too), along with various cooked vegetables

4th Course - This huge steak, potatoes, and vegetables.  (I understand the Armanian custom is that they must have three meats at the wedding feast.)

5th Course - Various fruits

6th Course - The wedding cake

After five hours, George and I left, but I know they had to be out of the country club by midnight, so I suppose it went another four hours.  Seriously, I felt like I had participated in "My Big Fat Armanian Wedding"!  What a loving family and truly a beautiful celebration for a young couple with so many people enjoying all the festivities together. 

Fall is in the Air

Yes, I do believe we feel a touch of Fall in the air--and that means soccer is starting again!  (When I say Fall, I mean it is now in the 80s instead of the 90s.  Hah!)  Anyway, Saturday George and I were able to watch Isaac play in his second soccer game--last week we were in Orlando watching Carter play football. 

Lola was Isaac's cheerleader. 

Before Isaac started playing, he looked like he was strolling in the park.  "Oh, no," I thought.  "He's not into this game." 

But after he scored a goal, he was still "strolling in the park."  He is so casual when he's not playing, but really goes after it when he is playing!

We were so proud of him!  Even though he didn't show it, I think he liked all the attention!

After the game, Lola wanted to come to Grandma and Papa's house.  I needed to make some cupcakes for a baptism later in the day, so I had her help me.  I put an apron on her.  She wondered what the heck it was, but she kept it on.  I think I got that from my Grandmother Rigby.  I never saw her without an apron while she worked in the kitchen, and I pretty much always wear one, too.  My grandmother said she never could get used to people working in the kitchen and ruining their good clothes.

When Lola realized I was going to turn the mixer on, she started hollering, "I 'cared!  I 'cared!"  (I'm scared!)  I told her to run into the play room, so she did.  Each time I would turn it on, she ran back into the playroom.  Then when she came out, she reminded me that she was afraid of dinosaurs and that Papa had to carry her.  She is never going to get over the dinosaur thing I'm afraid! 

Lola helped shake the sprinkles on top and was so proud of herself.  The baptism turned out to be great.  George spoke and I played the music for it.  That night, it was football, football, football at the Copeland Household.  Good thing I like to watch football, right?  I can't say all the games came out like we wanted them to, but things can only get better next week!

A Special Young Man

This last weekend, George and I were able to go to Orlando to visit Kyle and Kim.  We wanted to make it a special weekend for Carter because even though his birthday was already past, we wanted to celebrate it with him anyway.  Jenna and Brady decorated his cake.  I think they did a very nice job.

I can't believe he is now 14 years old!  He is such an outstanding young man who works hard at everything he does--and is a wonderful example to his younger sister and brother.

We were able to watch Carter play in another football game.  It was an away game--quite a ways away, as a matter of fact.  We thought we were never going to get there, but at least by the time we got there, it wasn't raining any more like it did the last game we saw him play, which made it much easier to be a spectator. 

The next day at Priesthood Meeting at church, Carter was ordained a teacher, and immediately afterward, he was set apart as the Teachers' Quorum President.  He will do such a great job in this calling!

Thanks for the great weekend, Carter.  We truly love you and are so proud of all you are doing!

Non-Labor Day

I have never quite been able to call it "Labor Day" when I've never had to actually "labor" on Labor Day.  That being said, it is always a wonderful thing not to have to work on Labor Day--by that, I mean actually going to work.  Is there ever a day when we actually do not work?  Anyway, this year George planned a really nice Non-Labor Day which turned out so fun.  After inviting both Kyle and Kim's family and Jeff and Amy's family and finding them both with other plans--it was just George and me!

We travelled the 3 1/2 hours to St. Petersburg and stayed right near the Gulf.  It was a beautiful view.

Then we walked all around The Pier area.  We figured we walked about three miles, but it was great seeing all the sights first-hand.

I took this picture because of all the black birds in the tree.  They looked like Christmas ornaments.

We went into a little shop that had all sorts of pre-historic items for sale.  George thought this would be fun for Lola to see that Papa isn't afraid of dinosaurs.

But then Amy told us she is getting paranoid about them and talks about them all the time--she literally shakes and cries when she thinks about them.  Do not show these pictures to Lola!

The great thing about going to a Tampa Bay Rays game is that it is all indoors in air-conditioned comfort.  Soooo cool!  I think we got there when it opened--you have to see batting practice, you know! 

We had wonderful seats straight up from the first base line. 

Great fun--we got to see Evan Longoria hit a homerun the first time at bat, and lots of other cool plays.  In the end, the Rays beat the Texas Rangers 5 to 1.  Whenever you have a day off, it is great, but going someplace fun together makes it even better!  Tomorrow it's back to laboring!