Melissa and Marks wedding: part 2

Continuing with the wedding weekend...here's a shot of LL in the lobby of the Cherokee Resort and Casino where we stayed. It has a full-blown casino on the first floor. I didn't gamble all weekend because I'm a gambling pansy, but LL ended up playing blackjack Saturday night after the wedding. Here, she's posing in front of a chopper, as they are called, wearing her "I'm so OK" t-shirt. I told her to act like a biker chick, but maybe it's a good sign that she only managed a big nice girl grin.

I'm also in theme (though not pictured) wearing a shirt that says "Okie doke" (mine is not pink). Melissa bought us these Oklahoma shirts for Christmas, and LL wanted for us (and LL's bro. Lawson) to wear them Friday so Melissa could see them. It wouldn't have bothered me that much if Lawson's shirt wasn't exactly the same as mine(!)...I ended up feeling pretty dorky when he and I were walking through the Tulsa airport together (we had to go pick him and my cousin Wil up Friday) looking like Oklahoma tourist twins.

Also at the Cherokee was...

...a nice television cycling through various announcements, one of which was for the big wedding! I'm certain that Mark personally requested the beach backdrop...probably to remind them of their Colorado honeymoon.

Another activity we had for Friday was to put together gift bags at Mark's mom's house. She lives in Tulsa, about 20-30 minutes from the hotel. But first, we found Teacup out by the pool. It looks like she's right at home! Teacup really is an awesome dog, if a little on the loooong side. And she's got a great personality. She's very friendly. She can also run...

Here's Teacup running right at me, and all I can see is her snout with ears a-flopping. I miss Teacup.

Mark's mom's house is the current storage location for all the wedding gifts that they have received so far. Here's LL in front of the gift table. They have a lot of cool things, but my favorite is their china...No, I haven't gone soft on you out here in CA! The dishes are cool because they are nearly indestructible! When they were shopping for these dishes, the sales person smacked two plates together and they survived! I didn't have the courage to try it myself with these, but it's a heck of a good quality to have in a dish.

Well, the main purpose of the visit, other than to visit T, was to put together gift bags. These are bags full of inexpensive items that we deliver to the front desk of the hotel, and which they in turn give to the wedding guests as they check in. It's like a like a shot across the bow for the newly arrived guest to let them know they are in for some serious weddingness this weekend. We were able to get started putting them together when LL's parents, Gene and Leslie, arrived from Dallas with their complete wedding-in-a-car kit. Here I am holding the mother-of-the-bride's dress and the father-of-the-bride's suit, while everyone else unloads stuff from the car trying to find the bride and groom rubber ducks. I'll explain in a bit.

Also in the background, you can see that the street is under construction, meaning we had to carry everything the last block to Mark's mom's house. I have to say it wasn't the best timing for the road crew. I ended up walking past this old dude sitting in front of his house with his dog cackling at us for carrying boxes back and forth ("Man, you jis carried it the other way! Ha!" ...thanks old dude).

Well, here's the assembly line. 1) LL opens each bag 2) Wil wraps two Melissa-and-Mark water bottles in tissue paper and puts them in the bag while LL holds it open 3) Lawson adds in one bride and one groom rubber duck 4) Mark puts in some cookies and Gardetto's 5) I put in a wedding-theme ink pen, a deck of playing cards, and a map to the wedding.

I'd like to challenge everyone to find a way to have fun while simultaneously using all of these items. Extra points given if you can do it without requiring alcohol.

Here's the finished product...30-40 bags of maps, playing cards, rubber ducks, pens and healthy snacks. We next delivered them back to the Cherokee Resort where the front desk people promised to give them to the guests as they checked in. We had to trust them to do this, but I'll admit the possibility that they could have just brought them into the office and stole all the Gardetto's. But I will not stand for any funny business with the ducks.