We spent one whole half of one whole day in the car this weekend, driving to Spokane for my cousin's wedding. It was a grand family affair, and reuniting with all the close and extended family members was awesome. Having a few drinks didn't hurt either. Here's my ten favorite moments/photos of the weekend.
1. We drove my parents and brother from Portland to Spokane (about 6 hours) on Friday, just in time to shower and change for the rehearsal dinner. Here's Billy and Liam, post-dinner, enjoying beers at the Blue Spark, one of the only bar open past 10pm. [Fun fact: from their website, I learned their motto is "no crap on tap."] Good beer, but weird dance/music/stage/white trash vibe.
2. We rented bikes from the hotel Saturday morning (yay for winning the one with the unadjustable-and-way-too-low bike seat!) and rode the mile to the wedding reception site to check it out. The groom requested a "water feature" for the ceremony so they were wed in front of a waterfall.
3. After a cloudy morning, the fog burned off San Francisco-style and the sun came out for the afternoon ceremony. Here's the wedding party (and officiant) all lined up!
Adorable flower girls.
4. And the bride! My cousin Alison, escorted by Uncle Jim. So gorgeous.
And the photographer, about to fall into the pond.
5. Here's the Spokane Dempseys. Uncle Jim is my dad's brother, so they have the same last name as us; when they moved to Spokane years ago, we were differentiated by our cities. Allison's three sisters and one brother were the majority of the wedding party, and they were adorable!
6. Allison married Timmy / Jian Liu, who she met in China when she studied and taught English there, so the reception was decorated with chinese lanterns and symbols. Love the red!
And the first dance...
7. The reception room had this great balcony overlooking some area of Spokane (generally just grass) but it was great for some sun and fresh air. We took the opportunity to update some family photos.
I should probably lighten these up...
Family of 6!
8. The former bride and groom, happy to make way for the newest married couple in the family!
9. Lucy power! The cutest little flower girl, my cousins' cousin on the other side, was also named Lucy.
10. We left my parents in Seattle with Monika, and drove back to Portland with Liam. We had rented a car to avoid car trouble in our somewhat-unreliable Expolorer, only to encounter an awful screeching noise from the back right tire, about an hour outside of Pasco.
Twenty minutes later, the Enterprise in Pasco switched us out for this hot ride. Catastrophe averted, and Liam got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
We picked up a half rack of ribs at New Seasons - a little over 1lb. Billy found a tasty recipe online, which he altered only slightly. It included a dry rub, which you leave on the meat for as many hours as possible (like 8), then baking the ribs in a foil packet filled with a brining-type liquid. Once baked, the liquid is reduced to a syrupy consistency and spread on the ribs, which are then broiled for less than 10 minutes. The result? A sticky-sweet-slightly-spicy crust on deliciously soft and moist ribs. YUM.
In less-adventurous culinary style, I whipped up some parmesan polenta (super easy) and tried a new recipe called "Breaded Brussel Sprouts." It sounds like you heat a vat of oil and deep fry the normally-healthy vegetable, but you actually just clean the sprouts, boil them for 5 minutes, sprinkle some parmesan and breadcrumbs over them, coat them in a little melted butter, and broil for 5 minutes. Easy. And tasty! Next time I'll cut the sprouts in half before broiling, but otherwise delicious. 