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In May of 2005, my sister got married to Mark, a wonderful guy whom she's known for several years. They invited the whole family and friends from all over the country to Kanab, Utah, to help them celebrate their new life together. Al and I flew down to Las Vegas from Seattle and drove to Kanab from there. It was a hectic day as our plane's departure from Sea-Tac was delayed for almost two hours, then we had trouble getting a rental car (even though we had reserved one the rental company didn't have a car for us when we got there), and then we sat in rush-hour traffic in Las Vegas. We made it to the rehearsal dinner on Friday night just ten minutes before it ended. What a frantic day that was! But the drive across Nevada, up into Utah, and down to the Arizona border was absolutely beautiful and the weather was warm and perfect. My sister seemed so excited and of course it was great to see my family all gathered there. Well, except for Tom's family; they had a newborn too young to travel.

			We drove to our cabin at Best Friends in the darkness but as we arrived, we could hear the horses in the nearby corral snorting and stomping their feet. In the morning, we were delighted to see the beauty of the Best Friends Sanctuary. There was even a donkey, for good measure ;) Best Friends is a no-kill animal sanctuary that takes care of all sorts of animals. If you want, you can 'check out' a dog to take to your cabin with you. It's a good way to test-drive a new pet and it helps the animals with their social skills.

On Saturday, Ronna and Mark dealt with the details of their wedding setup while the rest of the family took day trips to Coral Sand Dunes (Mom, Dad, and Nathan) and Zion National Park (Al and me). The scenery was lovely every which way you turned, so you couldn't go wrong!
Around 4pm, we returned to the Sanctuary to get ready for the big event. Ronna and I helped each other with make-up and the whole family helped me decide what to wear. Ronna was beautiful in her cranberry dress and Al was handsome in his linen slacks. Mom had a new sundress on and we all looked pretty smart!! We wanted Ronna to be proud of us on her Big Day.
The wedding went off perfectly. The ceremony was lovely, Al's music kept the mood cheerful, Holly's singing was very nice, and Ronna and Mark were clearly devoted to each other. All the guests mingled and ate dinner under the open sky. It was perfect. Mark's friends toasted the happy couple, Ronna's friends told eveyrone how happy they were for her, and Dad wished them a "love that is unparalleled" in a heartfelt toast that we will all remember. We cheered, clapped, ate, and wished the happy couple along their merry way.

The next day, Sunday, Ronna and Mark took off for Salt Lake City to get ready to go to the Bahamas for their honeymoon. Al, Mom, Dad, Nathan, and I packed up our stuff and checked out of Best Friends. We drove to Jacob Lake and checked into a little cabin there before driving on to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon where we hiked and took pictures of everything. On the flight home, I thought about Ronna in her chaise-lounge at Sandals Resort in Nassau and hoped she was as happy as she could possibly be. Being part of her wedding was a delight and I thank her for including us all in her new life. What terrific memories we will all have of Ronna and Mark's wedding!

photo credits: My camera broke just before this trip, so all photos on this page were taken either by Mom or Nathan. I'm very grateful to them for letting me use them on this site.

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