Annie's Wedding

The main event for our trip to California, the whole reason we were there, was to attend my sister Annie's wedding.  Annie and Sudheer were getting married in a Hindu temple in San Jose and, to be honest, I had no idea what to expect.  Wedding morning dawned and we were supposed to be at the temple at 8:30am.  Annie, who is about 6 months pregnant (with a girl!!), woke up Saturday morning with a high fever and body aches.  She went to the emergency room with her fiance while we all waited in a bit of suspended animation wondering what was going to happen.

My cousin Jessie, who lives nearby, came to attend the wedding and she walked with me, the girls and my parents to a nearby park so we could get some fresh air while we waited to hear from Annie.  To be honest, at this point I was anticipating that our long trip would not result in a wedding.....

Fortunately Annie just had a fairly mild case of the flu and with some medication and a little bit of rest she was feeling better enough to proceed with the wedding.  Equally fortunately, the temple and the restaurant where the wedding feast would take place were able to push back the start time to 12:30pm.

With renewed energy the girls dressed in their sari's (a gift from Annie and Sudheer) and rode the glass elevator in the Embassy Suites with Jessie.  Sweet Amelia in her purple Sari....

Lovely Ava Jane....

Ava with the beautiful bride, just before we left.....

When we arrived at the temple I was very surprised.  I didn't know what to expect, but I didn't at all anticipate what we encountered.  The temple was kind of in a strip mall, it was very simple, almost unfinished.  There was construction going on nearby and loud Mexican music playing.  While the wedding had been rescheduled to 12:30pm, there was no urgency to get started.  There was no place to sit down except for a couple of folding chairs.  We had all had a big breakfast, but by 12:30pm we were starting to get hungry....  Still, the girls were troopers in a very unfamiliar situation while we waited...

Me and the girls in front of the alter....

Amelia is a lot like her mother (ahem) she likes to know what is going on, she likes to know what's coming next, how long things are going to take...  John and I call this "timelining" with her.  We timeline everything, every day, it is part of giving her some feeling of control over her environment.

I share this picture, not because it is terribly flattering (did I really look like that?) but because the look on Amelia's face is so.very.Amelia.  We were waiting for the wedding to start, we didn't know exactly what was going to happen and she is clearly a little bit worried about it.

Ava, on the other hand, this is all part of her rock-n-roll lifestyle.  She soaked up the unusual experience!  The wedding finally started around 1:15pm and it was lovely, even though I couldn't understand a word of it.  The ritual was interesting and intentional, even as sort of random people walked in and out to make offerings and pray at the alter.  

Here's Ava with Sudheer and Annie after the wedding....

Proud of my unusual family!