The Wedding of Cousin Christina
October 2, 2010 was a beautiful New England Day. The sun was shining. The leaves were just turning colors and there was a light breeze in the air. It was a beautiful day to get married. Anna traveled with her parents to New Hampshire to celebrate Cousin Christina's wedding to Jonah. This was Anna's first wedding and she was very excited. Christina was every bit the radiant, beautiful bride. It was a great day for a celebration.
While this story could end there, several details would be omitted. As with any family gathering, there is always a bit of adventure involved. This trip was no exception.
Let's begin with October 1. It seems that a tropical depression with hurricane-like amounts of rain had made its way from Washington up to the Northeast coast where it was sitting over the New York-Boston and yes...New Hampshire area. While Joe and Theresa were happy that skies had cleared in Washington, they were dismayed at the weather map for their destination. Much to their surprise, the flight was on time. Anna skipped aboard the plane pulling her Dora rollerbag and amusing the passengers with her observations and eating breakfast that Dad picked up. Theresa, expecting a bumpy flight, chose to skip breakfast. The pilot warned of "rough air" ahead before the plane even left the ground. About 15 minutes into the trip, "rough air" would be an understatement. What followed was a harrowing plane ride that was more in line with rollercoaster ride at an amusement park. Anna was clutching her Dad and began to moan. Then she began to cry. Then Theresa began clutching Joe, grateful that she did not have breakfast. Finally, as the plan was preparing to land Anna vomited all of her breakfast all over Joe (along with some on Theresa, herself, and the seat in front of her). It was ugly. Fortunately it was at the end of the trip. When the plane finally landed, ALL of the passengers applauded (it was that bad).
It took a full 45 minutes after getting off the plane to attempt to clean up, although the smell was hard to get rid of. Fortunately, we were headed for a visit to Joe's Great Aunt Lucy who was kind enought to let us wash our clothes. After a nice visit, complete with a delicious homemade apple pie, we headed to Nashua, New Hampshire to check into the hotel and meet up with the rest of the Fagella family who were driving in that day.
While the plane ride was unpleasant, the car ride from New York was even worse. Between the pounding rain, road construction, and wrong turns, no one had a smooth trip. Aunt Mary, Uncle Joe, and Cousin James had the longest trip, clocking in at 7 1/2 hours. At one point in the trip, it is reported that James was praying out loud in the backseat to reach the destination. Finally everyone made it safely to the hotel. The family gathered at the nearest Italian restaurant to discuss travel woes and catch up.
The next morning, the Fagellas took over the hotel breakfast room for breakfast and discussed the best route to the church (to use GPS or not to use GPS: that was the question). Although cousins James and Deborah were the teenagers of the group, the teenage antics were led by Uncle John and Aunt Mary who admitted to knocking on what they thought was Joe & Theresa's door the previous night and scampering down the hall. It was only after Aunt Mary described Theresa's pajamas did they quickly determine that it was not Theresa at all and that they had repeatedly knocked on the wrong door.
Anna was excited to return to the room and put on her new dress and for Theresa to curl her hair. Everything was fine
until it was time to put the tights on. Apparently the tights were too itchy and her shoes were too loose. When Theresa put a thicker pair of socks on Anna instead of the tights, Anna burst into tears....something that evolved to wailing after Theresa refused to put the tights back on. Aunt Loren braved the fashion tantrum and spent the ride to the church calming Anna down. Uncle John made it to the church without a GPS. Joe & the rest of the family found a local autobody shop with the GPS. Fortunately the church was nearby.
until it was time to put the tights on. Apparently the tights were too itchy and her shoes were too loose. When Theresa put a thicker pair of socks on Anna instead of the tights, Anna burst into tears....something that evolved to wailing after Theresa refused to put the tights back on. Aunt Loren braved the fashion tantrum and spent the ride to the church calming Anna down. Uncle John made it to the church without a GPS. Joe & the rest of the family found a local autobody shop with the GPS. Fortunately the church was nearby.There are many other highlights of the day, including:
- Uncle Joe & Aunt Loren getting stuck in the church elevator for 10 minutes before anyone realized what happened
- Cousin Angela singing a beautfiul Ave Maria at mass wh
ile holding her 3 week old daughter who was starting to get fussy just as she was about to sing (excellent multi-tasking) - The releasing of butterflies following the ceremony
- Successful use of the GPS to find the reception
- A bowl of candy corn and lollipops that sustained Anna & the other kids through the reception
- Theresa biting a cherry tomato and launching tomato guts all over Aunt Mary's dress
- Joe spilling red wine down the back of Theresa's sweater
- Joe, Aunt Mary, and Aunt Loren doing the bored teenager imitation of James & Deborah
- Anna dancing with Aunt Mary
- Anna in awe of Christina - she could not take her eyes off of her
One of the other highlights of the weekend for Anna was the hotel phone, which she learned how to answer. She was especially excited on Sunday morning when Aunt Loren called and invited her down to watch cartoons (she raced down the hall in her pajamas). The trip home was thankfully uneventfu
l.
l.It was great weekend. Congratulations Christina & Jonah and a big thanks to Uncle Tom and Aunt Dottie for inviting us! A word of warning - the Fagellas may be temporarily banned from a certain New Hampshire hotel.
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