The Perfect Reception

Well, despite the weather, Rosey and I had what I would consider the perfect reception. Although snow came and went all day the roads never got treacherous and the fire did an excellent job of keeping the cold out. In fact, I think that most people who attended would agree that the blazing fire in the center of the pavilion was the highlight of the day. Everyone gathered round the fire and talked and ate and drank while listening to music blasting from the sound of my generator powered laptop and rented speakers.

Thank you to all the people who braved the weather to come celebrate with us. And I would like to send out a very special thank you to all of the people who helped us plan and organize the reception. This includes (but is not limited to):

• My Dad without whom we probably never could have pulled this off. He flew out from Barbados a week early to help plan and prepare and was busy nearly every minute of that week tracking down the sound system, firewood, and other necessary rental equipment on top of helping to plan out the food and beverage menu.
• Rosey's Mom, who helped with table decorations, food preparation and just general preparation and cleanup.
• My friend Owen who manned the barbecue grill all day and did a fine job I might add.
  
• My friends Chris and Shannon who flew out from Wisconsin and showed up early on Saturday to help setup and stayed late to help tear down.
• Rosey's friend Fara who flew in from Alabama and helped setup and tear down.
• My sisters Marci and Lisa who helped tremendously with the food preparation.
• And finally my friend Rand whose excellent home brew was enjoyed by many.

Here are our pictures...

It's On

As of this morning the roads are clear, so we will be seeing you up at Altamont.

Dreams Die Hard

Dreams die hard.

Rosey and I had a dream of having a friendly and informal outdoor wedding reception in some beautiful mountain location. We worked hard to make this dream a reality. However, a couple of days before the reception it looks like the weather is going to throw us a wild card and test our resolve :)

We weighed our various options and have decided that we are not going to let this dream die so easily. We are going to go ahead and plan on having our reception at Altamont in American Fork Canyon despite the weather forecast. If you venture to join us in our defiance you will be handsomely rewarded with good food, good company, a warm fire and plenty of hot cocoa. Please dress warm.

Of course we are concerned with your safety and ours. If on Saturday morning we feel like the weather has made the drive up to Altamont dangerous then we will move the reception party to our house in Spanish Fork. If we do this, I will send out another email informing you of this decision. I will also post last minute information about the reception location on my blog. So, please check your email, check my blog or call me at 801-400-8597 before heading out on Saturday afternoon.

Our Address Is:
[email me for address]

Thank You,
Dan and Rosey Christensen

The Honeymoon Is Over

We got home on Thursday night so the honeymoon has actually been over for several days now, but I was so exhausted from all of the traveling that it has taken me all of three days to write this post. Despite being a lot of driving (somewhere in the ballpark of 3500 miles), I would say that we had a pretty good wedding and honeymoon. I think that both Rosey and I would agree that walking on the beaches of the Oregon coast was the highlight of the trip.

So, why home so early? Well, I think that these pictures will explain everything...


This is me packing up camp at Yosemite in the snow.


And this is us driving out of Yosemite through the very treacherous Tioga Pass Road. We learned when we reached the east entrance of the park that they had actually closed the road in the other direction and were not letting anyone else travel into the park on that road.

We had originally planned on hitting Crater Lake National Park in Oregon and then coming down to the redwoods in California. But, we decided to prolong our drive down the coast a little further and go to the redwoods first before heading inland to Crater Lake. So, we stayed a night in Crescent City, California and spent a day poking around in the Redwoods.

Because of the damage to our lens we weren't able to get very many pictures in the redwoods. We snapped a couple of photos with our smaller digital camera, but it's just so difficult to get a photo in the shadows of big trees. The lighting is all wrong.

Rosey and I had a pretty good 4 mile hike through the Redwoods, but I have to say that the highlight for me was riding my bike from Crescent City into Redwood National Park on the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. It was a spectacular ride through big trees and lush ferns. I was surprised to discover that just because you are proximate to the ocean does not mean that your elevation cannot quickly rise above sea level. The first couple of miles out of Crescent City I climbed a 'hill' that peaked above 1000 feet.

Before leaving our motel in Crescent City, I checked the weather and discovered that Crater Lake was supposed to be blanketed with snow over the next couple of days. In other words, it didn't sound like a whole lot of fun to hike, bike or camp in Crater Lake... especially if you're pregnant :)

So, we altered our course and pointed our car eastward in the direction of the nearest Olive Garden restaurant... Redding, California. Ok, so we were headed that way anyway, but we figured if we had to stay somewhere, we might as well get a good meal. We were on our way to Yosemite National Park and Redding was as good a place as any to stay for the night.

While in Redding, we stopped by a camera store and bought a new lens for our camera. It was much more pricey that I had expected, but we couldn't exactly go on a trip to Yosemite National Park without a good camera now could we?

It turns out that we could have. Not only was Yosemite overcast and gray, but they had been performing controlled burns in the park for the last couple of days so it was smokey on top of it. Here is an example of one of the astounding pictures that we got with our expensive new lens.


At least we got some good squirrel photos.


While at Yosemite, we managed to get in a hike in the Mariposa grove of giant Sequoias. Now those are some huge trees. This is also where I believe that we got the only photo from the whole trip of both Rosey and I (with the exception of our wedding photos on the beach).


We were planning on doing more in Yosemite, but if you read the beginning of this post then you already know how that turned out.

So, it's good to be home now. We've basically spent the last couple of days lounging around the house and unwinding from all the traveling. Unfortunately, tomorrow, the honeymoon really is over... we both have to go back to work :(

More Pictures From The Oregon Coast

Here are some pictures that we've taken over the last couple of days as we've traveled down the Oregon coast:

Wedding Photos

Hooray! We're married :) Here are some photos from the wedding ceremony on the beach:

Olympic Camping and Beaches

Here are some pictures that we took while camping and exploring in Olympic National Park in Washington. We stayed in the Graves Creek campground in the Quinault Rainforest area of Olympic National Park.

Photos from Cannon Beach

Here are some photos that we took on the beach when we arrived on Monday.

Marriage License Waiting Period

After LOTOJA, Rosey and I were originally planning on spending a couple of days in Grand Teton and Yellowstone park with our friends Chris and Shannon before heading out to the coast. But, we discovered just before leaving last week that Oregon requires a three day waiting period on marriage licenses. So, we had to book it out to the coast to get our marriage license waiting period started in time to finish before we were scheduled to get married on Friday.

We did still get to spend Sunday afternoon in the Tetons and we used it to do a hike to hidden falls behind Jenny lake. The hike was fun and the waterfall was beautiful but we got rained and snowed on a little bit as we took a ferry back across the lake. Because of the weather and in order to cut down on the amount of driving that we had to do on Monday we took off Sunday night and drove to Pocatello.

Monday was a day full of driving. It felt like my second endurance activity in 3 days. After spending 12 hours on the bike on Saturday, we got to spend 13 hours in the car on Monday. At least we got to start the day with some mammoth muffins from Perkins in Pocatello. And the scenery on the drive, at least once you get near Portland, was pretty spectacular.

We made it to Cannon beach in the early evening and got to walk on the beach that we'll be married on. Rosey made a good choice. It's a beautiful beach. The lady at the hotel mentioned that Cannon beach is currently rated as the #1 beach in the nation. Cool!

Goin' to the Chapel and We're Gonna Get Married

Alright, so we're not really going to a chapel, it'll be more like a beach. But either way, we're gettin' married. After LOTOJA, Rosey and I are heading off on a two week wedding/honeymoon vacation extravaganza. We'll spend a couple of days in the Teton/Yellowstone area before heading off to the coast of Oregon and Washington where we will be married on the beach. After the wedding we'll continue exploring Oregon and Northern California (the redwoods) before heading back to Utah a couple of weeks before the reception where we hope to see you all.

Wedding and Reception Plans

Just wanted to give a heads up to everyone about our wedding plans. We're still working out the details, but we do have a date range for the wedding and a weekend picked out for the reception.

The wedding is going to occur sometime between the 7th of September and the 21st of September as Rosey and I take a 2 week long road trip throughout the Northwest. The actual date hasn't been decided yet because we are just going to pick a nice spot as we are on the road and get married there. In case you haven't figured it out yet... you're not invited :) The wedding is going to be just Rosey and I. Well, I suppose that we'll have someone to officiate the ceremony as well.

You ARE, on the other hand, invited to the wedding reception. The reception will be held on Saturday, October the 6th. We don't have a time or place nailed down yet, but I am thinking about 11AM and we are hoping to reserve an outdoor spot in American Fork Canyon.

For those of you in Hawaii... unfortunately we will not be coming to Hawaii this fall. Our current plan is to come sometime next Spring after the baby comes. So, don't feel like you have to figure out a way to get to the reception in October. We would love to have you, but if you're not able to come, we'll be seeing you soon enough.

For those of you in other far off places... if you are unable to attend, we are willing to take this show on the road for the price of plane tickets. This applies particularly to my Australian, German and Russian blog readers :)

Once we've solidified the plans for the reception, we'll be sure to send out invitations to everyone.

Officially Engaged

I proposed to Rosey this weekend in Bryce Canyon National Park. We were on the Navajo Loop to Queens Garden trail when we ventured off trail to get away from the people. Surrounded by redrock hoodoos, I asked Rosey to be my wife and, fortunately for me, she said Yes :)

I'm Going To Be a Daddy!

It's official! Rosey and I are pregnant (well, she's really doing most of the 'being pregnant'). We are due, I believe, sometime in February. I can't think of a better person than Rosey to tackle parenthood with. She will make a wonderful Mommy.

Of course there is the small detail of a wedding that will be planned in the coming months. I never was good at doing things in the right order :) I'll keep you posted with details as we settle on plans. I'm so excited!