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On September 29th, Jonathan’s sister Katie got married to Ranjan in Monterey, California. Of course we weren’t going to miss that, so the Stephens Family once again piled into the car and left town for a wedding. And once again, our dog Friday was left all alone.He wasn't happy.
On Thursday September 27, Jonathan, Jaime, Cassie and Jill headed to San Jose. We got on the road late because we spent 2 hours trying to get the kid’s little TV/DVD combo player to work. Actually, Jonathan spent 1 hour and 55 minutes of failure, then Jaime took over and had it working in 5 minutes. Annoyed, Jonathan decided to give Jaime the silent treatment for showing him up. Jaime responded to the silence by taking a nice, relaxing nap.Fun Fact:
To get to San Jose from Murrieta, take Highway 15 North to 210 West to Highway 5 North. Drive about 3-hours up the 5 and then take Highway 152 West to 101 North to 85 North into San Jose. The distance is approximately 415 miles and driving time is about 6 1/2 hours.
We arrived in San Jose around midnight and stayed with Dave, Michele and Ashley, who were kind enough to provide us with our own rooms and access to their Hi-Definition TV (the better for Jonathan to play Halo3 on). Cassie and Jill had a great time playing with Cousin Ashley, who enjoys throwing her little plastic balls up into the air.Next afternoon, we went to Grandma’s to catch up with Dan and his family, who had arrived from Utah the night before. Cassie and Jill loved seeing Grandma, Uncles Dan and Ben and Cousins Josh, Shayne, Micah and Maddy again. Micah apparently messed up his leg recently in a mini-bike accident, so he was hobbling around in a huge Velcro foot cast.
That night, while Jaime stayed at Dave’s to work on Katie’s wedding dress, the rest of the clan went to downtown San Jose to see Ben perform ComedySportz in the old Camera 3 Theatre. We got lost, but did finally find the place just in time for the show. Ben was the “Designated Jokester” for the night, so he played for both the red and blue teams, which meant that he was guaranteed to be on the winning team no matter what. Rumination:
Doesn’t that also mean he’s guaranteed to be the loser too?
Fun Fact:
ComedySportz is an award-winning interactive comedy show where two teams of "act-letes" compete for audience laughs and points while improvising scenes, games and musicals based on audience suggestions.
A referee calls fouls and keeps the match moving at a blistering pace. The audience is always a part of the interactive show, voting for the winners and sometimes even winding up on stage.
It's clean, fast and fun for all audiences. San Jose's longest-running show, ComedySportz has been named Editor's Choice by The Wave Magazine and Best Local Theatre by The Metro's Best of the Silicon Valley.
On Saturday, September 29, we drove to the beach north of Monterey for Katie’s wedding and met up with Joe, Jen and Cousin Reese. The cousins had fun running around the condo, but they really wanted to be on the beach. Especially Ashley.
At around noon, Katie and Ranjan exchanged vows right on the beach, with Dan officiating. This was the first wedding we’ve ever attended in bare feet!
After the wedding, Ranjan’s family provided a wonderful meal. We hung out for a few hours, eating, chatting and taking pictures.
Here, Cousin Josh eats ... something.
Look over here and smile! No, over HERE!
Uncle Joe has picture posing down. Except for the smiling part.
We left on Sunday morning to drive back to Murrieta, but stopped first to have breakfast with friends Heather and Sergio and see their kids Alex and Lucas. Everyone had a good time and it was fun catching up.
“I liked going to San Jose for Katie’s wedding, except for sitting in the car for five hours. Or was it six hours? I don’t know. I liked that the wedding was on the beach. It was a little cold, but I survived – it’s not like I was freezing. It was interesting that we were REAL flower girls for the first time (Cassie, Jill and Cousin Maddy got to spread flower petals before Bride Katie). That’s how long a wedding should take – it was only like 15 minutes, instead of waiting around doing nothing for an hour. I liked Katie’s husband and seeing all the cousins again.”
“We went to Aunt Katie’s wedding on the beach. It was really fun. I ran in the water and got my dress a bit wet. I saw my cousins Maddie, Shane, Micah, Josh, Reese and Ashley, I got to play with them during the wedding. We stayed with Ashley, Dave and Michele at their house. Katie looked beautiful in her dress. I also got to see Alex and Lucas.”
After Kasey’s wedding, two receptions in two different states and then Julie’s wedding in Utah – all within the last month – you’d think the Stephens family would be all wedding’d out. But noooooo, it seems we are gluttons for punishment.On September 23rd, Jaime’s elyseREUBEN gown designs were featured in a bridal fashion show hosted by Wein’s Family Cellars Winery in Temecula, California. Jaime did her designer thing and Cassie and Jill modeled Flower Girl dresses on the runway. Jonathan didn’t want to be there and complained a lot (you could say he put the “whine” in winery, yuk yuk).
Fun Fact:
elyseREUBEN was founded in 1995 by designer Jaime Stephens, the company name is a combination of hers and her husband’s middle names. elyseREUBEN began as a referral-based custom bridal business in Northern California with an emphasis on affordable, modest fashions. The company quickly developed a loyal client-base, and over the years Jaime has hosted bridal showcases and participated in non-profit runway shows promoting her unique style of elegance and sophistication.
Since relocating to Southern California in 2003, Jaime has expanded her label, creating Jaime Elyse Couture for high-end bridal fashion and Molly’s Clothing for casual wear. Last month, an elyseREUBEN gown was featured on the cover of San Diego Style Weddings Magazine. Look for more elyseREUBEN covers in the coming months, including the January 2008 issue.
In addition to Cassie and Jill strutting their stuff, Jaime’s long-time models Dominique and Britney were there in fine form.
The venue was beautiful and the show was a lot of fun. Our thanks to everyone who helped make it a success.
“I got to be in a fashion show and I got to get paid, and that made it more funner. I used my $25 to buy a monkey necklace and Lawrence, the guy who was hosting the show, gave me a starfish necklace. He gave Jillian a $25 gift certificate for books. Anyway, I walked out and did poses. At first I had to wear the cream dress, then I had to wear the polka-dot. Then in the second one we had a new model. Her name was Majesty. She wore one of my dresses and one of Jillian’s dresses. It was hard getting changed while the wind was blowing the curtains. Did you know that the thing we were using to get changed in fell over? Good thing it was after the last show!”
"
I was in a fashion model show with Cassie. It was a lot of fun. I bought a dolphin with my $25. I modeled a blue Easter dress, a plain white dress and a red and white dress.”
On Thursday September 20, Jaime boarded a plane for Utah to attend her niece Julie’s wedding and arrived just in time for the bridal shower. Jaime’s sister Heather made some fabulous cheesecakes, which everyone thought came from The Cheesecake Factory. Julie loves the color pink, so pink was the theme for the party.On Friday, everyone went to the hotel to take family pictures.
Then they had a barbeque to get to know Julie’s husband Christian and his family. Following that, Jaime and her family helped Julie with the last-minute details for her wedding (we’ve learned the hard way that it’s not a "wedding" unless you stay up half the night cramming to get things done).The next morning, Jaime and her family drove up to the ceremony location. Julie chose a venue in a canyon, which offered a beautiful panoramic view. After Julie and Christian exchanged vows and sealed them with a kiss, it started to sprinkle a little. But luckily the rain held out until the reception was over.Fun Fact:
Julie and Christian are Trekkers, so the topper for their wedding cake was a pair of Star Trek figurines.
Julie looked beautiful in her Maggie Sottero dress and Christian was very handsome.
Afterward, Jaime flew back home, commenting that it's always great to see family, but after traveling for so many weeks, it’s good to be home again.
"I didn't get to go. I had to stay home with Dad."
"Me too. It was boring."
Following our visit with the Lewis family in Chino Valley, Arizona, the plan was to do nothing but to try and keep our sanity while driving back home on the intensely boring highway known as Route 40.FYI, Route 40 is a stretch of desert road that is, by all accounts, totally, mind-numbingly boring. In fact, the level of pure, intense, unadulterated boring that is Route 40 cannot be properly described using existing language.It drove us a little insane...
On the morning of September 16th as we packed up to head home, we realized that we were only two hours from the Grand Canyon. Sure, it was two hours in the opposite direction, but we’re talking THE Grand Canyon. The GRAND one. We’d be remiss if we didn’t take advantage of the fact that we were so close. So we set off, and soon enough arrived at the gates of the Grand Canyon...Fun Fact:
It costs $25 smackers to see the Grand Canyon in person.
Jonathan joked, “$25 is pretty steep, but then so’s the Grand Canyon!” No one laughed.Rumination:
The price to enter the Grand Canyon was raised to $25 in May, 2006. With inflation sure to extend into the future, is it fair to say that there will come a time when it will cost a grand to enter the Grand Canyon?
After the kindly Park Ranger handed over our entrance ticket, Jonathan asked, “Would you like a kiss?” The Ranger looked up abruptly, only to see that Jonathan was holding up a big bag of Hershey’s Kisses. The kindly Park Ranger kindly declined, claiming he was watching his figure.For some reason, we forgot our camera. How can you go to the Grand Canyon without a camera? It’s probably against the law, so we paid some astronomical price for a disposable camera with 24 exposures. Digital cameras have made us forget how precious (and expensive) a small, finite roll of film can be. So enjoy the following pictures, because they cost like a buck a piece.
In this one, Cassie finds something interesting to point at.
W
e walked along the South Rim and did our best not to disrupt the “tourists” native to the area. Jaime was exceedingly protective of Cassie and Jillian along the cliffs. She wouldn’t turn her back on them for a second.
Jonathan seemed to get vertigo and was suddenly leery near the edge. This is a guy who once sat on the cliff of Halfdome in Yosemite with his legs hanging over the side. Somehow between then and now, he became a big softie. We’re talking a strawberry parfait kind of softie – one of those girlie parfaits that offer Park Rangers kisses and is suddenly afraid of standing near cliffs. Fun Fact:
The Grand Canyon is 277 river miles long and an average of 10 miles wide. One of the endangered species is a fish called the Razorback Sucker. Just a thought, but maybe the Razorback Sucker wouldn’t be endangered if it didn’t suck razors.
There’s a Steven Wright joke that goes: “Some people are afraid of heights. Not me, I’m afraid of widths.” The great thing about the Grand Canyon is that it’s both high and wide. It’s a two-for-one.
$25 well spent.
“I’ve never been there before and the Grand Canyon was huge. It was very cool to be in a big place I’ve never been in before. We should’ve brought [our dog] Friday. Me and Mom had the same shirt on.”
“The Grand Canyon was really fun. I got to see lots of mountains and take pictures with a disposable camera. The mountains were green, yellow and red.”
On September 8, 2007, our daughter Kasey married Jace Lewis in the San Diego Temple. Kasey met Jace in Arizona after he returned from serving a mission in New York.
The reception was held that night in our back yard. Guests began arriving at 7 pm and the new Mr. & Mrs. were introduced at around 7:25. Kasey looked beautiful in her gown, which she and Jaime designed with the distinctive red sash.
Over 130 guests attended to wish the couple well. Jaime’s brothers Brian and John even drove down from San Jose, arriving just in time.
The backyard was decorated for the reception with lights, candles and red, black and white linens. The food included a selection of salads and two chocolate fountains. It was an all-around great time, with dancing, cake and bouquet throwing.
Fun Fact:
To light the event, Jonathan spent four days stringing Christmas lights over the lawn in our backyard. Jonathan hung nine lines of lights from the roof of the house. Each of the nine lines is made up of three strands of Christmas lights, which contain about fifty lights each. So that’s, uh something like ... (9 x 3)50 ... carry the 1 … anyway, it’s a LOT of lights. Especially when the strands go out and you have to figure out which light is causing the problem.
It was a lot of work preparing for Kasey’s wedding, but thankfully, we had many wonderful helpers. Jaime’s sister Heather came down from Utah for the weekend to make sure the Stephens family was fed and watered regularly. She cooked meals, ran errands and was an all-around Godsend. Our stomachs thank her.
Our thanks to Lindsay for the lovely flower arrangements, to Linda and Heather for the delicious cake and to Lynn and Wick for handling the photography. Also to those who helped with the back yard at the 11th hour: Jane and Lavon, Gina and Miguel, Wayne, Linda and Theresa, John and Jenny, the Allen family and the Lewis family. It would’ve been a crummy reception with this giant pile of chip blocking the entrance.
Though we miss Kasey every day, we’re thrilled that she has started this new chapter of her life with such a great guy.
Best wishes to the happy couple.
“I liked the reception, except I had to wear my Flower Girl dress all day. And it was cold.”
“For Kasey’s wedding, we went to the temple and it was really great. I got to spin boys around on our tire swing too. I think Jace is a great cousin (or brother-in-law).”
That night, while Jaime stayed at Dave’s to work on Katie’s wedding dress, the rest of the clan went to downtown San Jose to see Ben perform ComedySportz in the old Camera 3 Theatre. We got lost, but did finally find the place just in time for the show. Ben was the “Designated Jokester” for the night, so he played for both the red and blue teams, which meant that he was guaranteed to be on the winning team no matter what. 
