Celebrating Peter and Gowoon

My cousin, Peter, got married last April.....in South Korea. We were not able to travel to South Korea for the ceremony. However, his sister, my cousin Cheri, live streamed the whole thing - isn't technology great! I was able to watch part of the ceremony, live, from our living room in Kansas.

Anyway, we couldn't attend the ceremony, but Peter's family threw a wedding reception in his hometown on August 29 so that family and friends could celebrate Peter and his new bride, Gowoon. Brandon had to work, but the kids and I traveled to to McGregor for the festivities.  We drove all the way to McGregor the Friday before. I think it was the furthest we have traveled with the kids in one day. They were pretty beat by the time we got to my parents' apartment in McGregor. Katie and Patrick also flew in from Denver, and Rob, Whitney and Autumn made the drive up, as well.

On Saturday morning, Grandma and Grandpa Henkes came down to the apartment for breakfast, and then we all went out for a boat ride on the Mississippi. The kids loved waving to other boats, exploring the "downstairs" on the boat, and Jonah even got to drive the boat! I love the Mississippi in the summer. A few trees were even starting to turn. Too bad we can't go back in the Fall!

For lunch we headed up the street to Grandma and Grandpa Great's house. Before lunch, Jonah and Patrick were having fun playing out on the balcony off the dining room. At one point, Jonah failed to notice that someone had closed the screen door, and he went running full steam.....right into the door. He hit so hard he bounced backwards onto the floor. He wasn't injured, but he was pretty upset. And it was pretty hysterical. The worst part is, he did the same thing about 30 minutes later. My mom finally made a big "X" with tape on the screen so it would be obvious when it was closed. Some lessons are difficult to learn, I guess.

This picture, and most of the rest of the pictures in the post are from my Aunt Darci - she is more ready with her camera than me, apparently :)
After lunch, I took the kids back to the apartment for naps. Unfortunately, right outside the apartment, there is a mock "old West" gun show every weekday afternoon - right at nap time. It took Jonah quite a while to settle down, but both kids did eventually sleep. Then, it was time for the party!

Conveniently for us, the party was located right downstairs at the Old Man! The kids had a great time running around with second cousins and being crazy. It was a wonderful party and fun to see family - especially Peter, who I don't think I have seen in 5 or 6 years! (He's been living in South Korea!)

The bride and groom and their parents

My Uncle Craig and Aunt Terri and their beautiful family
What a good looking group!

Peter performed a song that he sang for Gowoon during their wedding

Some of my cousins and some of the next generation
Nichole, Cheri, Cora, Abby and Ryan

Strutt cousins who were able to make it

My dad and his siblings

Lots of second cousins!

The kids took a break to check out a giant toad we found just outside the door.

My cousin Cheri put together some super cute clip boards of coloring pages and crayons to keep the kids occupied. One of the sheets was a "word find" containing words about Peter, Gowoon and their life and relationship. She jokingly told me that she expected Jonah to have his finished before the night was through. But I was actually quite surprised that he sort of grasped the concept. Here's what he came up with. I showed him how it worked by finding "Gowoon" on the list, then finding the letters in the puzzle, and circling it. Then we found a couple together: "kiss", "love" (minus the 'v'), and "Jujube". But I swear....he found "Chicago" all by himself (on the left hand side). A little unconventional, but he makes his own path.

It was a quick, but fun trip back to Iowa. We broke up the trip home by stopping at Grandma and Grandpa's for the night on Sunday. The kids and I were both ready to get home to Daddy on Monday! One more road trip before the end of summer!