The main event, and reason for hanging out in Utah, was to make it down to Las Vegas for Christer and Samantha's wedding reception, not that anyone minded hanging in Utah for some extra time with the family. We ended up going to Vegas a day early so we could meet up with my dad and Mary Lou. When the plans over the holidays to attend the wedding and see my dad in California fell through, due to covid numbers, we have been trying to figure out how to see them. After all the driving in Yellowstone, we just couldn't drive any further before losing our minds, or without more time to have in between drives. We were very happy it worked out to visit with them for a couple of days in Vegas. We just swam and played games. It was so relaxing and good to catch up!
That's where I picked up Karissa and Jason, at the Las Vegas airport. I also picked up Jason's dad- bonus!
We enjoyed extra visiting time with Abuelo, Grandma Mary Lou, and Grandpa Dave with good food and fun swimming!
Saturday afternoon, we had to say goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma Anderson and then get ready for the reception. Since we were the only Mercados able to attend the reception, we were to arrive a little early. We finally got to meet Sam, and of course her lovely family.
Sam and Christer were sealed in the temple last December, so there was a nice ring ceremony in the chapel as most of her family are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Christer and Samantha's institute leader, who led the ceremony, shared his testimony of the covenants made in the temple at marriage. Then Sam and Christer did. Sam's was in Spanish. She's from Vegas and her parents know English (though Christer often spoke to them in Spanish), but she had some family members come up from Mexico, who don't know English. It was fun to use our Spanish again, but harder than with Clara and David because of all the face masks.
After the ceremony we took pictures with the bride and groom and then ate a deliciously catered meal of parmesan chicken, mashed potatoes, and grilled veggies. Complete with meatball hors d'oeuvres and bread, as well as bottled 7-up or Coca-Cola, which Erik gladly took up the offers for more than 1, or even more than 2...
There was nice piano music playing during dinner, then came the dancing! Lots of Latin music, some fun line dancing, which imcluded the Macarena which is one of Erik's favorites. Erik wanted to dance just about every song, and that's pretty much what we did! He said it was one of the best days of his life! After the cake, there were a few more dance numbers, and then it was time to go back to the hotel.
The next morning we dropped Abuelo off at the airport and made our way back to Orem for Jason to work one day before coming back to Michigan. We met with most of the cousins for one more evening at Grandma Pat's.
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