McMinnville in Autumn Glory

It had been 4 years since we had seen an autumn in Oregon and it was enough to make us want to move back. Oh the leaves! the colors! the beauty! It made Tokyo seem even grayer and our wedding even more vibrant.

Our reception/party was held at the McMenamins Hotel Oregon in Downtown McMinnville, my hometown. We love this place--easy going atmosphere, great beer and a rooftop bar overlooking the town.

Each room is named after a person who holds some sort of historical significance to either McMinnville or McMenamins. Leslie just checked into Wayne's room, all the way from Vancouver, B.C.

Downtown McMinnville held it's annual Halloween trick-or-treat at the businesses. James is never one to let a wedding get in the way of a good halloween costume.

The old Mack Theater in Downtown McMinnville.

Before the party, we took a drive with friends and did some wine tasting in the hills surrounding McMinnville. The vines, the leaves, the open spaces and the taste of terrific Oregon wine was more beauty than I thought one afternoon could hold.

A new favorite in Carlton. We just finished the bottle for Thanksgiving dinner that we brought back with us.

Maggie and Brendan came from New Jersey to wine and dine with us.

Even the breakfasts were amazing Oregon style portions. This is at the Wildwood Cafe, a favorite spot for huge breakfasts, tacky walls and great coffee.

Mmmm....Oregon.

Oregon Bound

Back in Rosebud, we had a few hours to relax before a snow storm forced us to turn around and drive back to Rapid City to make our flight.

We received so many beautiful presents from the Foss Family, especially 2 handmade Native American star quilts.

Pansy made us a money tree!

Doesn't look like much, but it was cold, icy and windy.

Drastic change of outfits from 2 days earlier.

Our trusty truck, complete with curtains, memory foam bed and blankets kept us warm as we slept in the back at the airport parking lot. The roads were fine, except for a long stretch of ice near Rapid, and our flight left on time to take us to the next celebration.

Deadwood Mini-Moon

There aren't many options in central South Dakota for honeymooners. The short list: Badlands National Park, hunting cabins filled with hunters, or the casino in Rosebud. We loaded up the truck and drove to the Black Hills to quaint little Deadwood, home of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. What more could a girl want?

James's sister Jenny gave us this Native American wedding vase. It's symbolism is similar to wedding bands, the joining of two lives. Note: it's easier to take turns drinking from opposite sides.

And it was dead. 7:00 a.m. jetlag got the best of us and the streets of Deadwood looked like this. The next day it snowed 15 inches.

After living in Japan, you don't really know what to do with yourself in such space.

We won 10 bucks, called it a good omen to the start of a marriage, got back in the truck and drove back 4 hours to Rosebud.

Homespun Reception

James's family threw us a lovely party at his parent's house in Mission. His brothers Joe, Gary, and Richard and his sisters Roseann and Jenny came from all around the country to help us celebrate.

A reminder in St. Francis, South Dakota on the rez.

Slightly posed because I couldn't get on the bike in that tight dress.

Pansy went out of her way to make us feel loved and welcomed. There was so much delicious food, wonderful people and so many thoughtful gifts. She even ordered a delicious carrot cake wedding cake for us. My favorite!

4 year old nephew John-John took this picture. I love the starkness of the prairies.

The Ceremony

The ceremony at St. Charles Borromeo church was an hour long...which is exactly as long as James slept the night before due to writing a paper for his university classes.

Unfortunately it's a bit blurry, but James and I walked down the aisle together.

Father Tim read our vows. James's mom thinks he looks like he's sleepwalking.

The church is amazingly detailed in Native American design. The beautiful stained glass windows from Germany were being cleaned, leaving us with the storm windows.

My beautiful sister Emma (and her little baking bun).

Can you see the peace pipe on the altar?

James's sisters Jenny and Roseann, and mom Pansy, with my sister, Emma. James likes this picture of the women in his life.

The purple church! Years ago the church was plagued with graffiti. The priests asked the kids what color they wanted the church to be. The kids said purple and *voila* no more graffiti!

Driving away in the Volvo 1800.

Goin' to the Chapel

The closest town to Mission, South Dakota, where James's family lives, is Valentine, Nebraska, about 40 minutes away. My sister and I stayed there the night before the wedding. She helped keep me sane as I got dressed, purchased flowers from a couple of heaven-sent florists, and had lunch at the local chuck-wagon.

Painted hearts on Valentine's downtown streets.

How many people make their bouquet in the back of the car on the way to the church? Thanks Beau and Emma for driving. Disappointingly, they got stuck in Cheyenne, Wyoming for 4 days and missed the second celebration.

Marriage Madness

I'm not sure if I can accurately tell the story of our wedding to do all the love and craziness of the 2 weeks justice, but I'll share a few pictures to try to give you a glimpse into what we felt in our hearts was a beautiful event. Our wedding was a bit nutty, a bit last minute, a bit simple, and very much us, filled with a whole lot o' lovin from our friends and family.

We'll start in South Dakota...

At the Rapid City Courthouse. All the important events in life, under one roof. Divorce is too expensive to list.

Signing our lives away....

You'll notice through all of these pictures that the sun seemed to shine on us wherever we went.

Reveling in the grandiosity of Costco. Jumbo cheese balls buckets and cheap Budweiser. God Bless America.

In Badlands National Park in central South Dakota on our way to James's parents house.

Bachelorette Party

My Tokyo girls went all out and threw a party for my bachelorette party the week before we left. To honor my new family heritage, they dressed me as a Native American princess and themselves as cowgirls. So classy, girls. We started at a great Mexican restaurant called Junkadelic in Naka-Meguro then went to a great beer bar before meeting up with James's bachelor party at a club in Roppongi till the break of dawn.

Charity, the brains behind the fun.

Allison and Ingrid
(*2 pregnant friends with nothing to do but making leather headdresses :)

Wedding!

What

Jesse and James will be married in a small ceremony on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Transportation and accommodation are limited on the "rez", so a West Coast toast in Oregon will also be held to celebrate with family and friends.

Where

St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church
St. Francis, South Dakota

McMenamins Hotel Oregon
310 NE Evans Street
Downtown McMinnville, Oregon

When
Ceremony
October 27, 2009
3:00 p.m.

West Coast Toast
Appetizers, cupcakes and a champagne toast served
UofO game on TV in the restaurant
October 31, 2009
7:00 p.m.

Accommodations

• McMenamins Hotel Oregon Mention Foss/Latter wedding for discounted rates and blocked rooms until September 30th. These rooms are filling up fast! James & Jesse will be staying here Friday & Saturday nights.
  
• Baker Street Bed & Breakfast An easy walk to downtown McMinnville
  
• Steiger Haus Bed and Breakfast Inn Beautiful home near Linfield College
  
• Outside McMinnville There are many beautiful inns nestled in the hills if you would like to stay out of the “big city”
  

What To Do

Wine Tasting

Eat hazelnuts

Downtown McMinnville food, shops and tasting rooms

Evergreen Aviation Museum and Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose

And even more...

Your presence is the only present we desire!
But, if you really want to give, we are collecting Spanish language books for Los Niños, the orphans of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos in La República Dominicana, ages 4-18. This is the orphanage James volunteered at this summer.

Renewed appreciation for Picasso

This weekend I took advantage of the nice weather left in the wake of Typhoon 18 and visited Hakone, Tokyo's playground about 90 minutes away by train. The Hakone region is in the shadow of Fuji, but I didn't get to see it this time because the clouds closed in, leaving the first snow of the year on it's flat top. Instead of hiking, I visited the beautiful Hakone Open Air Museum halfway up the mountain.

The grounds are huge and I probably spent 2 hours just wandering around.

This is the called the Symphonic Sculpture. The tower was entirely made out of steel and stained glass, which looked like nothing from the outside, but the inside was gloriously colored. Each panel had some little hidden gem of a picture. It also made a beautiful echo sound as people walked up the staircase.

I would love a window like this in my dream home.

More koi...I love these greedy fish.

In 1984, they installed this Picasso exhibit, full of many of his original drawings, tapestries and clay pots. I hadn't known much of Picasso prior to this, but I developed a real appreciation for his art and the development of it over time after this exhibit.

This large Lincoln Log-like structure housed the incredible hammock below...

Oh, to be a kid and play around in there!

Hakone is bubbling with volcanic waters. One of the hiking trails I wanted to take was closed because of too many toxic gases from the ground. The museum had a hot spring foot bath for visitors.

After the museum, I took a dip in this onsen (note: I didn't take this picture, and there were no men in my onsen.)

I had lunch with this gray heron. We both had the fish, but mine was from Seven Eleven.