Wedding Reception Sept 8 Weekend

Last weekend was our wedding reception and it was a blast! Luke's parents, Joe and Della (from WI), Emily's family, Linda & Victor (Mexico), Anika (Idaho) and Jacob (Colorado), and Aunt Joanne (Arizona), and then our friend Adam Cudd (Colorado) came up for the party. Everyone arrived Thursday or friday and on Friday night we had a little bonfire and salmon chowder. On Saturday we had the party at the Dog Musher's Hall. About 60 people attended and we grilled out the Louie's Finer Meats Wisconsin brats that Joe and Della brought up. Everyone brought some delicious food or dessert and so we had plenty of great food. Thanks to everyone who came to the party and a special thanks to those who donated money to our favorite charities, that was really special and appreciated. It was great to have all our Alaskan friends meet our family and I am sure it was nice for the family to meet our Alaskan friends! It was such a fun time!

On Sunday afternoon we piled into 3 cars and drove out to Chena Hot Springs for an overnight stay and soak in the hot springs. The fall colors out there were awesome and the weather was cool and crisp - perfect for a soak. The hot springs were really hot this time too. On Monday we ended up going on a tour of the geothermal power plant out there and then Joe, Della, Linda, and Joanne took a tour of the Ice Hotel and Bar, while the rest of us went over to the Chena River for fishing arctic grayling and hiking and berry picking. That day was beautiful also!

On Monday night after returning to our house, we decided to grill out more brats that were leftover from the party and we even had a funny duck-face competition between family members (inside joke)! Linda was the winner of course!

Here are some more photos from the party:

Emily Anika and Jacob Youcha

Bob, Loda, and Jeff

Kelly, Johnny, Logan, Jessie, Heather, and Victor

Anika, Linda, Emily, Joanne

Della in the Chena Ice Hotel

Luke's wearing his sport coat!