jessica getting married

jessica got married in the oakland temple

which was lovely because it afforded me the opportunity to go into a temple i haven't been in before. also, my parents were married in the oakland temple almost 32 years ago, so it holds special meaning to our family. it was a glorious day - sunny, in the 80's . . . unfortunately the wedding party encountered several set backs.

first, miss kristen, one of the bridesmaids, had a hazardous chemical spill at work in the wee small hours of the morning (she works graveyards), so she wasn't able to leave on time. she tried her best to make it, but the fates were against her and she missed her exit and went the wrong way. she missed the ceremony, but she made it for pictures and lunch.

the bride and groom families had two cars break down, one before they ever left town, and one on the freeway en route to the temple. fortunately there were enough empty spaces and parties driving to oakland that everyone was able to be squeezed in and make it to the ceremony.

and to top off the whole day, regina's car wouldn't start after the wedding. here we are, non-mechanics one and all, trying our best to divine what could possibly be wrong?!?!

honestly, by this point, it was hilarious. seriously, how many things can go wrong on a single wedding day? we called up a tow truck, and the tow-guy got the car started by banging on the fuel tank with a hammer . . . yeah, who knew? turns out the fuel pump was failing. we attempted to drive the car home after we got it started, but we only got about 10 miles down the freeway before it turned off again. three hours and a rental car later we were racing home to try and get the two bridesmaids in our car to the wedding reception. we left regina's poor car stranded at a gas station in oakland.

we got to the reception an hour and a half late . . . but we did make it!

i guess the most important thing is that jessica and james are married!! so the day was ultimately a success.

regina went back to oakland on saturday (with our trusty mechanic-in-shining-armor, brian) to retrieve her car in whatever way possible. apparently brian has the secret touch. he banged on the fuel tank so effectively that it drove all the way back to fresno. it is currently in the hospital, being treated for a faulty fuel-pump, and other things that must be fixed.

pfffffffssssst . . . cars! there's always something wrong with them.