Traveling Travesties Part 3

I still can’t believe that it is the end of November. This will be my final blog about the summer. One more trip to that infamous JFK Airport. When we called the airline, they said the flight was on schedule. We have heard that line one too many times! What would we find there? For starters, it was the longest check in line I have ever been in. We must have been in line for over two hours, and we came 3 hours early. The flight was supposed to depart at 10 PM. It was already postponed two hours. Kim and Bekah joined us for one last snack at Mc Donald’s, then they left us. Security was rather chaotic with people going on many different flights – it was past midnight before we got through. Then, we made the trek to our gate and sat down for what would probably be a long night. Finally, we got the call to board the plane. They actually took us on a small shuttle bus out to the tarmac where we boarded. This was well after 2 AM. After a long wait in the plane on the tarmac, an announcement came that there was too much luggage and some would have to be off loaded. Uh oh! We could only imagine what that would mean at the other end of this trip. I think we finally departed from New York around 4 AM. They actually served us a regular meal – I don’t even remember what it was, but I was hungry and ate it up. We touched down in Guyana around 10:00 AM. There were many unhappy faces at the luggage claim area, because hardly any luggage arrived. We received one out of four suitcases. Some people received none, and I felt sorry for them because they were only here for 1 or 2 weeks, and had no clothes or other necessary items. It isn’t like you can run over to a local Wal-Mart and get a couple of items cheaply. Two of our suitcases arrived two days later, but the last one took over 2 weeks and many phone calls and extra trips to the airport. The last leg of our trip involves crossing the Berbice River by ferry. This trip can take many hours if the boats aren’t working well. It had been particularly bad in the two months we were gone. Surprisingly, we got across in a pretty reasonable amount of time. I hope I don’t have to fly any airplanes again for a long time!! However, we still have to cross the river on the ferry if we want to come to Georgetown, and it is running slower than ever!! (Alas, our “traveling travesties” will continue, but we won’t talk about them again!) Finis.
P.S. Our most recent ferry crossings involved waits of 4 hours one way and 3 hours the other. Thank God for Church's Fried Chicken(restaurant) and good books!!

More Wedding Pictures

The complete Potter family

Three-fold toast by Joel, the best man

Don't they look happy?

God's blessings on the wedding!!

The proud parents!

The Wedding Day

The big day had arrived! All of us were very concerned when the day before the wedding began with clouds and rain. It was rainy and chilly the whole day. We prayed for good weather as the reception was going to be outside. It could be squeezed in to the fellowship hall, but outside would be so much nicer. The Lord blessed us with bright sunshine, cooler temperatures and ideal weather. It could not have been nicer. All of us scurried around doing last minute errands, and the special moment finally arrived. I felt quite emotional during this wedding – my baby getting married. It was a beautiful ceremony with an unusual variety of music: beautiful trumpet/piano duet by Christine's grandparents; a really neat Peter, Paul and Mary song by Joel and Bekah; a beautiful rendition of "Ruth's Song" by Christine, her mom, Vickie and sister, Rebekah. Jack, our 2 ½ year old grandson, was the ring bearer. He got a little restless and dropped his ring pillow a couple of times, but did very well, all things considered. The wedding had many nice personal touches. The outside reception was so enjoyable with many delicious finger foods, pastas and desserts. It seemed like no one wanted to leave. The newly weds had a hard time slipping away as there were so many people to see. We praise the Lord for another landmark event in our family. God has blessed us so much. The hardest part was knowing we would all be going separate ways, some far away from all the rest!

Wedding Week Part 2

Our main responsibility was planning and preparing the rehearsal dinner for around 35 people. Since Jon and Christine requested a barbecue, we planned a menu of steak, chicken, various salads and make-your-own ice cream sundaes. It was fun putting this together, but it had its challenges – such as finding enough party stores with helium balloons – there was some kind of helium shortage and we had to drive way out of the way to get enough balloons to decorate with. What lengths we parents are willing to go to for our kids!! It was so much fun when Bethany came with the boys and we got to spend a little more time with our precious grandsons. What a blessing that her mom, Lynn Stroud, was able to come, too. She did her best to keep the boys cared for when Joel and Bethany were both occupied. Also, she was a great help with the barbecue, because Joe had to run back and forth from the rehearsal to the grill. All in all, the meal appeared to be a great success and there was plenty of food for everyone. Special friends and family members began converging on Dix Hills, NY for the big day.