Liam and the Busy Edmonton Weekend

During the summer my nephew Liam from Saskatoon came up to spend a week with my sister Monica and myself. Most of the week he hung out with Monica's family doing cool stuff like hanging at Galaxyland, Launchpad, Vertically Inclined, and watching the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. As the weekend approached I scooped him up to accompany me to a couple of events going on in the City.

Under 20 Women's World Cup Soccer

During August, Edmonton was one of the host cities of the U-20 Women's World Cup soccer tournament. On a rainy Firday night Liam and I attended a big double-header Group B matchup.

The steady rain led to a bunch of empty seats as the masses headed under the overhang of Commonwealth Stadium. Liam didn't seem to mind the rain so we ended up hanging out near the edge of the playing field for the barn-burner 5-5 draw between China and Germany (Eventual Gold Cup winners) and the slightly more tactical 1-0 USA win over Brazil.

Aside from the actual games their were multiple soccer based activities in the fan area including an impromptu pickup soccer game (Liam had a couple goals) and penalty kicks.

Downtown and Whyte Avenue

Probably my favorite summer activity and what I consider a "must do" for any visitors to the city is a trolley car ride between the downtown and Old Strathcona. 

In Old Strathcona we checked out the Farmer Market for deals and stopped off at Hub Cigar for a Pop Shoppe before heading back downtown. I think Liam picked a Lime Ricky just because it matched his Brazil shirt.

Getting off the trolley we stopped at neighboring Legislature Building and it's fountain to cool down.

Cariwest Parade 

From the Legislature Grounds we headed straight north upto Jasper Avenue to see the Cariwest Festival Parade.  As an impatient man I forced Liam to walk the parade route with me as opposed to sitting in one spot and watching it go by. He took no issues in my parade watching approach - apparently I share the same attention span of a pre-teen :)

Miss Cariwest 2014

Liam the ladies man

We finished our walk before the parade hit it's end point of Churchill Square so as we waited for it to finish we had a quick game of HORSE in Centennial Plaza.

The kid put up a good fight but after my 2 consecutive wins I took mercy on him and we proceeded back to the Cariwest festivities.

The Square was beyond packed so we only stuck around for a couple stage shows concluding (for us) with a capoeira demonstration.  

Animethon

Walking around downtown over the weekend you would occasionally run into young folks walking around with a tail pushing out of the back of their shirt or fuzzy elongated ears. The proliferation of cosplay steadily increased the closer you would get to MacEwan University. This could mean only one thing: Animethon!

I know nothing about Anime but I do love a good costume. So, Liam and I took a walk to people watch in the plaza area along 104th Avenue in front of the University.

Hanging with the Family

After power walking the centre of the City we headed back to Monica's place to meet up with her family, Chrissy and the recently arrived Stephanie. 

Not soon after arriving I was challenged to a water fight. My aqua warrior honor dictated that I accept. While I put on my gameface, Ren didn't take it quite so seriously.

Water fill up break for Liam; Chrissy chooses another liquid.

Stephanie wasn't too enthused about the water fight, she had her eye on another backyard activity: Playing on the Geodome. 

Very impressive Stephy! I think I can safely say you would make the best gymnast out of all of us siblings. 

An Edmonton Wedding

Continuing on from the previous post...

Our friends, family, priest and myself are patiently waiting at the church. There was only one vital piece missing. Thankfully Chrissy remembered to wake up that morning - She had a bad dream earlier in the week that she slept in and got to the church about 5 hours late and completely missed the wedding. So the little extra for the limo to set her mind at ease was money well spent.

A couple minutes past 1:00 PM my groomsman and I got notice to take our spots in the church.

I patiently watched as the flower girls and bridesmaids took their stroll down the aisle. When the music changed from Beethoeven to Wagner I felt everyone's eyes distinctly move away from me to the back of the church. For what was only a second, it seemed like all of the air pulled out of the room as everyone inhaled in expectation. 

I don't really have the words to describe my thoughts when I first got to see Christina. She of course looked gorgeous, but her beauty wasn't what was I focused on. It was more the surety of the moment...nothing had ever felt more right. I was going to marry the kindest and most special woman I could hope to meet, my best friend...Everything in my life was culminating in that moment. Every stupid thing I ever did, every achievement, every decision had led me there. I was so thankful and so ready for the next step.

Before I even knew what was happening her father was passing on her hand into mine. I honestly have no real recollection of the first moments of the mass. All I remember is the warmth of her hand and the added spark in her eyes when she looked at me. 

Before I even knew it we were getting called up to the altar to recite our vows and sign the official documents.

Our ceremony ended up being quite quick at about 45 minutes. Although short (or maybe because of it) we heard through the day many comments on how much people enjoyed the ceremony and the personality of our celebrant, Father Romano. I like to think that my Dad would have approved.  He always liked the 40 minute masses at Nobleville as opposed to long masses with too much singing.

With this kiss I now present to you Mr and Mrs. Kehrig.

After some quick visiting at the church we jumped into our limo and headed to out first wedding picture spot - The Concordia Lutheran Seminary.

The happy Bride with her Grandparents

Our photographer, Jessica Fern Facette, skillfully herded the large group around setting us up for both traditional and ad hoc fun shots. I snapped a couple shots of her at work here and again at our next location, The Old Army and Navy building downtown.

Our final stop was at the Trolley station in Old Strathcona. Chrissy and I love riding the trolley and with the Maid of Honor's husband being one of the drivers, it was too perfect of a spot not to take pictures at.

It became apparent very quickly that Chrissy and her girls were practically professionals when it came to posing for pictures.

My friends and I only know how to pose for one picture.

Of course we didin't want Daniel to feel left out so we gave him some additional attention.

With pictures done we headed to the hall to get the reception started and were welcomed by our greeters, Liam and Sonia. They did a fantastic job at the front getting signatures for our picture and helping guests find their table. 

Our MC for the reception was my buddy Kevin. He was excellent at keeping the program moving while providing just the right amount of humour. In fact I think we may have ended up setting a record by having the reception and dance be ahead of schedule. It's amazing to consider as everyone helped themselves to 2nds and 3rds of the supper. Well done to Maxine and the full kitchen staff of the St. Johns Cultural Centre! It was by far the best organized  and best tasting 'large' supper I have ever been to.

Before everyone fell into a food coma we got to the cutting of the cake. 

Although the cake didn't look exactly what she had envisioned Chrissy was still happy with it's design. And we were both utterly blown away by the taste. Cake Couture makes the best cakes I have ever eaten...enough said.

Once we were through our first dance (Come Rain or Come Shine - Billie Holiday) and our dance with our parents (The Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra) we started to let our hair down, posing for some pictures and partying it up.

EEDC Folks

For the second time this year I got to see all of my siblings again in one place. I am humbled that they all came out to welcome Christina into the family. I know that Christina really took to heart my sisters Stephanie and Monica's welcome speech. I think she'll make a good addition. (Monica's blog on the wedding where I borrowed a bunch of pictures from can be found here & here). 

My neices Mia and Jade are growing up remarkable fast.

Chrissy and I found each other through the night but generally she ruled the dance floor and I held court near the bar.  Much like any wedding the bouquet toss was a highlight for so many reasons.

A special treat for me was being able to see so many of my oldest friends from Humboldt. 

I was blown away by their individual efforts to attend whether it was distance, taking time off work or choosing to miss another special event.  My only regret is that I couldn't find enough time to hear all about the amazing things they are doing and the lives they are leading. You are all awesome and I can't thank you enough for coming.

In the days after the wedding we received many positive comments on: the food, the bouquets (FaBLOOMosity) , the priest, the lovely bride, the dance DJ (City Pro) and the hall. We couldn't agree more. All of our vendors were great and we recommend them all. 

Thanks to all that attended our big day or that couldn't be there but sent their well wishes. We had a great first day as a married couple and look forward to sharing many more with all of you in the future.

I leave this post with one picture and sentiment.

How could I not love this woman?

Note: We hired a professional photographer for our formal wedding photos. This post does not include any of her photographs. All of these pictures are photos from friends and family.