My big, fat GERKE wedding This last weekend I had the best time that I have had in such a long time. On Saturday, my cousin Wade got married. He was the first grandchild in the Gerke family to get married. There are eleven of us and most of us are getting close to thirty or have passed it, so it was a big deal when one of us finally tied the knot. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let's start with

Friday. Friday I drove to Bend after work and got home about 3:30. I called my dad and found out he, my uncle Fred, my cousin Mary and her friend Dane were out shooting shotguns, so I drove out and joined them in some clay pigeon hunting. Typically, me shooting a shotgun is just a waste of ammo, but this time I was actually hitting the targets. I had some streaks of five in a row and that really felt good. After that, we drove home and my mom had made dinner. This, for those of you unfamiliar with my family, is an oddity. She made a lot and it was ready at 5:00. I mention this for two reasons. First, she wasn't hungry, so there were going to be leftovers. Second we didn't get home until 5:30. After dinner we went to the Bowling Alley to play some video poker. We lost, and lost quickly so we went back home to await the phone call from my uncle about what we were doing later that night. We got a call saying we were going to the bowling alley, the same bowling alley we had just been at. We all (me, my mom, my dad, my uncle, my aunt, my cousin, and Dane) went bowling. However, when we got there, the gutter bumpers were up so we played bumper bowling, where every shot had to hit the bumpers and the first shot had to incorporate so oddity, such as between the legs or use your foot. It was a blast. Afterwards we went to my uncles to play liar's dice. Again, a fun time. Then I went to bed, as I had an 8:30 tee time.
Saturday was a good day. It was a bit chilly so the golf got off to a late start. This time a different uncle was with us to witness my worst golf game in years. I had 3 pars and no bogies on 18 holes. You do the math. The game was delayed because of a frost warning, but it quickly warmed up. Then we went home and changed for the wedding. I wore Khackis and a blue button up with a tie. The day was very nice and sunny. Wade looked very handsome and his bride looked stunning. I saw all of my cousins there at the wedding, except for Steve who is over in the Middle East right now as part of the Air Force. I saw all sorts of relatives that I hadn't seen in a long time. Back to the wedding... The preacher was Dusty Flegel, who was a family friend and grew up with my dad and his brothers. He gave a very personal ceremony and that was very cool. He made jokes about how large our family was and the kind of people we are (noting that any or all of my uncles could have been commedians). After the wedding came the fun part, the reception. There was music, a few kegs and food. We all danced and had a great time. There was later attempts to recall another time which the family got together and danced, but none could be recounted. We stayed there for a long time and then had a mass clean up. With such a large family, it was a quick process to break down the reception hall and get it cleaned up and emptied. Afterwards, we went to the grandfolks place and played cherades. I was invited to the motel to join the wedding party but I was exhausted, which surprised people the next day. Speaking of the next day...

Sunday was the First Annual Gerke Olympics. This is the kind of day that I remember growing up with and is typical of a Gerke family gathering. There was a frisbee golf course, a bb gun shoot, a duck race in the ditch behind my grandparents house, wacky golf played with soft-ball sized whiffle balls, and horseshoes. In the end, there was a medal ceremony and prizes for all. I got a pepporoni stick, but I left it in Prineville. After saying my goodbyes and collecting my stuff, I headed back to Eugene, where I am now, sitting in class, biding my time until graduation.