Thank you, everyone!

The mysteries have been solved!  Yay for the power of the Internet!!

- Ruty

Help!

Thanks to all of you wonderful people for giving Dylan and I a spectacular start off to married life!  The party was epic, and having all of you there made it joyful from start to finish!

There is just one little thing I need some help with, and I was hoping some of you might be able to lend me a hand.

Dylan and I received three wonderful gifts through Amazon.com that arrived with no cards or identifying information.  These gifts were:

- A beautiful blue Seder plate
- The game "Shadows Over Camelot"
- The game "Set"

If you sent any of these items (or you know the person who did!) please let me know so that I can thank everyone properly! 

Thank you all again and again!!

- Ruty

Careful on I-84!

So, I was right about the roads being clear in Hood River, but there appears to be some construction on I-84 between I-5 and 205.  If you are coming through Portland on I-5 (either North or South) avoid trying to go through the Portland city center.  Instead, use 205 to go around the outside.

For more info, here is the ODOT site!

I-84 Westbound will not be affected, so no worries on your drive home.

The Roads Look All Clear!

 It appears that recent construction will not effect travel to or from the Brady house on July 13th!  Yay for convenience!!

Feel free to use Google Maps or any other handy-dandy device for directions to the location (4539 Tyler Dr., Hood River, OR 97031), or you can follow the Ruty-written directions below:

Coming from the West (Portlandish) on I-84:

As you are traveling from the Portland area towards Hood River you will see an increasing number of billboards advertising wineries.  This means you are getting close!

Take exit 62, which is the first of the three Hood River exits. 

When you reach the end of the off-ramp you will get to experience what ODOT has determined to be a "failed intersection."  You will turn right and then take the first possible right (which is in about 25 feet) on to Country Club Road.

As you travel along the first part of Country Club Road, you will be parallel to the highway going east.

Country Club Road goes up a hill and then turns left, so you will now be facing south.  As you emerge from the trees and continue on the road, on a clear day you will see Mount Adams.

Country Club Road has a speed limit of 45 MPH, which I find ridiculous because there are a bunch of family homes along it which come complete with children and dogs and various other critters that might run out in to the road in front of you at any time.  However, if you drive slower than the speed limit (as I am always doing) the locals behind you get grumpy.

That aside, continue on Country Club Road for about a mile (this is an estimate based on my odometer) and you should see signs and balloons that say "BRADY-WHERLAND RECEPTION!!!"

Follow the signs, and we will be there!

If you are coming from the East (the Dalles, Idaho, the rest of the beautiful United States) on I-84:

Take Exit 62, the last of the three Hood River exits.

When you reach the end of the off-ramp, turn left on a bridge that will take you over the highway.

Once you are on the other side, take the first legal right on to Country Club road, and then follow the same directions as above.

If you have any questions or concerns, as always, feel free to email me at either of the following email addresses:

wherlarh@gmail.com

dylanandruty@gmail.com

Or call me up:

971-263-0747

Can't wait to see all of you!  Drive safely and enjoy this beautiful summer weather we're having!!

- Ruty

Dress Code

Many of you may be wondering: just how fabulous should I dress for Dylan and Ruty's reception?

Well, that is a tough question.  Dylan and I, as you can see from above, have pretty devastatingly awesome fashion sense, so you know that the two of us will be looking sharp. I might even get my nails done!

But this is an outdoors barbeque and pizza eating event, and what we want is for everyone to be comfortable and have fun.  I'll definitely be wearing flats for easier lawn-walking options, and to all you ladies, do keep that in mind when choosing footwear.  Otherwise, do what feels good and looks awesome!  Pictures will be taken and cherished for decades to come.

A few other things to remember: we are in the Columbia Gorge which means that high winds are common and even in July, rain is not unheard of.  This is the Pacific Northwest, baby!  We will have tents and awnings set up so no one should get soaked.

Hope this helps!  If you have any other questions, leave a comment here, send me an email, or give me a call!

- Ruty

Congratulations, Dylan!

Dylan will be finishing up his Master's Degree in Geography at the University of Oregon this summer and will be walking in the graduation ceremony on Monday!

Congratulations, Dylan!  I am so proud of you!

This fall, Dylan will then begin a Ph.D. program also in the Geography Department at the University of Oregon.

Professor-dom, here he comes!!

Registries!

On the advice of many really smart, experienced and totally wedding-savvy people, Dylan and I have made a couple of registries.  For those who are curious, we are registered at Macy's, Amazon.com and Target.

The problem is that Dylan and I aren't really sure what all we need or what would be useful, so the Amazon.com registry is mostly board games, and I think the Target registry right now has one thing on it.  We'll keep working on all of them, but we are also totally open to advice!

Right now, we have a fairly well-stocked kitchen, and in the near future our plans involve living in an apartment (rather than a spacious house) so we might not have room for a lot of stuff.

As many of you may know, I collect Squishables, which I recognize to be a completely ridiculous hobby (but just wait until you hug them!).  Dylan also appreciates a good stuffed animal when he sees one. :)  We also love pandas and just about anything Chinese (except for Beijing's air pollution).

But most of all, the thing that is really important to both of us is the chance to get to see all of you!  Between bouncing back and forth from the US to China, and being busy with jobs and graduate school, there are many of you we haven't seen in years.  This reception is our chance to see you and let you know how important you have been to our lives and how much we want to keep you in our lives as we move into this exciting new phase.

So come to Hood River!!  We will have an awesome party waiting for you!

- Ruty