 |
 |

ENGAGEMENT STORY

On January 1st, 2005, during a two month trip to
Costa Rica, Laurie wrote this engagement announcement to her
family:
"Andrew and
I went on an all day horseback riding tour yesterday, riding
out
to
a local
family’s
house in Corcovado Rainforest, then walking down to a series
of waterfalls. We were
swimming about and jumping into the pools. The surrounding
forest was beautiful, super overgrown and lush. Some trees
were over 300
years old and 260 feet high. Andrew said, "when I pictured
Costa Rica, this is what I thought"
Andrew thought he was getting sun
burnt so he got out of the water and left me sitting on a rock
in the middle of the
river.
He returned with
the camera, treading water to take my picture. Then he came
over to the rock and pulled a little box out
of his camera
bag and asked me to marry him. Actually I think it was
more like "so
I was wondering if you’d like to marry me" or
something like that. Its hard to remember cause I think we
were both very
nervous.
It took me a minute to adjust to the situation so I think
he actually had to ask me again for my response after I
had put
the ring on.
Of course I said "You know I do".
Its a beautiful ring, exactly what I wanted. Very sparkly!
Then
a couple that we'd become friends with was like "did
you guys just get engaged? That’s so romantic!" and
they took our picture. They are on their honeymoon.
Andrew definitely worked for it! We were left
by our shuttle up in Flamingo (I guess they forgot us...).
So we had to take
a series
of shuttles to arrive in San Jose late that night. Then
we woke up at 3:45am to take a six hour bus ride through the
mountains with
standing
room only (I sat from hour 3 on...Andrew stood the whole
way. Two girls next to me puked.) Then taxi, boat, walk,
horseback ride, hike,
swim..... all to get to the idyllic proposal site.
It is rather idyllic here.
We
had an amazing New Years Eve. We celebrated our engagement
with our four new friends from the hotel (a couple celebrating
their anniversary,
and another on their honeymoon, so everyone was feeling
very festive) at a giant bonfire-cookout that our hotel
threw on
the beach. Andrew
had arranged for several bottles of champagne.
Anyhow, we are grateful that we had good people to celebrate with.
Wish we could tell you in person and celebrate with you all as
well.
Love, Laurie"
|
WEDDING PARTY BIOS
bride |
Laura Wilson
After four years of creating
interactive toys for LeapFrog, Laurie has recently accepted an online
producer position at a hip interactive marketing
agency called EVB. Laurie attended UC San Diego for her undergrad.
She enjoys
jewelry
making, tropical
vacation
destinations,
walking
Joomi,
and vegging out.
Laurie first spotted Andrew
during a Martial Arts class at Body Tonic, a gym in San Francisco.
After an awkward partner stretching exercise where the two
were
matched up, it took over a year for Laurie
to ask Andrew out. Luckily, he said yes, and met up with her
and her friends at a bar called
Jade. They've been together ever since.
|
groom |
Andrew Peterson
Andrew is a health and safety manager at
Xilinx, a computer chip corporation in San Jose. He attended
UC Santa Barbara for his undergrad, and UC Berkeley for grad
school. He enjoys dragon boating, cardio kickboxing,
cuddling with his dog
Joomi,
and
hanging out with Laurie.
Andrew
was very pleased when Laurie hit on him at the gym.
|
bride's mother |
Elizabeth Wilson
Betty runs a southwestern art gallery
in Albuquerque New Mexico. She lives with her poodle Arielle
and her husband John. Betty enjoys skiing, hiking, church activities,
and peeking in windows of fancy houses. |
bride's father |
John Wilson
John is a Professor of Hydrology at New Mexico
Tech. He enjoys skiing, scuba-diving, and pulling all-nighters
for work.
John
claims he taught Laurie calculus during bathtime when she was
5 years old. Laurie’s college
professors may disagree. |
groom's mother |
Patricia Peterson
Patricia is a
math professor at a community college in Sacramento, California. She
lives with her two Springer Spaniels, her cat, and her husband Robert.
She enjoys caring for her three horses, doing endurance rides, making
guacamole, and running marathons. |
groom's father |
Robert Peterson
Robert is an attorney, which worked
in Andrew’s favor during his youth. He runs an OSHA law firm.
He always provided excellent advice to steer Andrew through the rough
seas of life, such as his wise words after his son’s minor run
in with the law - “Life is full of difficult decisions. I hope
you choose wisely.” Marrying Laurie, Andrew clearly took this
advice to heart. In his spare time, Robert enjoys golfing, gardening,
and tearing open gifts on Christmas morning. |
maid of honor |
Anne-Olivia Shelton
Anne and Laurie seem to have
similar tastes...or maybe they can't bear to be apart! They
met in boarding school, then they
attended UCSD together,
and
now they
are neighbors
in
San Francisco. Over their thirteen year friendship, their bond has
grown into sisterly love.
Anne
attends grad school at the California School of Professional
Psychology. She lives with her dog Ppo-Ppo.
|
best man |
Anthony Charles Hernandez
A.C. and Andrew
were roommates and party pals at UCSB. They were the first
students to see
their dormitory’s RA back in 1990…perhaps they
shouldn’t have joked in the stairwell when they asked
the passerby “Are you an RA?” just before beer-bonging.
It was the first of many college capers for the next 5 years.
Since graduation they meet up regularly for "reunions" and
are able to pick up right where they left off.
A.C. is an emergency room doctor and lives with his wife Mabel in Los
Angeles. They are expecting their first child around the time of the
wedding. Congratulations A.C. and Mabel!
|
bridesmaid |
Margaret Wilson
Megan has always enjoyed being
Laurie's big sister. If she ever forgets this, she need not look further
than her childhood
pictures that show her proudly holding baby Laurie in her arms.
Megan
recently received her masters from Princeton, specializing in African
development. She currently lives in Washington D.C. with her
cat Adair, and is working for an international health organization
called PSI. |
bridesmaid |
Lindy Boynton
Lindy met
Laurie at boarding school. One thing always brought these
two together: make-up. Laurie had some, and Lindy wanted it.
She would visit Laurie's dorm room, have a chat, apply a little
eyeliner, and then head to the bathroom to wash if off before
any of her hippy friends saw. This bond strengthened when Laurie
moved to Lindy's hometown of San Diego. Even as
Lindy trotted around the country, she’d return to her
home base to hang out with Laurie.
|
bridesmaid |
Hilary Lasken
Hilary and Laurie were roomates in college
for three years, and they were inseparable! They shared their
house, their major
(computer art), their undercover career (super girls), their friends, and
even their job (web designers for Scripps Institute of Oceanography).
Hilary
moved
to New
York
following graduation,
and pursued a career in interactive design. Much to Laurie's delight,
she now lives in the Bay Area with her boyfriend Pete, who
is attending HAAS
School of Business at UCB. Hilary is a User Interface
Designer at Kodak.
|
bridesmaid |
Arezoo Jafroodi
Arezoo and Laurie met in college through
a mutual friend. The first time they laid eyes on each other,
a close bond
didn't seem to be in the cards. Laurie was all raved
out, and Arezoo had on proper designer clothes. However,
it didn't take long to reveal the inner raver in Arezoo.
Once their "tentacles attached" they spent
all weekend every weekend hanging out together. Over
the next few years, they grew out of the rave scene,
but they didn’t grow apart. Their friendship strengthened
when they both moved to San Francisco following graduation.
Arezoo is practicing law in Los Angeles.
She lives in her new house with her husband Guitano. Arezoo and
Guitano got engaged
the same day as Laurie and Andrew – New Years Eve 2004! Laurie
had the honor of being a bridesmaid in their wedding last summer.
|
groomsman |
Nick Peterson
Nick is one of Andrew's younger
brothers. He had the tough job of living up to his two older
brother’s reputations. This could explain the aggressive
music of Rivet Head, his first band.
Nick lives in San Francisco his
wife Linda and sons Phineaus and Walker. Andrew and Laurie are glad to have
family so close by. Nick is a computer programmer and musician. |
groomsman |
Justin Peterson
Justin is Andrew's older brother.
Rumor has it he didn’t speak to his mom and dad for two weeks
when Andrew was born, but things have generally improved since then.
Justin had the toughest job growing up – getting in trouble
first. He also had to set a good example for his brothers, and Andrew
was proud to live up to the Peterson reputation.
Justin lives with
his wife Carla and daughter Hannah in Las Vegas and is a principle
owner with O'Connor Construction. |
groomsman |
Austin Peterson
Austin,
better known as Bud, is Andrew's youngest brother. As the youngest in the
family, Bud was coddled to death.
He lives in Sacramento and works for an
engineering firm. He just bought his first condo! |
groomsman |
Tom Limon
Tom and Andrew met during college. Since
they both moved to the Bay Area, their friendship has grown. Tom
introduced Andrew to the sport of Dragon
Boat, and they've traveled to China and Vancouver together
for competitions.
Tom is the 2005 beer Olympics triathlon gold
medallist. When he is not training for the next beer event, you'll
find him planning events for the community. |
PHOTOS
On our first vacation to Puerto Vallarta.

Skip and Bunny on Halloween.

Our beloved Joomi.
He's featured in National Geographic!
Click to check it out!
More photos to come. Please check back. |
|