In this story Jesus is alive. He didn't go away to school. The kids are the ages they are now.
"The GPS said turn left" Lena said. Stef looked over and noticed that the street was closed so she couldn't make the turn. She was frustrated. The family was on their way to a wedding and traffic was a nightmare. They had already made several detours along the way and the trip had already taken almost an hour longer then it was supposed to. If the traffic stays as it is they would miss the ceremony.
Stef was starting to lose her temper. Between the kids bickering in the back, the gps telling her to turn where she can't and Lena berating her because it was Stefs fault that they left late. Stef had had it. She was starting to get a bad headache so she told the kids to be quiet, she asked Lena to mute the gps. She was about to decide to turn around when she noticed that a street that was closed had just been opened. She made a left turn onto that street while the gps rerouted the car to the banquet hall. 15 minutes later the family was pulling into the parking lot. They all got out of the car quickly and ran as fast as they could into the hall. They got there just in the nick of time. They found open seats and sat down. Moments later the ceremony started. Callie was the first one to notice that the family was late. She was asked by Stefs cousin (the bride) to be the photographer for the day. Callie finally started to relax a little when the family showed up. The ceremony was fairly quick, but beautiful.
Once the ceremony ended Callie left with the bridal party for pictures leaving the rest of the family looking for something to do until the reception started in 3 hours. Mariana suggested a movie. Lena looked at her phone and started to do some calculations in her head. "Okay troops, we can go see a movie and miss the last 15 minutes or see a movie and miss the first 20 minutes." Lena said. The kids didn't really like that idea so Jude suggested going to the amusement park. Mariana and Lena weren't so keen on that idea as they were in very nice long dresses that they really didn't want to get dirty. Stef suggested going to the Pier, but given that it was a nice day Lena thought it would be very busy there. Finally Brandon came up with an idea they could all live with. He suggested an indoor arcade and restaurant. The family all agreed. So they piled back into the car, Stef punched in the address into the GPS and off they went. The arcade wasn't far away from the wedding venue, or at least the building that was the arcade wasn't far. The arcade had closed for renovations a month prior. So they were back to square one. Given the choices that they had, the decided to head for the Pier. Turns out Lena was right. The Pier was very, very busy but the family managed to find a decent parking spot and headed out to, if nothing else, stretch their legs. Jesus and Jude were excited to ride a few of the rides on the Pier, Lena and Mariana, took of their shoes, held up their dresses and started walking along the beach. Stef noticed that Brandon didn't immediately scatter. She asked him why and he said that he was a little sad that day. He loved being with the family and he loved that he got to see his extended family during a happy time, but he was sad because he didn't know how many more times he would have this chance before he went off to college. Stef grabbed a hold of him, hugged him and told him that it would all be okay. They stayed there like that for a few moments when Jude came running back to ask if Brandon wanted to join him and Jesus and to see if Stef would hold their ties. Stef smiled and Brandon to go on. She found a bench where she could see all of her family and her and the boys ties sat for the next hour just enjoying the sun and the alone time.
Stef started calling the kids back so they could head on to the reception. They all piled in the car and Stef again punched the address into the GPS and took off. They were, according to the GPS, only 30 minutes away from the hotel on the freeway when a huge accident had closed down the off ramp that they needed. They kept going and decided to get off at the next off ramp. They managed to get off at that off ramp but it was at that moment with the GPS decided to recalculate but never got to 100%. So she was left blindly trying to find the hotel. Lena suggested that Stef ask the clerk at the gas station that was coming up. Stef pulled in and asked the clerk. Lena hoped the clerk knew the way, she really didn't want to be lost again that day. Stef came out smiling, with really really good directions they made it to the reception with about 30 minutes to spare.
The family had a great night and the next morning spoke of how getting lost was actually kind of fun. Maybe they should get lost more often.