Matt and Ashley’s Wedding Day

My brother Matt and Ashley were married and sealed in the Sacramento temple one day after Rob’s and my 11th Anniversary. It was a lovely ceremony, very peaceful and nice. I always enjoy going to weddings in the temple so I can be reminded of all of the wonderful blessings that come through my own marriage.

After the ceremony were all of the bazillion pictures outside. I think their photographer Kathy did a good job, and got some great shots. The kids were the best we could expect, and there were snacks to keep us busy in between photos. This photo is me, my parents, brother, and sister, with Matt & Ashley.

Then we went to our family friend’s home for a nice taco salad lunch and the kids got in some play time away from all of the reception prep. There were so many women at the house helping out and they even cleaned up and set up starting that morning while we were all gone to the temple. Thank goodness for good friends!

We topped off the day with a beautiful reception. The backyard looked amazing, and the weather was perfect. There were so many desserts to choose from that I couldn’t even try them all. Matt and Ashley took off for the coast afterwards, and the rest of us crashed! What a full day!

To get a true appreciation for the wedding day you may want to click on the gallery and view the entire album. There is a slideshow feature on the green bar at the bottom of the gallery page. The box says “album actions” click on that and pick “view slideshow”. You can then pick how long each picture shows for and the size etc. Ok, that said, I went a little camera crazy. There are just a ton of pictures and I couldn’t take the time to judge them all, so I posted almost everything.

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Temples and Sealings

Because my next post is all about my brother’s wedding in a temple, I thought I’d post definitions for those who are unfamiliar with my faith:

Temples are literally houses of the Lord. They are holy places of worship where individuals make sacred covenants with God. Because making covenants with God is such a solemn responsibility, individuals cannot enter the temple to receive their endowments or be sealed in marriage for eternity until they have fully prepared themselves and been members of the Church for at least a year. Throughout history, the Lord has commanded His people to build temples.

Sealing– An ordinance performed in the temple eternally uniting a husband and wife, or children and their parents.

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Setting Up for the Reception

On the day before Matt and Ashley’s wedding, all of the families came together for the setup in my parents’ back yard. Everyone worked really hard including Hunter who strung up lights with the guys, and Emma who was Nana’s “personal assistant.”

Matt and Ashley had a blast putting up the umbrella lights

 

Nana was supposed to be sitting in that wheelchair since she had two swollen ankles from her fall, but just couldn’t help herself

 

The kids kept busy with the bowling game in the entryway

 

Melissa and Emma frosting mini cupcakes

 

Centerpieces for the tables in the yard

 

Ashley’s Dad and brother Brady stringing up lights

 

Nana and Kate enjoying the yard after dinner

 

Hannah and Sabrina put on a hula dance show after dark

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Dress Rehearsal

After many hours at the sewing machine, help in pattern reading from Heather and several calls to Mom, I have finished the dresses for the wedding! Sabrina’s is one that Heather gave to me, I added a belt and a bow and it works out so nicely! I don’t think I would have had the patience or time to make one for her too. I took pictures to get a feel for how the dresses and bows will look on the big day. I still need to attach the belts for Emma’s and Hannah’s dresses, and hair isn’t done so the look isn’t quite as crisp as it will be on the big day. We are so excited for Matt and Ashley and are preparing for our last road trip of the summer, whew!

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Disneyland ’07

We had such a fun, hot, full, exhausting day at Disneyland yesterday! Rob was able to get a small discount through his office so we went for the park hopper passes. That meant we could also spend some time at California Adventure. I was very ready for a long miserable time in the lines. After all it was Disneyland in August, the height of the tourist season, on a Saturday.

We were surprised that it wasn’t nearly as bad as we had feared. There was a constant line at the new Finding Nemo submarine ride, and it was a 2 hour wait both times we checked in on it. It wouldn’t be worth it, especially in 95 degree weather with humidity that reminded us of North Carolina. So maybe next time. We did however hit a whole lot of other rides: Splash Mountain (my favorite of the day), tea cups, Mr Toad’s Wild Ride, Carousel, Toon Town, Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Honey I Shrunk the Audience… etc, etc.

The highlight of the day for Sabrina seemed to be at lunch when a worker bee was hunting for food at our table. She loved the little bug, and kept laughing and trying to catch him as both Emma and Ciel squirmed and swished their hands quickly whenever it came near. She’s got a strong beekeeper’s gene from both sides of the family and it was fun to watch her enjoying the bees. Maybe we’ll get her a beehive for her second birthday 🙂

Ciel had a great time on her first visit to the park, and she seemed so happy walking around in her pirate goofy hat all day! Emma and Hunter kept arguing over who would sit next to her on the rides, so she was a popular addition to the family!

We walked over to California Adventure at dinner time and it was so empty! We loved it because there were no crowds to navigate through and no lines. A Bug’s Land was a great area with lots of rides that we could take everyone on including Sabrina. And the best part of all was literally no waiting! Amazing!

We did have a little trouble at the Ferris Wheel that was a much longer wait than anticipated so unfortunately those waiting for it missed the Electric parade. Hannah, Sabrina and I were able to catch most of it, and Hannah waved at the characters the whole time and just loved the princesses. Especially Cinderella and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After the parade we went back to Disneyland and caught the last of the fireworks show and hit one last ride. By then it was almost 11:00 so we packed it up and headed home. This morning it was tough to get up for 9:00 am church, but we made it, and on time too!

Everyone had such a blast and I hope there were lots of good memories for the kids!

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