Weddings, Part 2

We call 2008 the Year of the Wedding at our house. With 2 weddings in one year it seems like our thoughts were consistently bridal! It was fun to see the differences in the two, showing the differences in the two brides, as well as many other factors ie-spring versus winter, California vs Massachusetts, etc.

We were nervous about the weather. Doing a wedding in December in New England is always a bit iffy. We had family coming in from warm weather states who were worried about the weather also. The weekend before the wedding we had 13 inches of snow! Thank goodness our kids coming in from Utah were all able to get here okay. Things warmed up for the wedding day, I think it was in the 40's and though it was rainy, it turned out okay, much better than a snowstorm would have been.

We did have other issues in the week leading up to the wedding. I was sick with an upper respiratory infection. Dave slipped on the ice and we weren't sure for awhile whether or not he had fractured his elbow. After a trip to a specialist in Boston, it was determined that it wasn't broken, just banged up a bit. Thank goodness Chris was here to help out! His help was invaluable. Others, including the groom, had a stomach virus that was particularly nasty. On the actual wedding day everyone seemed to feel okay, except for Dave's brother Stephen who traveled all the way from Texas just to be stuck in a hotel room with the dreaded stomach bug. Poor guy! Emma waited until the next day to start throwing up. Keri and JoEllen just had a hard time getting here with a flight canceled and luggage problems but they eventually got here.

On Friday night, the day after Christmas, we had a dinner here for the bride's and groom's families. Things had been so crazy, what with sickness AND Christmas that the house wasn't as clean as it should have been but I just hoped that no one looked too closely or opened any doors to the bedrooms! We had a nice time that night just relaxing and talking.

The next day was, of course, a little hectic with trying to get everyone ready and things where they needed to be but it all turned out well and as you can see from the pictures we had a good time! The wedding was nice even with a rather long-winded rambling sealer and rainy cold weather that kept us from doing any group pictures outside at the temple. The ring ceremony was beautiful and the reception was fun. All in all, a wonderful time!

Weddings, Part 1

While I am waiting for the pictures from Erica and Spencer's wedding, I thought that I would post pictures from our first wedding of the year. Jenna and Chris were married in the Sacramento Temple on April 26. It was a beautiful spring day and a beautiful wedding!

The bridesmaids had a fight with the bouquets when everything was over. Too funny!

We suggested that Erica and Spencer could use this for their wedding invitations but they weren't too receptive to that idea. Nice picture, though!

The Sacramento Temple is absolutely beautiful and perfect for picture-taking. Chris' dad was Stake President while it was being built so it has a special meaning for his family.

The bride and her sisters. Emma had a tough time with picture taking that day so there aren't too many of her that are good.

Garrett and Jenna. It's amazing how much he has changed just in that short time.

That's it for now! Part 2 will come as soon as I have some pictures for it.

Christmas, Wedding, New Year's Eve, etc

A man who lives not too far from us does a whole Christmas village on his property. It is very intricate and the kids (and big kids) all loved seeing it. Keri, JoEllen and Sandra all got to see it as well. He does a great job putting it all together with houses and shops, merry-go-round, sledders, ice skaters, etc.

Visiting with Grandma Martin

Christmas morning

Opening gifts-just one on Christmas Eve

Emma the ladybug angel

Acting out the nativity story

Emma and Chris were worn out!

It has been a crazy couple of weeks and frankly, I'm ready to get back to boring normal life, but it has been fun having everyone home and family visiting. We have a terrific family! and feel very very blessed. Christmas was lots of fun of course, despite sickness and injuries, but the main focus of the holiday break was the wedding, as it should be. Erica and Spencer make such a fun and cute couple that it was just a happy, joyous occasion. Everything seemed to go quite well. I don't have pictures yet (Andrea has some on facebook) but when we get the cd we will share. What I have seen from the photographer so far looks good! We have an open house to go to tomorrow in NY, and there will be one next week in Utah but most of us won't make it to that. Meanwhile, here are some pictures that I do have from the last two weeks.