Vacation Part 2--Laura and Tom's Wedding!

Sunday, August 11th: After church we had lunch and packed up. We drove down to Draper, Utah and stayed at my uncle Boyd and aunt DeeAnn's house. But the best part was meeting up with my FAMILY!! I was so excited to see them all. My parents, Sarah, and Camille and Millie had driven from Lufkin, TX. I thought that's all I would see. But THEN, Jeff, Kerri and Jane showed up and I was so excited to meet and love on little miss Jane. She is adorable!! Then it got better because Laura and Tom came too! That was my first time meeting Mr. Tom and I was impressed. I was so happy for them--they fit so well together and make a great couple. It was so much fun to be with them all. Plus, DeeAnn was like the hostess with the mostest! :) They have a big, gorgeous home and she made us lots of delicious food. I felt bad that we all sort of crashed in on them, and the numbers kept growing. But they didn't seem to mind, and had room for everyone!

Monday August 12th: That morning we drove down to Orem and dropped off the men and children, while us girls went to a little bridal shower/lunch to celebrate Laura at the fabulous Brick Oven. There I got to see my aunt Sharon and Kelly, and aunt Marci and 3 of her kids. We did some shopping at the University Mall to get some coordinating outfits for the wedding. That afternoon we drove back up to Draper and got into the house we rented for all of us to stay in together. It was a great house for our big family. The Webbs showed up right after we did, and then the Bakers rolled in late that night, around 1 a.m. Now we were finally all together (minus Tim, on a mission). It was a blast. And I was horrible at taking pictures. But I hardly ever saw my kids, mostly Ty, because they just run around having an absolute blast with their cousins. I'm glad they soak it all up because it only happens about once a year. We stayed up late every night playing games and talking. Ah! Writing about this makes me miss them all over again. I hate that we're so far away from everyone.

Tuesday August 13th: The girls left in the a.m. for a pedicure, per Laura's request. It was the second pedicure of my life, and fun girl time. We all went out to lunch together at Zupa's I believe. There are so so many yummy food places in Utah, and I have to check a bunch off my list of where to eat, every time we go back. We are seriously lacking in good restaurants here in Anchorage, but that's okay. That night we got dressed up and went to Laura and Tom's wedding dinner at the church in Lake Point, UT. That's a really small town out by Tooele, where Tom grew up. The evening was great, and we have some fun traditions that I always look forward to.

Wednesday August 14th: Wedding day!! Thankfully, their sealing wasn't until 1:00. We took our time getting ready, got some lunch at Café Rio, then drove to the Salt Lake City Temple where they were sealed. It was a beautiful and sweet occasion, and I'm so grateful we were there for it. There are lots of pictures from this week, but I don't have them. I just hope I remember to get them from my mom before I print this to a book. After the pictures, we stopped at the good ol' AC (arctic circle) for some ice cream. Cami and I used to work there in high school, so it has some fond memories for my family :). That night was the reception, again in Lake Point. It was all outside with a very country theme, just like Laura wanted. I haven't asked her directly, but I think it was everything she was envisioning. They even had a horse drawn carriage to take them away at the end :). She looked gorgeous, and he looked so handsome and they were both just beaming from happiness. There was a big fire in the mountains that was causing it to "rain" ashes on everyone and everything all night. But other than that it was great. I had so much fun seeing and catching up with so many extended family members. After the reception we quickly went home to put our exhausted children to bed. Poor things had just been on the most inconsistent, and lack-of-sleep week of their lives, probably. They were troopers, but it was wearing on them. The adults stayed up eating pizza, candy, and having a great time.

Thursday August 15th: Early that morning I dropped Kenny off with Eric, so they could go bass fishing. Chris and Andy also went along with them and they all had fun together. So now Kenny has shown them his Alaskan fishing, and they returned the favor by taking him out Utah fishing :). I packed up everything and we had to clean up and get checked out of that house. We drove back down to Provo. The Webbs, Cami and Millie, and I (with my kids of course) hung out at BYU campus. We ate at Chick-fil-a, attemped the art museum (but gave up after not very many minutes because our children were too crazy and touching everything they shouldn't have been), played outside, went to the bookstore. Then we said goodbye to Cami and my parents and the rest of us went to Bridal Veil Falls. The Bakers and Andersens (Jeff and fam) were there with us too. It was so much fun, and the kids had a blast. That was a much more suitable environment for them. :) We stayed for a few hours and just enjoyed our last bit of time together. Then we all said goodbye and headed our separate ways.