The Wedding Planner

Yep, that's us. A regular J-lo and Matthew McConaughey. My brother found a darling and wonderful girl who he wisely decided to make his wife. They wanted an outdoor reception, somewhere up north close to the Bountiful temple, with a lot of space, and a lot of trees. You may recognize it because it's our place.

In an effort to try to give our yard a face lift we brought in new plants

tore out old ones

and tried to plant grass in some bare spots. Turns out planting grass is a lot harder than expected. Try as we might we still ended up with bare spots on the day of the wedding, which Lance tried to cover up with freshly cut grass clippings. (clever girl)

The end result

The strategically placed tables covered up many of our yards blemishes. Whew! Also, this doesn't really do the decorations justice as you can't see the detail, the lanterns, the table decorations etc. It was really beautiful.

The main event.

Two fairy princesses, one complete with a tractor in hand.

(Niece Emma)

and a Prince (Nephew Tal)

Waiting....

The Happy Couple

Photo Opps:

Mom, Grandma, Cousins Emma, Tal, and Alex

The Reception:

In the end, we decided that Corbin and Crystal were shining so brightly, nobody was looking at the grass. Success, on all accounts. Thanks to Corbin and Crystal who put up with our imperfect offering with smiles. And, special thanks to Brian and Randall for their expertise and manual labor in helping us pull this off. We're so glad we have good friends and family to count on.

The 4th and 24th of July

I have often considered why we celebrate the same holiday only twenty days apart. Yes, I realize the vastly different purposes driving each celebration, but the end result is the same.

Exhibit A: The 4th of July

Family

Parks

Parades

Food and Fireworks

Exhibit B: The 24th of July

Same, but with less pictures.

The conclusion: They are the same holiday.

Possible reasons for this might include:

- we like having two holidays in one month but lack the creativity to come up with something novel to separate the two

- our government is secretly controlled by carnis (carnival workers) who realize that two holidays featuring their rides would boost revenue

- it was so fun the first time, we just have to do it again.

I lean towards the last one. And here is proof.

Happy July everyone!!

Farewell

The last few weeks have been busy and filled with friends. Lance's high school friends were all in town at the same time, and there was much partying to be done before Dave went back to Virginia, Darren went back to Detroit, and Garrett went to Iraq. Since Garrett's trip was the longest we dubbed him the winner and got him a cake. A Happy Iraq cake.

It was delicious. But we love him and wish him a speedy and safe return. Rest assured that there will be an even bigger cake waiting for when he gets back.

There was also a Birthday party for Melina and a Birthday party for Randall. We only have pictures of Randall's birthday, though. Sorry Melina. There will be a picture of you later.

Documentation of the awesome swing at Randall's house. A photo of the three girls (River, Mariah, and Alex) with a less than co-operative Alex. And Randall's big moment. He blew them all out.

This is Dave at an unknown location for an unknown activity. And there is Melina like I promised along with Telina and Jannifer. Always delightful. And I do believe that is "Cheese" squirted into the Twin Hollow Park sign. Rebels.

There were many late nights, lots of food, and the occasional bodily injury (air soft pellet guns), but fun was had by all that will have to last until the next time we are all together. We love you all and miss you already.