Lindsey's Amazing Wedding Experience

I just attended a celebration that I have anticipated for years. My best friend from high school Lindsey and her sweetheart Adam were married last Thursday. It was such a beautiful, deep, heartfelt union of two amazing people who have waited so long to find each other. They were married in the Washington D.C. temple with a reception at an amazing atrium in Virginia. It was hands down the most beautiful reception I have ever attended. There was a river running through the atrium. How cool is that. (It was about two feet across, but still.)

But back to the actual sealing in the temple.

My favorite moment was when all of the guests were waiting in the sealing room for Lindsey and Adam to come in. They walked through the door, tearful but happy, and my heart leapt. I know that at least for Lindsey, being in the temple and being sealed to her Love was the realization of innumerable hours of anguished and heartfelt prayer. It was reaching the summit. It was awesome.

Here I am making a goofy face with the beautiful Mrs. Pence. Isn't she gorgeous?! 

 

 So beautiful. Did you know she first saw a picture of this dress on a billboard in Utah years ago and took a picture of it because she loved it so much? And then when she got engaged (in Virginia), she called the store (in Utah) and told them about her dream dress and they said it was discontinued but they had one left. And they mailed it to her to see if it would fit without even making her buy it first. And the rest is wedding-photo history.

Did I mention that my mom also made the trip with me...which made this trip WAY more fun that it would have been by myself. Also, by myself (and without the help of my mom's phone's GPS which I nicknamed "Janice"), I would have never gotten anywhere because I would still be trying to get on the 267 from the 28. Those freeways were something else.
My mom and I actually orchestrated our flights so that we met up in Denver. I boarded the plane that she was already on, and there she was, saving me a seat in row eight with a beautiful brown bag from Paradise Bakery in hand with a sandwich and cookie waiting inside for me. Did I mention how wonderful my mom is? We had a great time together. We didn't even yell at each other when we got each other lost on the awful roads. That's true friends right there.

Another fun part of coming to the wedding and reception was that Lindsey had asked me to take care of all her signage at the reception. I made signs saying "Mocktails," "Love is Sweet," "Adam and Lindsey," "Thank You," "Plant One on Us," and an unused photo booth sign. I also painted a bare tree that she used as a guest sign in. I also made little signs for her edible centerpieces that said, "Eat Me," "Bite Me," "Try Me," and "Nibble Me." It was so fun to make everything for her and then be able to see it in place at her reception. She had other people take care of other things like centerpieces and cake pops and these amazing apple flowers, and everything came together SO well. All the little things really made the reception special. Here are some pics of my stuff:
The "Adam and Lindsey" sign is kind of hiding on the left. I also cut little stumps with slits in the top for smaller signs to go in. They were so stinkin cute, if I do say so myself.

Weren't her table decorations stunning?

Here's the tree...I'm so sad I didn't take a picture of it full. The guests did a great job of spacing their fingerprints all around.

And here are all the signs before they were totally finished, just so you can see them better. They are made out of 1/2" MDF (wood). I stuck them on a dowel and used a stump as a base and used green/cream/black ribbon to embellish them.

I was happily enjoying myself at the reception, talking with a few of Lindsey's work friends that I hadn't met before, when someone came up behind me and slapped my butt! It was Nikki from Sierra Vista! I was so happy to see her! Together with April and Lindsey we had a little S.V. reunion. It was so fun to catch up with April and Nikki, and to see Nikki's beautiful girls.

This is us pretending to laugh at something really funny...

Yep, we were goofballs.
One last word about the reception - the music was awesome. I danced the night away. I told Lindsey and Adam that we had to do that every night of my trip but they decided to go on a honeymoon instead. Darnit.
 The next day we got to meet up again with Lindsey, Adam, and their families for a lovely brunch. I just love Lindsey's family. They remind me of bananas foster and St. George...two terrific memories. I look super fluffy here. I think it's because it was really cold and I had on a billion layers. Or it could be all the food I enjoyed...whichever...

The wedding and reception were on Thursday. On Friday we went to brunch and then took off to visit my Mom's friend (from when she lived in Springfield), and to do some shopping in Occoquan and catch a movie later.
On Saturday we drove to old town Alexandria. We walked up and down the main street there and enjoyed all of the shops. One of my favorites had so many cute things...I saw some beautiful cupcakes on a tray and told my mom, "Those are so cute! They totally look real!" And then the shopkeeper informed me that they were real and were for the customers. Call me a sucker, but a gorgeous free cupcake totally made my day. And it tasted amazing too.
I might have loved the ambience of the street more than the shops themselves. I have drawings in the works of these buildings. I loved all of the different colors and the interesting rooflines. If only I had snapped a picture without a glaringly red car in it.

All together it was an amazing trip. I loved seeing Adam and Lindsey in their moment, and I loved spending time with my mom. I'm so grateful that Rus was so supportive of me going. He took time off to watch the kids and went on a little shopping spree of his own. And let me tell you, he spent WAY more money than I did. I'll show you some pictures of Herbie soon.

Happy Valentine's Day! (Expanded)

Roses are red
Violets are blue,
Balloons make me happy
And walruses do too.

Here was Rus' Valentine. I won't show you the inside. But just know that the sideburn mustache was drawn per his request (as opposed to a handle bar 'stache or something else). Don't ask where the mustached-walrus theme came from. I don't know. But I loved drawing them.

I greeted Marianne in her bed this morning with a red helium balloon. It made for instant-happiness. She squeezed it so hard I was worried it would pop.

We had pink heart shaped pancakes for breakfast, like I'm sure 95% of the rest of the US did. I don't know why I feel the urge to always start the kids out on something sweet for Valentine's day, because they always wind up eating just under two tons of candy and sweets at school.

Then I went to work making and baking and pretty much ensuring that I would hate my kitchen by dinnertime.

I did.

I was super close to just ordering pizza, but I "put on my big girl panties" and just fried up that chicken like I had originally planned. We had chicken and broccoli for dinner. That was it. We all wanted to save room for homeade angel food cake and strawberries and chocolate sauce.

We fondued.

It was delicious.

It might have tasted better if I hadn't already eaten a half dozen of my brother's truffle cookies that he mailed me. He is awesome. The cookies were really small, fyi.

In addition to Rus' card, I also sent a mustached walrus to my dad. His poem read:

If roses are red

And violets are blue,

Who has the cooler 'stache,

The walrus or YOU?

 

Yesterday he texted me my poem. It said,

Roses are red,

In north Virginia as in ABQ.

What a wonderful friend you are

Flying to see Lindsey be as happy as you.

(I am flying to her wedding soon, hooray!)

I texted him back:

Yay thank you! Did you get yours yet?

Dad: No (sad face) how did you send it?

Me: Pigeon

Dad: Oh yah, thanks, I just washed it off my truck, what a load! If I'd known it was from you...

Me: Did you READ it first? It had a great punchline.

 

I am still laughing.

 

Last week Bekah, Beau, Jacob and I made Valentines. Bekah's were owls with a heart that said, "Valentine, you're a hoot". They were really cute and fun, especially the ones for the boys, which she gave "crazy eyes."

 Beau and Jacob made bug jar valentines that said, "Valentine, you make me go BUGGY." We hot glued plastic bugs to the paper jars. Here is Beau practicing his names. He's getting so big.

Hooray for a happy Valentine's day! (Tyler and Lindsey, my one with you is still my favorite).

Betty Jo Aves

Yesterday I attended the funeral for Rus' great aunt Betty. She was his mom's aunt, and while I had met her on a few different occasions, I never really knew anything about her. Rus' mom is a convert to the church, so her extended family is not LDS. The funeral was held at the Methodist church, a beautiful building with devoted patrons and clergy. It seemed that the pastors knew her very well and that she had devoted many hours of service to her church community. I was so impressed that the sermons were so well tailored to the kind of person Aunt Betty was, someone (I learned), who majored in geology and loved to pull off on the side of the road and chip off a piece of rock "thousands of years in the making" just to see what it was made of...someone who was a weaver and spinner and dyer of wool and also a weaver of many close and intimate relationships. I learned that she had a very strong sense of community and was always looking to bring her family and friends together. I learned that while she was opinionated, she was also able to graciously confront or correct someone, and that friends found they could trust her because she was very open and not afraid to speak her mind. Most of all I learned that I really missed out on knowing an adventurous, vibrant woman who could have taught me so much. I took away two things from her funeral, first that I should always have something in my purse to work on in case I get stuck somewhere (a habit of hers I would like to adopt), and second that I should never under-value the potential of a friendship with someone, especially someone who is younger or older than me.
I hope to never learn to like another person at their funeral!

You wouldn't know it but...

Marianne is a certified terd. Just today she gagged herself repeatedly while walking around the house, making herself throw up twice. She chewed chunks off the sponge on my mop while I was helping Beau in the other room. She devoured a glue stick like it was candy...well like it was Chapstick, actually, because she's done that too. Yesterday she dug into one of my plants and ate the dirt before spreading handfuls at random around my house. She enjoys doing the same thing to my dishwasher soap packs. And all of this when she wasn't occupied upending trash cans and taking plates out of the drawer. I might survive all this, but you can be sure my house will never be the same. (Does permanent marker come off piano keys?)
She definitely needs a more watchful mother, that's for sure.

Marianne the Great and Terrible

This post is full of Marianne Goodness. (And Badness. You'll see.) The Bug is a mess of contradictions these days. She still loves her bananas, but only the peel (not the inside). This is not okay with me because the peel makes her gag. Her gag reflex is powerfully strong and she seems to enjoy making herself throw up whenever she's buckled in her car seat and I'm driving.

She loves to play in Colonel's water but hates to take a bath. She wants a bottle in her mouth at all times, and although she prefers it full, she'll suck on it empty all day if you let her. She wants to be snuggled, but don't you dare try to hold her like a little baby - she wants to see everything. She is a momma's (and daddy's) girl, but lately she will happily snuggle a total stranger if given the chance. She loves you to tell her she is so pretty, but will not keep a hair clip in her hair for more than two seconds. She will beg for yogurt or applesauce, but only wants to play with it, not actually eat it. She loves to throw toys and climb on top of any obstacle and possess any and all stuffed animals within a two mile radius. She loves music and loves to dance and loves to have people sing to her. She'll even chime in every now and then with a cave-man style singing voice.
And now for the photo gallery:
Here is Marianne with a blanket her Grandma MaryAnne made her.

I can't remember what she was inspecting on her hand. I was just so proud of being able to get her hair into a braid! Isn't her outfit cute? That was before I accidently shook an open jar of marinara sauce in the kitchen and got half of it in her hair and on her clothes. I forgot that I had loosened the lid and...It's times like these I wish I knew how to get stains out of clothes. I also loved that she fit into those boots - the same ones Beau got to wear.

Her eyes look so blue here. They are set off nicely by her super cute hooded vest! I love that furry little thing - especially the ears and bows on the hood.

 Marianne loves Colonel. He gets a little nervous around her (I think he's seen her power and lack of finesse...), but he's still really good with her.

 And here is the Marianne Badness. This happened the same morning that I was making cinnamon rolls for Jacob's birthday, cutting out wood and etching glass for teacher gifts, packing up a half dozen graham cracker gingerbread houses for Jacob's class, packing up the crock pot, milk and hot cocoa for Jacob's class, and trying to be dressed so I could run the kids to school. Notice how she was even dressed? It's no wonder my heart rate quadruples some days when I'm trying to get too much done at once.

 Yes. So proud.

 And here is Marianne a few nights ago. Excuse the toilet and trash can shot. What is she doing, you might ask? Well, I told her she needed to take a bath and I was running the water. If sound could accompany this photo, you would hear her crying like someone had chopped off her leg. She DID NOT WANT TO TAKE A BATH. She cried throughout the whole ordeal while I held her down and poured water mercilessly over her. If I let go for more than two seconds she would try to penguin dive out of the tub...and with her slippery little body she would have had her way a couple of times if I hadn't caught her.

 Oh how I love this crazy little monster. I'm so glad she likes me. I'm so glad she is chock-full of personality. I so hope I can survive her toddler years and still have a little left to hold on through her teens.
We shall see.

Connecting in Flagstaff

After New Year's, Rus headed back to work and the kids and I headed to Flagstaff for a few days of relaxing, cozy fun. It was COLD there. There was still a lot of snow on the ground. So we hung out inside, spent most of the day in our jammies, had dance parties, ate so much good food, and played goofy games involving matches and toilet paper rolls. (Two different games.) But most of the time, while Amy and I sewed or stamped cards or baked or organized her drawers, everyone else looked like this:

 The appropriate caption for this picture is, "Our Family is Connected."

*Yes, this shot was staged, but I assure you it is a completely accurate representation of how they spent their time.

The toilet paper roll game was really goofy but fun. Amy hung a broomstick horizontally with two rolls of tp hanging on it. She unrolled each roll just a little bit and then attached a candy coin to each with a clothespin. The kids took turns trying to shoot the toilet paper, make it break (and make the coin fall), and then eat the coin as a reward. They loved it, when they weren't too busy complaining that they missed. I got in a shoot-out with Amy and totally whopped her. Naturally.

I love Sarah's face here. I'm not sure if it helped her aim though...

Another thing the kids loved was having some brand new baby kittens to pester love. Amy is a pet foster parent. I had no idea there were such programs around, but evidently...

It's actually not a bad gig. The animal shelter calls and asks if she is willing to take care of cats or dogs (I'm not sure if there are other animals), for a certain (and limited) period of time. The provide the food, and if the animals get sick or are too hard to take care of, she can return them. Awesome, huh? So she was foster-parenting a momma cat and her five kittens. Bekah and Sarah spent hours with them everyday.

Marianne was pretty good on the trip. The second we walked in the door after our five hour drive, she went straight to Amy and hugged her for a good long while. Then she forgot she liked Amy, and was super clingy for a while. But then Mike got down (literally on the floor), and played with her and she was super happy again.

I wish she were more predictable around people. Sometimes she likes them, sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she'll walk up to random strangers and ask for a hug, while other times she refuses to even let Rus hold her.

Anyway, it was a wonderful trip and I'm so grateful we were able to go. I am waiting for the golden vacation where I don't have to worry about my kids sleeping all night and I don't have to hold anyone for hours at a time, but until then...at least I have a terrific and understanding sister who puts up with us all anyway.

Jacob the Seven Year Old

 Right before Christmas, Jacob turned seven. He, like most children, has been looking forward to his birthday for the last six months. He knew there would be no party, but he would get a date with Mom and Dad (which actually happened after Christmas), and command of the menu for the day. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast, meatballs for lunch, meatloaf for dinner (I know. What kid likes meatloaf? My other children suffered through it, I can tell you that), and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. He also got to take hot chocolate to school for his class. Here he is with Beau. I love how much my kids love their siblings when they're with them at school.

 And he got to spend his birthday money from Nana. He spent it on an emperor scorpion that he named "Stinger." It's little now, but it may grow to be five or six inches long. It eats live crickets. It recently got its own heat lamp. Jacob LOVES it. I don't mind it, but I really don't want to touch the crickets...

 Jacob got a new nerf gun...

 ...targets...

 ...nerf bullets...

 ...and what's that long narrow gift completely wrapped in duct tape from Uncle Jacob?

Of course. It's a Red Rider BB Gun. Awesome. Don't shoot your eye out, kid.

He got to go out and shoot it the next day and really enjoyed shooting his targets and old soda cans. Beau may have loved it even more than him.
Jacob wanted his cake to have animal figures on it. I did the best I could:

The hippo was mostly submerged in the water and the elephant and rhino were battling. The cheetah was enjoying a mini version of pride rock. It was a hit!
Uncle Jacob, DeAnn, Russel and Zaya came for dinner. It turns out that Marianne and Jacob are soulmates. She LOVES him and cries when he leaves. Probably because he teaches her awesome things like how to knuckle bump.

Jakey,

(my Jakey),

I think you are totally awesome. You are the sweetest big brother to Marianne. You are thoughtful and want so much to be a good boy. You are an awesome artist and a creative thinker. You know how to put things together just like your dad. I love your chocolate chip eyes and your silly smile where your nose gets all scrunched up. I love that you tell me things that worry you and talk to me when you're having a hard time.

You are super special to me and I love being your mom!

Happy Seventh Birthday!