Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The Wedding Reception

The reception hall had been booked and paid for, but we were a little nervous as to what we were getting. The owner/manager was not the best communicator/business person to deal with, but we were getting a bargain. Fortunately for me, my good friends arrived before I did, and were getting things handled. The tablecloths were on the tables, but several of them were stained. The serving table skirt had chocolate dripped on it from a chocolate fountain, and the floor was filthy. None of the serving pieces I had asked for were out, so we had to scrounge in the kitchen and back room for them. We also had to wash them all before they could be used. Apparently all we had rented was the hall, tables, chairs and linens. The owner was under the impression that we were doing everything else ourselves, and she was doing us a favor by 'letting' us use her dishes. Thank goodness for friends that had my back! Wedding days are stressful and emotional enough without adding any unnecessary drama!! In fairness, the owner did fix the problems and make things right, and by the time we returned for the reception, everything was beautiful.


The guest book table



The food table. We kept it simple, chocolate covered strawberries, cupcakes, and dole whip! The dole whip was definitely the biggest hit!


Centerpieces


Who are these good looking guys?

Practicing with the bubbles for the big send off!

In the end it was a beautiful evening. We felt loved and supported by our family and some of our dearest friends. We couldn't have done it without their help. We ended the festivities with the traditional things: cutting the cake, throwing the bouquet and garter, father/daughter, mother/son dance, and the couples first dance. Then they left through an archway of bubbles to begin their "happily ever after."

As a mom, it's hard to turn your daughters over to someone else to take care of. As any parent, it's hard to let your children go. I feel so fortunate and blessed that both of my daughters have chosen such wonderful men as their eternal mates. Even though it's hard for me, I know that they have wonderful lives ahead of them, and that all of our lives will be blessed by the choices they have made. We are glad to have Cassidy join our family and know that we have many more special times ahead of us. This is only the beginning for their family, and we look forward to see what great things the future will bring!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Jayme and Cassidy's Wedding!!!



It was a fairy tale come true!! But first a little background. Jayme and Cassidy met about five years ago while they were both attending SUU in Cedar City. They were crazy about each other, but both very young. Cassidy left to serve an LDS mission in Hong Kong, Jayme went to work for Disney in Orlando. Cassidy returned from his mission in the spring of 2010, and they renewed their friendship. By the time he went back to school that fall, they were still "just friends". At Christmas, he introduced her to his family as his 'girlfriend', and the first of April he asked Dennis and Jordyn and me if he could marry her. We warned him and grilled him pretty well, but he was determined. We even took him to Disneyland with us, and even that wasn't enough to scare him off.

The wedding was originally scheduled for August, and Jayme wanted the reception in our backyard. That was great, it gave us a deadline for getting the yard finished! We made plans and ordered the dress, but then.... Cassidy was offered a great job, but it required him to be down in Cedar City to work much earlier than anyone had anticipated. The wedding was moved to Monday, July 18. There was no way we would have the yard done that soon, and so other arrangements were made, and we crossed our fingers that the wedding dress would arrive in time.


The dress did arrive, and we drove up the canyon to the beautiful Sundance area to take Jayme's bridal pictures. They were beautiful!


The wedding day arrived very quickly, and it was a beautiful day. The sister assigned to Jayme in the temple turned out to be Dennis' third grade teacher, and she knew all of the Stone's in Lehi. The sealer was wonderful He spoke slowly and emphasized all the important parts of the covenant, and he didn't ramble on and on like some of them do. It was perfect!


Here are a few of my favorite pictures at the temple, the professional ones will follow soon.

"The Cousins" always so supportive!!


Don't they just look so in love?


Even Elder Stone made an appearance or two!


Such cute sisters!


Daddy and his baby girl.


Who's got the most 'tude?


Sassy!



After taking pictures, we all went to a delicious luncheon at Em's Restaurant in Salt Lake. It was nice to just sit and relax for awhile. Next up: The Reception!







Western Regional Wrestling


Ammon's coaches have always wanted him to do some summer wrestling, but we have always felt that it was just too much. This year, Ammon was pretty excited about the possibility and worked hard to qualify for Nationals and Western Regionals. After seeing how much time and money would be involved for three more tournaments, he decided to only go to Western Regionals in Pocatello, Idaho. The week of June 20, he and I headed up to Pocatello for the tournament. USA wrestling goes by birthdate rather than school grade, so Ammon has always felt we cheated him by having him born in December '95 rather than January '96, but dang-- we didn't really think about wrestling then, we were more concerned with the tax credit! Anyway, those 5 days make a difference. Cadets this year were born in '95-'96, so he was smack in the middle. Ammon hadn't wrestled since the end of the state club season in April, and was a little out of shape, but we told him to just have fun and do his best. We knew what competition he had from Utah, but we had no idea what he was facing from the other nine states, plus his weight was up from 189 and he didn't want to cut so he wrestled 215 and was by far the smallest in his group.


There were some pretty tough kids there, but Ammon was able to win all but one of his matches in each style. He took second in freestyle and third in greco. He felt great about his performance, and I got excited for the high school season to see what great things he can accomplish this year! Way to go Ammon!