But wait, that's not all!

When the newly married couple returned from their San Francisco honeymoon, opening gifts was first on their agenda.

It was a good time. Emily and Steven recieved a lot of nice things thanks to a lot of nice people!

Mimi and Papa came over to watch the spectacle. Did you know opening gifts has become a spectator sport?

The Open House in Henderson, NV, was beautiful. The weather was perfect and the location was georgeous.

The surprise of the evening came when Brooke, Brianne and their mom, Beth Ann showed up from Provo, UT. It was so much fun to see them.

Uncle Wesley and Aunt Marion showed up too from Provo, UT.

Emily and her mother, that's me.

Aunt Marion's shoes. Who doesn't love a mature woman and her shoes?

Science Museum

Today Truman, Niko Jones, Quinn, Neil Shumway & I went to the Science Museum in honor of Spring Break. One thing we did was we had a 12:45 appointment with the Planetarium to view, "Microcosm," a movie about two doctors shrinking down to microscopic size to go into a sick, pregnant woman's artery to course throughout her body to find the cause of her illness.

At the very beginning, the announcer said,

"If you get car sick or motion sick at all, close your eyes. This movie is not for you"

Que my eyes closing.

Anyone who knows me, even a little, knows I've had many road trips pulled off to the side puking my guts out. So much so when things settle down, my sons usually say,

"That was scary."

So I only listened to the movie.

Once and a while Quinn would tap my leg to "wake me up". I must say I did get a little two or three minute nap in, between Quinn's taps.

No pictutures, camera forgotten.

Happy Birthday Kristine!

Today is Kristine's birthday. We've shared many birthdays. Best friends since 4th grade. Her birthday always manages to land on Spring Break. Lucky. I remember many Spring Breaks where we'd lay out in the sun. . . she'd get a nice olive brown and I'd burn, blister and peel. This picture is circa 1985 or 1986. Gotta love the make-up and hair!

Yes, this was a posed photo. Kristine and I had a photo shoot day. This, of course, was one of our many lay out days.

Love the Farah Faucet hair (Kristine), and the feather choker. Perfection. My Dorothy Hammil hair cut parted down the middle speaks for itself!

Happy Birthday!! Hope you have a lovely day!

The infamous Disneyland trip. We had lots of fun with your mom & grandma!

Taste of a Reception

Being I was the Mother-of-the-Bride, my camera did not see much action on that auspicious reception day. There was much to much to do and worry about. I'm hoping the hired photographer's camera saw a lot more of the reception than mine! Especially at night when all of the lighting shone bright and many a dancers we had!

Cherisse was the "fake cake" Creator.

This is just a prop and a mighty beautiful one at that!!

The finished product ended up with lively white Gerber Daisies bunched on the top. Lovely.

Alas, my camera was tucked away, put to bed and did not get to see much more than this.

The edible cake came out already cut, ready to eat!

My sweet nephew, Andrew, and his sister, my niece, Samantha Elizabeth. He looks sharp in his suit!

The caterers preparing the food table. I'm told everything was delicious. When the party was over, there was one strawberry left for the Bride & Groom's take away package along with some croissant sandwiches. A small amount of grapes and veggies were left too.

I've heard many a fond comment regarding the chocolate fondue.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what to smother with chocolate!

Cake

Pineapple

Strawberries

Etc...

However, the biggest tragedy of the night was the particularly small amount of white chocolate with raspberry filling cake and chocolate cake with toffee filling that was left!

I wish I had ordered two more sheets just for home!

It was that good.

Thanks to Melody Larsen, my friend and caterer, who knows how to make the most delicious cakes in town!

Jake & Quinn, best cousins, matching ties and all.

Centerpieces Anyone?

Our flower girl, Kimberly, starting her magic.

Arrangements are three days old, not quite in their glory, but still looks beautiful.

One of my favorite mixes. Spider mums & roses.

We placed lemons in a couple of vases to add a natural yellow flavor.

A bit of texture never hurt anyone.

Nuptials

Time was not on our side. The week leading up to the wedding we were beating the clock with every tick until literally the very last second leading up to the reception. However, the sealing went off without a hitch and the day progressed quickly and soon it was over. Thank goodness! Emily is triumphant.

Kimberly Wynne, my dear, stuffed head friend, flew in from Heber, Utah to help with much of the decorations. Jamie Tipton, one of my sister-in-laws, is by her side.

Tony W. Reed, my nephew & Emily's cousin, & his wife Amy - can't have enough Amy's in our family! Tony took Emily's and Stephen's engagement pictures.

A small smattering of some of the peeps that came to the Temple.

More peeps.

Shower Time!

Emily in front of her dashing table of shower edibles.

A small sampling of the guests.

Em's BFF, Mandy.

More peeps. Several sister-in-laws drove from far away, Prescott, Flagstaff and Show Low to come to the shower.

Juliette and her new babe, Delilah.

Tiffany, Cherisse, Juliette & Janet put a lot of time, energy, and love into Emily's shower. It was so beautiful & delicious. Good times.

Beauties

Today I was able to get off early from work in order to be with Emily whilst she had her bridal portrait taken. It was nearly an hour into the shoot when I came upon these crazy, beautiful flowers. Each one so unique, so delicate yet strong. They captured my attention. I had to snap a picture of them.

One georgeous flower after another. . . .

Lead to more flowers. Until . . . .

I found the most beautiful flower of all.

When we're helping, we're happy!

Emily and Steven were spraying off the car after a hike at Peralta Trail when Quinn came home from school and decided he wanted to help! He ran into the house and put on his swim suit. He swiftly came out to help when Steven began spraying him. Quinn leaped to Emily for sanctuary but his wetness spread to her shorts and ended up soaking her as well.

It was 70 degrees today and beautiful! Mostly cloudy and breezy. (Sorry, a little too weather person-ish.) It's a good thing the weather was accommodating because Quinn's 2nd grade had a "Picnic at the Park" where parents and kids sat on blankets on the play ground and read books. Little reading was accomplished, a lot of energy was spent. Good times.

(That white creature you see sniffing around is our beloved dog, Ted. He thinks he's the fourth brother. . . )

Yoga Masters

What's left to do after family night? An hour long yoga DVD. Two brothers bonding in crazy yoga poses.

Balance boys.