Well it is official! As of 11:30ish yesterday I am now married. It was an absolutely beautiful ceremony and lots of happy tears were shed afterwards as the spirit touched both Marc and I. It was an amazing experience to know that as of that moment we were joined together forever and that our future children would be joined with us as well. What an amazing experience to know that! It was also amazing to know that we were sealed in the same place as my parents and my sister.
We were able to celebrate with the family and take pictures and have a luncheon down in the valley. It was special to know that we were sharing a wedding anniversary of a couple that I had known all of my life and they were able to be in the temple with us. We headed up the hill and had a wonderful reception. I was grateful to be able to enjoy the reception after having hated planning it so much. It was a very nice night and I loved being able to see family and friends there to support us in this new chapter of our lives.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
George, Watch out for the TREEEEEE!!!!
I have often thought of George of the Jungle as being a silly boy who should have known better than to run into trees. I mean it isn’t like trees just pop up in your way. They were definitely there first and didn’t move so that you would have to dodge them.
Marc really wanted to have a Bachelor’s party. So him and the boys decided to have a boys night out on the town. I didn’t think I had to warn any of the boys to be nice to him and I knew their bachelor’s party wouldn’t have any of the typical “bachelor” things. There wasn’t going to be alcohol or strippers or anything like that so I wasn’t too worried. Well I should have told the boys to have Marc watch out for trees. Here is how the story goes:
Marc and the gang decided to go play miniature golf. At some point in the night Eric, Marc’s little brother, had lost his pencil. Now I guess this was a big deal because Eric is attached to certain types of pencils, not just any pencil makes the cut for Mr. Eric. So Marc being a caring older brother decided to have the boys split up and search for the special pencil. Now to Eric’s credit he told the boys not to worry but Marc was insistent that they go and search. So they split up and about 30 seconds later Marc was laying on the ground after being knocked over by a tree branch. He felt his head and was relieved to not find any blood but after standing up the blood started to gush. So he had one of the guys help him find a bathroom so that they could look into the cut. Sure enough the silly George had a 2 inch gash on his head behind his hairline. Now George, being the “wonderful” doctor that he was decided to try and wash the cut out by himself. (He claims that we has just trying to clean the blood up and I think had he been able to actually see the cut then he would have been successful in cleaning it out). He called his Dad to see if he needed to get his head examined by a doctor. He was eventually taken back to the apartment where his good friend Matt was able to clean out the wound properly and dress the wound.
I found out about this fiasco on the morning of our wedding. Let me tell you between that and sleeping through my alarm….best wakeup ever! But he was fine and didn’t have a concussion or anything. His parents joked all day that he had to see if he needed to get his head examined the night before his wedding. I am not sure he will ever live down the jokes that will come from his incident with the tree but at least he was safe in the end. Now being his wife, I am so loving and sympathetic that every time we pass a tree I make sure to warn him of the tree. So I write this blog as a plea to keep George safe, next time you see him make sure to warn him of any trees nearby!!! I am pretty sure that after this blog is posted that Marc will be making sure as to the content I put up on the blog but I couldn’t resist!!
Marc really wanted to have a Bachelor’s party. So him and the boys decided to have a boys night out on the town. I didn’t think I had to warn any of the boys to be nice to him and I knew their bachelor’s party wouldn’t have any of the typical “bachelor” things. There wasn’t going to be alcohol or strippers or anything like that so I wasn’t too worried. Well I should have told the boys to have Marc watch out for trees. Here is how the story goes:
Marc and the gang decided to go play miniature golf. At some point in the night Eric, Marc’s little brother, had lost his pencil. Now I guess this was a big deal because Eric is attached to certain types of pencils, not just any pencil makes the cut for Mr. Eric. So Marc being a caring older brother decided to have the boys split up and search for the special pencil. Now to Eric’s credit he told the boys not to worry but Marc was insistent that they go and search. So they split up and about 30 seconds later Marc was laying on the ground after being knocked over by a tree branch. He felt his head and was relieved to not find any blood but after standing up the blood started to gush. So he had one of the guys help him find a bathroom so that they could look into the cut. Sure enough the silly George had a 2 inch gash on his head behind his hairline. Now George, being the “wonderful” doctor that he was decided to try and wash the cut out by himself. (He claims that we has just trying to clean the blood up and I think had he been able to actually see the cut then he would have been successful in cleaning it out). He called his Dad to see if he needed to get his head examined by a doctor. He was eventually taken back to the apartment where his good friend Matt was able to clean out the wound properly and dress the wound.
I found out about this fiasco on the morning of our wedding. Let me tell you between that and sleeping through my alarm….best wakeup ever! But he was fine and didn’t have a concussion or anything. His parents joked all day that he had to see if he needed to get his head examined the night before his wedding. I am not sure he will ever live down the jokes that will come from his incident with the tree but at least he was safe in the end. Now being his wife, I am so loving and sympathetic that every time we pass a tree I make sure to warn him of the tree. So I write this blog as a plea to keep George safe, next time you see him make sure to warn him of any trees nearby!!! I am pretty sure that after this blog is posted that Marc will be making sure as to the content I put up on the blog but I couldn’t resist!!
Going Through the Temple
This last Friday I had an amazing experience. I was able to go to the temple. It was such a neat experience to see all of the people in my life that took the time out of their lives to come and share this experience with me. Some of the highlights of that day was the fact that Karen Giullian was able to be there with me vicariously. One of the temple workers was named Karen Gilliland and she reminded me of my Karen so much! They way she talked and told stories and made me feel at peace. I wished that the real Karen had been there with me but it was so nice to have someone that reminded me so much of her. It was a comfort to me.
One of my favorite moments of that day was actually in the early hours of the morning. I was a little lost and wandering around after running the errands that I needed to have done before the wedding on Saturday. I had forgotten to bring my Zune that had the book on cd I was listening to and didn’t feel like listening to the radio. So I started singing some Primary songs in the car. I sang some of my favorites as I strived to feel the spirit stronger. I had sang quite a few as I started to sing “I Love to see the Temple” and I turned a corner. I was now facing so that I could see the temple straight on as I drove. It was such an amazing experience to know that I was able to go inside and covenant with my Father that day in the Temple. I have always liked that song but it now holds a special place in my heart from that experience that day. Here are the words to that song:
I love to see the temple.
I’m going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit,
To listen and to pray.
For the temple is a house of God,
A place of love and beauty.
I’ll prepare myself while I am young;
This is my sacred duty.
I love to see the temple.
I’ll go inside someday.
I’ll cov’nant with my Father;
I’ll promise to obey.
For the temple is a holy place
Where we are sealed together.
As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth:
A fam’ly is forever.
One of my favorite moments of that day was actually in the early hours of the morning. I was a little lost and wandering around after running the errands that I needed to have done before the wedding on Saturday. I had forgotten to bring my Zune that had the book on cd I was listening to and didn’t feel like listening to the radio. So I started singing some Primary songs in the car. I sang some of my favorites as I strived to feel the spirit stronger. I had sang quite a few as I started to sing “I Love to see the Temple” and I turned a corner. I was now facing so that I could see the temple straight on as I drove. It was such an amazing experience to know that I was able to go inside and covenant with my Father that day in the Temple. I have always liked that song but it now holds a special place in my heart from that experience that day. Here are the words to that song:
I love to see the temple.
I’m going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit,
To listen and to pray.
For the temple is a house of God,
A place of love and beauty.
I’ll prepare myself while I am young;
This is my sacred duty.
I love to see the temple.
I’ll go inside someday.
I’ll cov’nant with my Father;
I’ll promise to obey.
For the temple is a holy place
Where we are sealed together.
As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth:
A fam’ly is forever.
Little Lost Boy
I have felt very sure that my wedding needed to be held in February. Please don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t crazy about the date but I just kept being assured that February was the right month for us. I was so grateful for the extra time that Marc and I were able to grow and the changes that have come into our life because of those changes. But another reason I was so grateful for our wedding being in February was that we were able to play a small part in the lives of a family who had lost their little boy.
As we decorated the church on Thursday, a lady and a little boy wandered into the building. I didn’t think too much about it as others had been in and out of the church all night. My Mom and I had been decorating the arch when they lady and the little boy were directed to come and talk to us. I signaled to my Mom that someone wanted to talk to her, I figured that they must know my Mom and was a little surprised to find out that neither one did. What had happened was this little boy had wandered away from home and this lady and picked him up and was trying to help him find his way back. They had wandered into the church when the little boy had recognized it. They were then directed towards us so that we could use our cell phones to look up people’s phone number or to try and find phone numbers. He told us his name and I knew that I had heard it before but couldn’t place it. After a little while we were able to correctly identify his family and we realized that we had known his family for quite awhile. I was able to talk to him about his Aunt that is living in Hawaii at the moment and that seemed to relax him a little bit to know that we knew his family. From there we were able to call other members in the ward to try and find a phone number for this family. The little boy again lit up as we were able to come up with names of families that he knew from church. After a while the little boy’s family was contacted. It was such a sweet scene to see his Mother come in and cling to her little boy as she wept. I was so grateful to have been a tiny part in returning that little boy back to his family.
There were so many miracles that allowed that little boy to be returned. The first one was that the little boy was found by an incredibly caring lady and that she took the time to try to find his family. She wanted that little boy to be found by his family. She was able to have the patience as she tried to follow directions from a lost little boy as he desperately tried to find his way back home. She was prompted to point out a brown church building not far from the highway. It wasn’t until she pointed out the LDS chapel that the little boy was able to recognize it as the one where he attended church. Since she wasn’t LDS herself, this was a little bit of a miracle because there are multiple churches in the area that are closer to the road than that church is. Another miracle was that we were decorating the cultural hall for my reception and that we hadn’t locked ourselves into the building. This allowed for these two people to wander into the building to get help. Another miracle was that we were able to recognize the little boy and the family that he belonged to. My Mom was able to recognize him from dropping my little brother off at scouts. The little boy’s Dad is in the scouting program in the other ward and so she has seen the Mom and the little boy’s family at the church. Had either our family or his family not have been active or faithfully serving in their callings, I don’t know if this miracle would have been possible. It was a miracle that we were able to find other members of the wards to help us find the phone numbers we needed and that we had been in the area long enough to know who those individuals were.
I was so grateful to have been a small part in finding this little boy back home. I know that there are angels along our way to help us back to our Heavenly home. I know that like this mother who had lost her little boy that our Father in Heaven also weeps when one of us has lost his way. I know that he wants us to come home again. I know that he has made it possible for our return and that as we follow the steps and use the aides we are given that we will make it back. I was so grateful for the opportunity to help this family in their time of need. That little boy has found his way into many conversations with my family as we have pondered the events and the prayers that were answered that night. It wasn’t just a coincidence that all of this happened but a miracle.
As we decorated the church on Thursday, a lady and a little boy wandered into the building. I didn’t think too much about it as others had been in and out of the church all night. My Mom and I had been decorating the arch when they lady and the little boy were directed to come and talk to us. I signaled to my Mom that someone wanted to talk to her, I figured that they must know my Mom and was a little surprised to find out that neither one did. What had happened was this little boy had wandered away from home and this lady and picked him up and was trying to help him find his way back. They had wandered into the church when the little boy had recognized it. They were then directed towards us so that we could use our cell phones to look up people’s phone number or to try and find phone numbers. He told us his name and I knew that I had heard it before but couldn’t place it. After a little while we were able to correctly identify his family and we realized that we had known his family for quite awhile. I was able to talk to him about his Aunt that is living in Hawaii at the moment and that seemed to relax him a little bit to know that we knew his family. From there we were able to call other members in the ward to try and find a phone number for this family. The little boy again lit up as we were able to come up with names of families that he knew from church. After a while the little boy’s family was contacted. It was such a sweet scene to see his Mother come in and cling to her little boy as she wept. I was so grateful to have been a tiny part in returning that little boy back to his family.
There were so many miracles that allowed that little boy to be returned. The first one was that the little boy was found by an incredibly caring lady and that she took the time to try to find his family. She wanted that little boy to be found by his family. She was able to have the patience as she tried to follow directions from a lost little boy as he desperately tried to find his way back home. She was prompted to point out a brown church building not far from the highway. It wasn’t until she pointed out the LDS chapel that the little boy was able to recognize it as the one where he attended church. Since she wasn’t LDS herself, this was a little bit of a miracle because there are multiple churches in the area that are closer to the road than that church is. Another miracle was that we were decorating the cultural hall for my reception and that we hadn’t locked ourselves into the building. This allowed for these two people to wander into the building to get help. Another miracle was that we were able to recognize the little boy and the family that he belonged to. My Mom was able to recognize him from dropping my little brother off at scouts. The little boy’s Dad is in the scouting program in the other ward and so she has seen the Mom and the little boy’s family at the church. Had either our family or his family not have been active or faithfully serving in their callings, I don’t know if this miracle would have been possible. It was a miracle that we were able to find other members of the wards to help us find the phone numbers we needed and that we had been in the area long enough to know who those individuals were.
I was so grateful to have been a small part in finding this little boy back home. I know that there are angels along our way to help us back to our Heavenly home. I know that like this mother who had lost her little boy that our Father in Heaven also weeps when one of us has lost his way. I know that he wants us to come home again. I know that he has made it possible for our return and that as we follow the steps and use the aides we are given that we will make it back. I was so grateful for the opportunity to help this family in their time of need. That little boy has found his way into many conversations with my family as we have pondered the events and the prayers that were answered that night. It wasn’t just a coincidence that all of this happened but a miracle.
Melissa Coming to Visit!!!
I have had the opportunity to spend the last couple of weeks, off and on, with Melissa and her little rugrats. It was so much fun to have one last shabam with them before I got married. At one point Melissa and her kids came down and spent a couple of days with me in my apartment. I have never thought our one bedroom apartment was terribly small until you add 6 more people to it! But it was fun to eat donuts and go to the park and eat Ned’s subs and have the kids help me with my homework. I am so grateful that I got to spend time with them! I am really going to miss them until I get to see them in May for the Open House. I must say that I am so grateful for technology and our ability to stay in touch using that technology.
Here are some pictures of the kid’s visit:
Here are some pictures of the kid’s visit:
Bridal Showers
I was so blessed to have two bridal showers, both thrown by amazing individuals! The first one was thrown by the Bunker family. It was held in the church building in the town I grew up in and it was so nice. The food was absolutely delicious and it didn’t even resemble a Relief Society room when they were done. It was nice to be able to be there with the women that had been there has I have grown up. Stephanie did a good job of trying to embarrass me as my mouth was filled with marshmallows. She played this game where every time I answered a question different from Marc then I had to put a marshmallow in my mouth. Stephanie did a great job of finding some of those pertinent questions that Marc and I hadn’t discussed it our year and a half together. Such as, “If Marc were a Disney character which one would he want to be?” But she also found some questions in which our storytelling of our lives wasn’t as good as it should have been. Marc got the answer wrong on what the names of my dogs were and what my jersey number in high school was. So I got to eat marshmallows for getting the answer right! We also did a game where Stephanie and I were decorated in toilet paper wedding dresses. It was fun to have that experience with Steph. We have a picture of us together at 6 months and it was awesome to have one of us together right before I was married.
The other bridal shower was a family one that was held in Queen Creek. I loved being able to be there with both the women in my family and in Marc’s family, these are women that I have been able to look up to over the years and have been able to go to for advice. It was so nicely put together and looked beautiful, they really did go above and beyond. We played this game where everyone in the group had to guess certain trivia about me and then whoever got the most right won a prize. We also played this game where we all got a person taped to our back and then had to ask yes/no questions to figure out who our individual was. Most of the pictures of this bridal shower were taken of the two little boys that attended and I loved getting to see the little ones playing that day. But some of the presents I received that day were definitely an answer to prayer and I was so grateful for them!
Please enjoy the pictures and know that we missed those of you who couldn’t attend.
The other bridal shower was a family one that was held in Queen Creek. I loved being able to be there with both the women in my family and in Marc’s family, these are women that I have been able to look up to over the years and have been able to go to for advice. It was so nicely put together and looked beautiful, they really did go above and beyond. We played this game where everyone in the group had to guess certain trivia about me and then whoever got the most right won a prize. We also played this game where we all got a person taped to our back and then had to ask yes/no questions to figure out who our individual was. Most of the pictures of this bridal shower were taken of the two little boys that attended and I loved getting to see the little ones playing that day. But some of the presents I received that day were definitely an answer to prayer and I was so grateful for them!
Please enjoy the pictures and know that we missed those of you who couldn’t attend.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Thank you George
As I prepared for Melis and her kids to come out, one of the preparations was to make the house George-proof. I have learned long ago that simply baby-proofing the house is not good enough. My house will have to be Kaelen-proof. I have also learned that you have to have something for him or he will go and find something that you would rather him not play with. So as I prepared for him to come things got put away and it forced me to be the most moved in that I have been in the new apartment. So thank you George. Without you being the little rascal, that I love so much, the apartment wouldn't be as moved in as it is at the moment. What am I going to do when that little rugrat is across the world from me? I don't know what I am going to do when any of those little ones are across the world from me? Thank goodness for technology and the ability to stay in contact. Just think, then I can talk to them and not have to worry about Kaelen being able to find the kitchen knives or other such things!
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