Andy & Amy's Wedding

The day after Ben returned from being out of town, we loaded up and headed to California for my big brother's wedding.  It was an adventure, to say the least!  I was so very glad to be able to go.  With Ben's graduation and Andy's wedding both being so soon after Luke was born, I'd spent months worrying about whether I'd make it to either one.  I feel very blessed that everything worked out for me to be able to attend both of those important events.

We split the trip into 2 days, which mean that Ben could take the kids
for a dip in the hotel pool. 

We arrived in time to catch up with family for a few hours before the rehearsal dinner.  We had quite a bit of family there and it was wonderful to all be together for a few days.  The rehearsal dinner was held at a nice Chinese restaurant, which meant that my kids being the Picky Eaters that they are ate nothing but white rice.  (Boy did they miss out!)  They were pretty grumpy, and Jack ended up falling asleep on Ben's lap halfway through dinner, so Ben didn't get to eat much.  The restaurant had convinced Andy to pre-order a lot more food than the group ate, so he insisted that they box it up when dinner was over.  He then brought it to our hotel room so Ben could finish his dinner...

Ben tried, but he just couldn't eat all 40 take out boxes of leftovers.

The next day was the wedding and it was great!  Everything was beautiful.  It was held at a family farm in Auburn, CA - the perfect setting for Amy's Shabby Chic Wedding of Awesomeness.  My sister, Susannah, chronicled the event very well.  I was going to steal a few pictures from her blog, but there were too many so I will send you straight to her blog instead.  I'm so glad that she took such great pictures because I think I took about 6, and none of them are very good.  (I figured my focus should be on my wee one and my 3 trouble makers instead.)  Suz captured the details of the decorations, the ceremony itself, and some great family pictures as well.  Thank you Suz!

(The below pictures are from the photographer's website.)

The wedding was particularly fun for me because all three of my big kids participated.  The girls were absolutely thrilled to be flower girls.  They felt so special to get their hair done and wear special dresses and be a part of the wedding.  A few days before the wedding Amy asked if Jack would mind having a role as well, and he happily agreed.

Who's that angry woman in the background??

Jack was the last person to walk down the aisle before Amy.  I was afraid he would act silly, but he just walked straight ahead.  He did a great job.  When Andy saw Jack, he teared up immediately.  It was a really sweet moment.

Susannah wasn't the only one diligently taking pictures at the wedding.  My Mom played photographer as well.  Her camera of choice: the iPad.  This is one of my favorite memories from the weekend...

At least she got a cute picture of my siblings and me with our grandparents.
Thanks for the iPad shot, Mom!

Lest you think my worries that Jack would ham it up when he walked down the aisle
were unfounded, check out his lovely poses during the family picture.  (These pictures are courtesy
of my brother's phone.  He texted them to me just a couple of weeks ago.)

After the ceremony, we were all treated to dinner catered by a food truck.  Love it!  Then we watched a cool video of Andy and Amy telling their story (my favorite detail of the whole event) before the dancing started.  We had a great time dancing, and the kids were so fun to watch!  They danced together, with cousins, and by themselves.  They danced to the fast songs, the slow songs, and the line dances.  (Below are three of the six pictures I took.)

Luke was there too.  He made the rounds, enjoying time
with everyone in the family.  Here he is with Pops.

After a long day of festivation and a full night of dancing, we were plumb tuckered out.  The kids all fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel.

We started our drive back to Utah the next day, after breakfast and present opening with Andy and Amy.  It was definitely a quick trip and a lot of time in the car, but well worth it.  Luke traveled very well, only showing his annoyance at being buckled into his car seat so much by pooping or peeing on me at every possible opportunity.  For real.  We later figured out that he was wearing a brand of diaper that didn't fit him very well, but it sure made for an eventful wedding weekend.

I love that Andy is happily married now, and his wife is just lovely.  I'm thrilled for both of them.

Jack Turned 5

Jack had a pretty great birthday, and he was able to celebrate for 4 days straight.  Not bad, right?

Because another kid had claimed the closest school day as their day to bring a birthday treat, Jack brought his treat to preschool 3 days early.  What did he want to share with the class?  Tomatoes and doughnut holes.  I wasn't able to be there, which was really sad for me.  (It was the first time one of my kids could bring a birthday treat to school, since Cat has a summer birthday.)  Jack loved bringing the treats to share, and everyone was excited about the doughnut holes.  Jack's teacher said there was even a child who wanted some tomatoes.

The next day, Saturday, we had our family birthday party.  He wanted a Thomas birthday (except for the Cars napkins he picked out).  We celebrated early as a family because Ben left Sunday morning to go out of town for a few days.  It was a fun little party, complete with wonderful gifts from loved ones.

On Sunday, the day before his birthday, the Primary kids sang to him and he loved it.  He also received a cool "I Am a Child of God" bottle cap necklace as a birthday gift.  (In case you're wondering, no, I didn't bring all of the kids to Church myself with a 12-day-old baby.  Our home teacher kindly agreed to take the big kids so I could stay home with Luke.)

Then, on his actual birthday, I tried to do a few small things to make it special.  I didn't do a lot, since I had such a little baby and Ben was out of town, but I managed a couple of things.  I made number pancakes for breakfast.  Jack got a 5, so of course the girls needed numbers for their ages too.

This is how Jack dressed himself for the day.  Backwards polo shirt, both legs in one side of a pair of soccer shorts.  I helped him get straightened out before we left the house.

In lieu of an actual party, we asked some friends to meet us at our neighborhood park for a playdate, and they were all able to come!  We all just ate lunch together and the kids played for a little while, then we shared cupcakes, and Jack was surprised with some gifts too.  It was a fun morning, all the more special because we knew we would all be parting ways in the coming weeks.

A friend brought dinner to us that night.  When she asked me what Jack wanted for his birthday dinner, I asked Jack and he said, "cupcakes, ice cream, and French fries."  He got two out of the three - our friend brought over hot dogs and fries for dinner, and I still had a few cupcakes left, so we ate them for dessert.  I let the kids decorate them themselves.  Sprinkles, anyone?

Then we blew up some balloons and the kids ran around playing with them for a while before bed.  Luke didn't participate in the balloon play, but Eliza made sure he felt included.

Birthday Love!

It's been a treat to see Jack grow and mature over the last year, partly because of his age, but I think also largely because of loving and patient Primary teachers, and a truly wonderful experience at preschool.  I've written before about how Jack has become more curious, more observant, and more confident since going to preschool.  It's been amazing.  

Jack is such a special kid and he continues to capture more and more of my heart.  He is amiable, funny, spunky, and the most cuddly of my three big kids.  (In an effort to represent him fairly, I'll say that he is also the most clumsy, the most ants-in-my-pantsy, and the most absent-minded of the three big kids.)

Jack blesses my life daily.  I'm so glad that Jack is who he is, and that he's part of our family.

I hope you had a great birthday, Big Guy!

Orange Otters

Cat had a wonderful time playing soccer last year.  She is fast, aggressive, and good at scoring goals. The season ended shortly after Luke was born, so we were able to attend her last game as a family, which was really cool.

We haven't joined a soccer team yet, with all of the craziness of the last 6 weeks, but if she gets to play in the spring, she will be in the next higher league which means (drum roll please) playing assigned positions during games.  Whoa!  She's really excited about that.  It will be fun to see her learn the next level of the game.