Our trip to Justin's wedding

Its 7:25 a.m. On Friday and we're leaving to go to Justin and Tara's wedding!  We're excited about going, and really excited about seeing the family and the grandkids.   If we look fat you can't blame me because everybody here converts calories in a crazy way.  lol  (Actually, since our trip I've been using child-size porcelain dishes that we got at Ikea.  They help Mark know what my portions need to be!)

(I am listening to the Little Women soundtrack while I go over this.  It is so great on headphones!)

In La Grande, we have a mountain nearby that looks just like Diamond Head and I get glimpses of it and try and get pics, but I'm never fast enough and we're always headed somewhere and are always in traffic.  We'll have to stop and get a good picture sometime. Its very dramatic

We are hitting some major fog on the way and weather might be bad on the way back too, but that's just part of being in November now!

Okay, we've been on the road about one and a half hours and we're still driving through thick fog.  

We're seeing the mountains with snow on top and the fog is clearing, so it's exciting that we're getting close!

Btw,  grapes are great in the car  - food and drink in one.  And we're at Ogden Utah!

We were almost exactly the same place at the same time with Haley and Dallin on the road;  I was on the phone with her and we had turned off to get gas and they passed us as I was talking to her.  Crazy!

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That was my little verbal post on our trip down.  What was really crazy was that we got to our motel 10 seconds after Dallin and Haley, and that's with us driving 7 1/2 hours from Oregon and them driving 3 1/2 hours from IF, and not talking on the phone till Ogden, or coordinating our times or anything!   Unreal!

Our motel rooms were pretty good for being bargain priced.  They had a swimming pool that the kids got to enjoy, and they had pretty good breakfasts, little refrigerators and microwaves and so on.  We couldn't close the door when my wheelchair was in the bathroom.  I should've had Mark take it out.  Duh!

We got their about 5 p.m., I think, and we went to dinner with our motel-mates (down the hall from us :) at the place that has waiters come by with different meats all the time you're there.  The meat was actually quite good, too.  Then, Mark and I splurged on dessert!  The apple cobbler-type dessert (with ice cream) was wonderful!

The next day, it was so good to see everyone there at Golden Corral for the luncheon.  I love my family!  Justin and Tara seemed happy and relaxed, the kids were having a great time, and the food was really tasty!  

Then we ran to our motel rooms to change for the wedding photos, which Haley was taking an hour before the ceremony.  The reception area of the church was beautifully decorated, and everything was just so.  We only managed to get a couple of photos of everyone, later on, but Haley got some great pictures that you can see on Facebook.  She'll post more of them later on.

No photos, though, were allowed in the chapel during the actual ceremony.

It was very sweet, with lots of advice being given from their bishop.

Someone played Primary music beforehand, and Eric was the bridesmaid and Alexandria the flower girl.  Ben was Justin's best man and one of Tara's friends or relatives was her bridesmaid.

The color was purple, very tastefully done.

The only decoration in the chapel were two bouquets of roses

on either side of the pulpit.

We weren't sure where to sit, but the wheelchair spot was in the first row, so we sat there

Many of the grandkids joined us.

We didn't know that the ceremony was taking place down on the level below the pulpit,

and we were right there on top of them!

Finally, the kids moved back, and Mark was already sitting behind me

so all was well. 

At the end, after Justin kissed the bride, someone yelled out, "Is that all you got?!"  So Justin kissed her again!  It tickled everyone to see the fun.

In the reception area, the bride and groom stood under a pergola covered in white blossoms,

shaking hands forever, it seemed!

Oh, and Mike and Susan (Mark's sister) were there, which really made it nice, I thought.

I really appreciate their coming to the wedding,

and it was so fun for Mark to talk politics with them all through the reception. : )

For the reception they served chicken salad on croissants, I believe, and other food.

It was so nice!

And the guests all got beautiful flower-topped cupcakes, 

while the bride and groom had their own little cake that they cut and fed each other.

Before I get to that, tho, I should mention the first dance.

Justin had compiled the music for the reception,

and he had music for their dance, which was so romantic.

Justin looked so handsome,

and Tara was gorgeous in her beautiful gown and veil!

Her bouquet was made up of large, half-open roses in pastel colors, gathered in tight bunch and wrapped in purple ribbon.

Tara said Justin gave that to her earlier in the day.

Awww...

I'm going to quote Haley's description of the ring ceremony, off her blog, because it's so great:

Probably the cutest part of the whole night was watching Justin be SO so happy with Tara. It seemed like they truly appreciated having found each other, maybe because they weren't super young and kind of naive or taking it for granted. They seemed to glow with genuine love for each other. When they exchanged rings (after the actual wedding ceremony), they both took a minute to say something. Justin read an excerpt from a book that talked about making your spouse feel special every single day, and he said that he has found that in Tara, that she really has made him feel very special every day. She started crying, we all started crying, it was just really sweet.  And Tara said that Justin is the perfect example of applying the Atonement, because he forgives over and over every day and sees the best in her.

Isn't that a cute description?

After they cut the cake, they presented Eric with a pocket watch and told him it was to remind him to always make time for his family.  Then they presented Alexandria with a locket, to remind her to always keep her family close to her heart.

Isn't that the sweetest thing?

Eric's watch has the Tasmanian Devil inside, and Tara said it was because he is one!

The kids seemed delighted with their presents, and they had lots of fun with their cousins,

throughout the reception.

I got to hold baby Caitlin for the first time!  She's such a cute little bundle!

And Paige is walking around, and Bethany has hair!!

I just loved seeing all of them.

 Tara's bridesmaid caught her bouquet and Phillip got her garter.  I didn't see that part, but I don't think their was much competition for either one!  I think a kid gave Phillip the garter, and kids played with the bouquet till there were rose petals everywhere!

Fortunately, the corsages and bouteneirres were made of silk,

so we can keep 'em,  lol!

People decorated the car pretty tastefully, I must say.

They used shaving cream and then put balloons inside.  

We left before Tara came outside because it was getting really late

and there was no sign of things letting up yet.

It looked like they had lots of envelopes,

and Haley said that she has texted Justin and he wrote back

that people have been so generous and are still sending cards.

That's nice, isn't it?

I think they didn't get a bunch of regular presents because

they both had households already set up.

Justin has moved to Tara's house,

which I understand they are selling (probably 'cause it's too little now!).

She said that after Justin brought his things over

it was really full, haha.

I'll bet!

Anyway, we said our goodbyes and went.

Both nights I totally collapsed in bed when we got back to our room.

I'm so glad we were able to stay for two nights and get some rest before heading back home.

We left early the next a.m., because of snow falling in SLC,

but the weather cleared right away.

We had good trips both ways,

and we were so glad to get home!

Nothing like a trip to make you appreciate your own place!

It looked much larger and neater than I had remembered it.

I hope you enjoyed this little travelogue.

Pictures below:

 

And, last but not least, the Boise Temple.

  We love you!

Congratulations to Justin and Tara and Alexandria and Eric!

xoxoxo

xoxoxo