Monday, June 21, 2010

Katasha's Wedding!

What a fun weekend - crazy busy, but fun!  Katasha and Tim were married in the St, George Temple on Saturday, June 19th.   We spent the morning setting up all the tables and chairs for that evening.  They decided they didn't want a typical wedding reception....standing around for three hours shaking hands with a bunch of people they don't really know (can't blame them)!  Instead they opted for an 'intimate' evening with dinner, program, and dancing. With a family as enormous as ours (and Tim's family isn't small either) 'intimate' is all relative - no pun intended!  We still had over 200 guests - 90% family and a handful of friends!

The wedding was wonderful!  Tasha is the last of the 12 kids to go through the temple, and it was great to have so many of us together to see her get married!

The brother's (minus Jeff [Botus] who was not in town yet and Dallin who is on his mission in Ecuador) and brother's-in-law.
The sister's (except Trina - she was helping Mom and Tasha) and sister's-in-law.
                                                 Trina and I later on.

I tried to get a picture of Sky and I together - this is how it turned out - thanks Damon!


I did manage to get one later on - minus Damon! :)

Tasha looked so beautiful when she came out of the Temple!
What a stunning couple!
We then gathered at Mom's house to get some pictures before the guests started arriving.

Tasha and Tim with the nieces and nephews on Tasha's side.
Mom and all of Tasha's siblings (minus Dallin)
The wind was causing a ruckus for a little while.  A couple of the flower arrangements blew over and one shattered the vase, the other shattered the glass table top!  I love this picture, because everything looks normal, until you look at Cort's tie - like I said, crazy wind!
  We had to put Mack to bed, so we snapped a few pictures of him first.  He looked so darling in his suspenders and bow tie!
After the dinner, we had a little program.  The sisters all sang (and danced - ha ha) 'You Can't Hurry Love'  - we dedicated it to their long engagement (15 months)!
The ones that stole the show were the little nieces singing Wishin' and Hopin' (from My Best Friends Wedding).  They did a darling job!
B.J. even coaxed the bride and groom up onto the stage to dance during his song 'My Girl'!
The party then moved to the backyard for dancing and dessert.  Tasha and Tim got the party rolling by breaking out their dance moves again!
 The kids thought they were in heaven with all the dancing, dessert, and tons of candy!
 Bo loved the 'kids area' and spent most of his time there.
Tasha and Tim had their official 'first dance'.
 Since Dad has passed away, Tasha decided to have Brother/Sister dance instead of a Father/Daughter dance to honor Dad.  All six of the brothers that were there took turns cutting in.  It was very sweet. Unfortunately, only one of the pictures I took of the dance turned out (Tasha and Damon).  I'm sure Dad was watching and smiling at his baby girl with her brothers.
As the party rolled on, more and more people joined in the dancing.
It was so fun watching everyone get up and dance!  YMCA was a big hit!
Tim built a Photo Booth that turned out to be a very popular attraction, especially for the kids! (They were all waiting in line for their turn!)
Sky and Taly took a few spins on the dance floor.
One of the highlights of the night was when my brother-in-law, Spencer, showed up on a horse and in a mix of Napoleon Dynamite and Old Spice commercial, offered the bride and groom some 'advice'!  What a crack up - we all had a good laugh!
Sky and I got a few dances in.  Trey came and joined us for the last dance of the evening (the picture is blurry, but it was so cute of Trey - I had to include it).
We had a great evening and Tasha and Tim were thrilled with how it turned out!  We didn't get home till after midnight.  The kids were having so much fun, they probably could have gone strong all night!

Monday, June 7, 2010

SLC Family Trip

We recently returned from a wonderful week in Salt Lake City.  We decided to take the kids up to see Grandma and Grandpa Lawrence (they are there for May and June for training before they leave for Russia).  We also wanted to show the kids some Church history and Utah history.

(This post is going to be a little lengthy, since I tend to take far too many pictures - Sky calls me the resident 'China-man' because I always have the camera ready.  I did scale it back to just a handful or two of my favorites.)

MONDAY
We enjoyed the sights of Temple Square with Sky's parents.  The kids loved the beautiful reflection ponds and water fountains.
We toured the visitor centers and enjoyed the different exhibits.
The boys enjoyed looking up their family history.
Everyone loved having Grandma and Grandpa around!
Later that day, we headed out to the Gateway Shopping Center and let the kids play in the splash pad.


The kids had a great time and we made sure to hit the splash pad again before the week was done!








TUESDAY
We headed up the street to tour the State Capital building.  The kids liked the architecture and the 'rooms where they pass laws'.  Hopefully they learned a little, too!

Later that day, we drove down to Provo so Taly and I could stop in and see my sister, Kiarah, who was about to have her first baby!
She was in great spirits, and Samuel was born later on that evening with no complications!

We left Provo and headed up the road to Midway for the night.  What beautiful scenery that part of Utah has!

WEDNESDAY

We spent the morning in Midway and Park City, enjoying the views and doing some shopping. (I don't have a single picture from Wednesday's activities - what a slacker!)  Later on we went back to SLC and toured the Church office building. Some of the kids were a little nervous to go to the top of such a high building, but they loved the view when we got there!  We spent the evening at Grandma and Grandpa's apartment.  Grandpa had to leave on assignment the next day, so we all said our goodbyes to him.

THURSDAY
We headed back down to Provo to spend the day at Seven Peaks Water Park.  The kids loved every minute of it, and we all got our share of sun! (My back still resembles a lobster!)


Sky and Mack even took time for a nap!

FRIDAY
Once again we went down to Provo to go see Kiarah's new baby Samuel and to take Skyler's Mom to attend a wedding.  The kids all took turns holding the baby.  I always forget how tiny they are when they are first born - they grow so fast!
We then spent some time at the BYU Bookstore (always one of the kids favorite places!) and later headed back up to SLC and spent the evening at Grandma's. We knew this would be our last night with her, and the kids were all sad to say goodbye!

SATURDAY
We left SLC and took the extra long scenic route home.  We left around 8:30 in the morning and didn't get home to St. George until 6:30 that evening!  We went and saw the Great Salt Lake, through Tooele, passed by Utah lake, took the back roads through beautiful Utah and finally stopped and let the kids out to relax at the Manti Temple.
The kids and Sky all went down a large hill to find some shade.  I was the last to get down there and when I did, this is what I found....
As beautiful as the drive was, everyone was glad to be out of the car!
We headed back down the road and made a stop at Cove Fort.  We have passed by it so many times, we decided it was finally time to take the tour!
We loved seeing the way people lived back then and hearing the stories the tour guides told!  We sure have it easy!
Finally we made it home!  What a great week - I love spending time with my family!  There's nothing I'd rather do!