Taylor & Lynnea's Wedding

This post might seem discombobulated (yes, that IS a word) and choppy, since I plan to put it together in between other tasks of the day, and since there are a LOT of pics to share, and for whatever reason, my computer no longer lists them in numerical order and Blogger no longer saves them from one attachment to the next...
But I'm dying to share.

(Taylor leaving the house with his marriage certificate... license... paper that should NOT be bent...)

Yes, the sky was a beautiful blue, and the weather was lovely for late December...

(Kayla, Josh and Nate)

(Austin and Britta)

(The crowd eagerly anticipating Taylor and Lynnea's exit from the temple)

(Taylor's supportive guyfriends:  Max, Michael, Jordan, Brendon and Dakota)

(Lynnea's supportive girlfriends and their supportive husbands)

(Jill - who has ties to BOTH families, Lex, Rachael, Shi, Britt and Austin)

Then, almost at the moment they came out, the weather changed.

The wind started blowing, at first intermittently, then more steadily, with an occasional fierce gust.
Before I knew it, the pictures were called.
Finished.  Done.  Over.

Bummer.  I had been visiting, and giving directions to the luncheon, and gathering items... I hadn't been taking pictures.  So I snapped a couple parting shots.

Everyone headed over to the luncheon.  A tad early.
I was a little worried, since in every conversation concerning the start time for the luncheon I was told
pictures take much longer than anticipated.
I knew it might send those awesome ladies helping me into a panic.

We had some appetizers and mingled for a good hour-and-a-half upstairs...

...and my friends setting up had an audience, which I'm sure they loved.

Thanks to Pinterest (and Steph), I had the cutest cheesecake display ever.

After the luncheon, we all headed to The Barn, where the reception was.  Nice and cozy inside (with the wind wailing outside the walls), we took more pictures.

(Can you spot the three people who know Austin's taking a picture? And the one who was ready?  Don't worry, I have at least a half-hundred pictures of me from the evening with my eyes closed.)

A big thank you to whoever nabbed my camera and snapped some photos for me!

I was thrilled to have so many of my family there.  Brian and Robyn arrived a short time later -- I wish they could have been there for the pictures.

Here's the one shot I got:

After cake.

Bouquet toss.

Bouquet grab.

(Lauren, Mauri, and the lucky bouquet grabber, Hannah)

The boutonniere toss (the perfect solution to a MIA garter).  Poor Chase -- he didn't stand a chance.

Lynnea's dance with her dad.

Lynnea's dance with Taylor.

Dakota (the boutonniere-toss winner) asked Hannah for a dance.  What a gentleman.  Hannah guessed he was a much older man, but said they had a nice conversation.

I encouraged Mar and her cousin Kade to dance -- they were both perhaps a little awkward, but they were such a cute pair.

(Rachael, Shi, Taylor, Lynnea, and Lex.  We are fam-i-ly...)

When they were getting ready to leave, Taylor wanted to change into his suit so we could return his tux the next day, but Bill said he didn't have it.  Luckily Taylor had SOME clothes to change into, however they looked a little casual next to beautiful bride Lynnea.  AND he had to borrow his cousin Hunter's shoes.  Nice exit.  After we had finished helping clean up, as we were loading up our car, Bill realized that he had Taylor's suit all along.  Rats.

And they were off!

It was such a wonderful day, and I feel so grateful that Taylor married such an amazing girl.
Now they are on their own... in Las Vegas, while Lynnea does her student teaching.  It was great to see them this past weekend at my nephew Josh's wedding... to see that they were healthy... happy... managing their stresses so well (like not having hot water for the entire first week there.... yikes!).

Love you guys.

I'm Baaack

Perhaps not necessarily back to regular blogging, since I'm still swamped, but back in town.  Back to routine (or not).  Back to schedules.  Back to wedding planning.

But I couldn't pass up the chance to wish my youngest darling, patient, long-suffering daughter a happy birthday.  She spent the majority of it in a car.  But she DID have her birthday present to keep her occupied.  In between all the wedding hoopla on Saturday, Bill took her to purchase it - the one true desire of her heart - an ipod touch (a big thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Syddall for helping to make the birthday-budget-busting request a reality).

This is just a sampling of how she passed the long 8-hour drive home:

That girl has skills.

When we arrived home, Lauren and Chase brought her these:

Perfect.

We lit candles, sang, then Mar unwrapped our Christmas gifts from the cousins (since it WAS her birthday, and since she didn't get to unwrap any birthday gifts...but she wasn't complaining...). 

Of course, they were the perfect gifts.  I can't figure out how my sister could purchase a Christmas gift for our family, make a customized gift tag, wrap it in the most stylish way, AND pull off a wedding (AFTER helping me pull off mine!).  She's got skills, too.  I'm feeling a bit skill-less at the moment.

My only proven skill of the day?

Melting a Milk Dud with my behind.

Of course, it happened during the first half of the trip, necessitating a coat wrapped around my waist at the midway potty break.  Like I said, skill.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAURI!

Appreciate this, the last official year of childhood.

Your last year in Primary.

Your last year in Elementary School.

(I'm starting to feel a tad melancholy... to be pronounced me-lahn-koly)

We love you!

Preview

Yesterday Taylor checked my blog and said, "You haven't posted much lately, have you Mom."  Nope.  Things have been super crazy around here the past couple of weeks.  And I have been putting first things first, although I have to admit to an occasional craving to sit at a computer and NOT order something for Christmas or a wedding.  Just to browse Pinterest.  Read a blog or two.  Post a few pics of my own.

Since I have 10 minutes before I have to pick Shi up from school to take her to an ortho appointment, I figured I could squeeze in a couple preview pictures of our latest big occasion.

There's so much to tell, so little time.  It will have to wait.

Here was Taylor and Lynnea this morning, packed and ready for their move to Las Vegas:

Lynnea is recovering from a nasty bout of food poisoning.  I sent a make-shift barf bag for her, just in case.

What's a mother-in-law for?

Gotta run.