The thought of having to attend a wedding in the middle of December was a bit daunting, but considering who the couple was, it was exciting too. Louis and his fiance Brielle were getting married Saturday December 17 in the St. George, Ut temple. We spent the first half of December preparing for the trip. Getting the cars ready and Christmas ready and us ready! I was able to contact a friend of mine who lives in St. George and she graciously agreed to let us stay with her for a couple of nights. SO nice!!
We left the early morning hours of Thursday December 15. I always like to leave early so we get a good start under our belts before the kids are awake and hungry. We made it all the way to Tehachapi, about 4+ hours down the road. Scott and I had agreed we’d stop here because I lived there once in my childhood and thought it would be fun to see if I could find my old house and see how the town had changed. It had changed a lot and so had my old house!! It was fun to find and see a few things and then we found a park and decided that would be a good place to have breakfast.
Ok, so being almost 5000 feet up and it being December, it never occurred to me that it might be FREEZING outside. Especially since the sun was shinning and there was no snow on the ground. Anyway, the kids, and Scott, were very amiable and we ate our COLD cereal in about 30 degree weather. Everyone was freezing but that didn’t slow the kids down too much. They had fun running and exploring and playing. But we all sure did appreciate getting back into the warmth of the car!!
[Is this not the coolest thing?? A park with more than 2 swings!! There are actually enough swings for all my kids to swing at the same time. That has never happened before. I HAD to get a picture!]
[It was REALLY cold!!]
Our next stop was going to be Las Vegas. About another 4 hours down the road. Since we needed to stop there anyway, and the reality of getting to visit with the married couple the wedding day was probably slim, Scott contacted his brother to see if they were available to say hi. Fortunately it all worked out and we met Brielle and Louis at a park near Brielle’s home (well, the last day of being her home). We had so much fun visiting with them and enjoying their company. Both of them looked very excited for the upcoming weekend and we were grateful they met with us even though they had a busy weekend ahead.
[Alix wanted everyone to help her get a HUGE pile of leaves. She had a hard time convincing people but before you knew it….]
[A pile of leaves is not as soft as it appears… Just ask Scott!]
After our relaxing and somewhat warmer stop, we got back in the van and headed for St. George. We pulled in about 6pm Utah time. It was such a fun reunion with Kari. She was one of my favorite people when we were in high school and getting to spend time with her again reminded me why. She is just so kind hearted and easy going. It was so nice of her to open her home to our big family during the holidays. Happily the kids found each other and played their hearts out for 2 days. The kids matched up in ages pretty well and had a good time. Milo and Ezra (Kari’s oldest) were two peas in a pod. Couldn’t separate those two for long. While Ezra was at school on Friday Milo just moped around. After Ezra got home I exclaimed ‘Ezra we are so happy to see you, Milo has been miserable all morning.’ Ezra replied ‘Me too, let’s go play Milo!’
[VERY fun zip line. Alix LOVED it. She spent most of her time there. The other kids tried it once and were done!]
[Alix liked the rope bridge too. Niah tried it and that was the end of her curiosity. She didn’t like it one bit!]
Friday morning Scott took Jaime to do some baptisms in the St. George Temple. What an amazing opportunity for both of them. They not only got some needed daddy/daughter time, but Jaime got to visit another temple. 2 temples down, a hundred and something more to go!! :o)
Friday afternoon Jaime and Alix went with Scott to help decorate the church for the after wedding luncheon. Because of some scheduling difficulty they were not able to decorate but they did go out to dinner with his family and then Jaime went on a shopping spree with her cousins while Scott and Alix ventured home. I stayed at Kari’s house and watched her kids for her so they could go to TJ’s Christmas get together. I was glad to help her out and I think the kids enjoyed the extra play time!
[This little guy was so cute and fun to play with.]
[Instant friends!]
[Making bows for the girls’ hair for the wedding.]
[Such a ham!!]
Friday night after all the adults reunited and all the kids were in bed, the adults stayed up a wee bit too late for some play time. Kari and I looked at some old pictures from high school. Then we joined the guys and watched some Kid History and Brian Reagan. Then we adjourned to the table for a game. All in all a VERY fun evening. As we were saying out good nights and figuring out how the morning was going to go, Kari and TJ offered to get our kids ready and bring them to the temple after the sealing. Heck Ya!! I was so grateful for the offer and it made the morning go so nice for Scott and I. Not sure how it went for Kari since we weren’t there, but it was sure a peaceful morning for us!
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