Wedding Post-Op
For some reason my last blog post didn't post and even though I knew it - I didn't have time to fix that. So three weeks late for your viewing pleasure, that blog post is below.
Now we are home from Idaho. It was a good trip. About a week before we left I was not sleeping and feeling highly stressed and after some conversations with friends and a few heart to hearts with myself, I determined that I was worrying about things I had no control over and resolved that I did NOT want to remember this wedding as a super stressful experience! I wanted to be able to enjoy the day! So with that end in mind, I went back over the things I knew that *I* needed to do, updated my lists, put my processes in place, and stopped thinking so much about everything else. Prayer figured into this as well. And I stopped feeling stressed. I haven't slept great in months, but I slept better. When we got to Idaho, I had very short to-dos for each day and felt like I had time to spend with my family. On the day of the wedding things went wonderfully. We kept it as simple as we could and I think that paid off. Having friends there who offered support made a big difference. The first lesson I learned is that every mother of the bride needs a wingman - someone who is there for moral support, tackles the odd jobs, directs the traffic, etc. In this instance, for me, it was Julia - who was able to be with me for the entire day. I couldn't have done it without her!
The second thing I learned is that it is WELL worth the money to hire someone to decorate - worth it's weight again when they also do all the take-down. We left the church at 9:30 and didn't have to worry about a thing. The helpers that Janet had recruited for the food cleaned the kitchen. Friends helped load up the wedding gifts into a trailer that the Sants provided. It was quick and painless and we got to go home and relax after a very long day.
I have a cold so I've been tired the past few days. I spent the day after the wedding getting organized for our trip home. Then we spent an exhausting day in the car. And finally Friday I spent about 75% of the day in bed. Between wedding and the oncoming cold I was tired. I'm still tired but I think if I didn't have a cold I'd be feeling better. So next lesson - book some serious downtime after the event. I'm so glad we had Christmas prep finished before we left town. I was done by the 8th, had the next week to focus solely on wedding stuff, then the wedding week, and now Christmas is my down time. We are eating simple, healthy foods, watching lots of movies, and sleeping as much as we need. It's perfect.
All in all, though, I think it was a successful event and we were able to witness the creation of a new family unit in the proper place with the proper authority - which was really the only part that mattered. We look forward to getting to know and love Keaton better. I told Faith the night before the wedding that she was getting a new brother the next day. That is now one of her favorite things to say: "I have TWO brothers!" She won't remember life without Keaton in our family. Sort of interesting to think about that.
She also wondered when Brynne and Logan were getting married. I told her it would probably be awhile. ;-). Thank goodness.
Now we are home from Idaho. It was a good trip. About a week before we left I was not sleeping and feeling highly stressed and after some conversations with friends and a few heart to hearts with myself, I determined that I was worrying about things I had no control over and resolved that I did NOT want to remember this wedding as a super stressful experience! I wanted to be able to enjoy the day! So with that end in mind, I went back over the things I knew that *I* needed to do, updated my lists, put my processes in place, and stopped thinking so much about everything else. Prayer figured into this as well. And I stopped feeling stressed. I haven't slept great in months, but I slept better. When we got to Idaho, I had very short to-dos for each day and felt like I had time to spend with my family. On the day of the wedding things went wonderfully. We kept it as simple as we could and I think that paid off. Having friends there who offered support made a big difference. The first lesson I learned is that every mother of the bride needs a wingman - someone who is there for moral support, tackles the odd jobs, directs the traffic, etc. In this instance, for me, it was Julia - who was able to be with me for the entire day. I couldn't have done it without her!
The second thing I learned is that it is WELL worth the money to hire someone to decorate - worth it's weight again when they also do all the take-down. We left the church at 9:30 and didn't have to worry about a thing. The helpers that Janet had recruited for the food cleaned the kitchen. Friends helped load up the wedding gifts into a trailer that the Sants provided. It was quick and painless and we got to go home and relax after a very long day.
I have a cold so I've been tired the past few days. I spent the day after the wedding getting organized for our trip home. Then we spent an exhausting day in the car. And finally Friday I spent about 75% of the day in bed. Between wedding and the oncoming cold I was tired. I'm still tired but I think if I didn't have a cold I'd be feeling better. So next lesson - book some serious downtime after the event. I'm so glad we had Christmas prep finished before we left town. I was done by the 8th, had the next week to focus solely on wedding stuff, then the wedding week, and now Christmas is my down time. We are eating simple, healthy foods, watching lots of movies, and sleeping as much as we need. It's perfect.
All in all, though, I think it was a successful event and we were able to witness the creation of a new family unit in the proper place with the proper authority - which was really the only part that mattered. We look forward to getting to know and love Keaton better. I told Faith the night before the wedding that she was getting a new brother the next day. That is now one of her favorite things to say: "I have TWO brothers!" She won't remember life without Keaton in our family. Sort of interesting to think about that.
She also wondered when Brynne and Logan were getting married. I told her it would probably be awhile. ;-). Thank goodness.
Car packed with all Hannah's junk!
Playing in the snow on Monday - all my kids plus Keaton were out there and Josh and I loved watching them all play together!
Faith's favorite activity was to yell for Keaton and then walk into him with a pile of snow in her arms. She couldn't figure out how to throw that much so she just crashed into him with it.
For FHE that night the kids opened their Christmas jammies from Grandma Richardson.
Wedding day! On our way to the Temple after a quick stop at Jamba Juice for some nourishment!
The reception decor
Julia and I just before it starts - so grateful she was there!
The next day Hannah and Keaton stopped by before heading to SLC and decided to open some wedding gifts.
Faith with one of the few cousins on this side who is younger than her - I asked her to keep an eye on K and she tossed her arm around K's shoulder.
The happy lovebirds!
We loved being there and seeing these two start their new adventure together, especially making their start in the Temple.
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