Skip to main content

How Was The Wedding?

 Ricky and Avery got married in Gilbert, Arizona on August 14.

Now that we have travelled across the country and back, and the kids are settling into back-to-school routines, people have been asking, "How was the wedding?"

My honest answer: "More fun than I thought it would be." Don't take this negatively. Weddings are meant to be a celebration, but no party simply happens without intentional, thoughtful planning. Of course, some details fall through the cracks, mishaps occur, and some things don't go according to plan, but that's due to the size of the task. Family and friends need to be invited (don't forget anybody!), food and decorations are organized (is it what we want?), and travel arrangements are made (how many cancellations and delays can we endure?). All kinds of topics are addressed: photography, flowers, weather, technology, coordinating formalwear, gifts, paperwork, time. All of these float around in our brains and seek assessment, calibration, and recalibration. It's a lot. Oh, and remember to have fun and enjoy meeting new family and friends while connecting with your current cherished people!

So, the whole event was "More fun than I thought it would be," and that's excellent news because when there's a lot to think about, there's a lot that could go wrong. No large family event is complete without a few hiccups. Ours were mostly due to challenging travel and wardrobe mishaps--but throughout the adventure, I felt incredibly grateful for all the goodness that surrounded me and the newlyweds-to-be.

We traveled in groups. Rick came from work conferences and met Sean and Ricky in Salt Lake City for a drive down to Arizona. I took Andrew, Brooklyn, and Gavin on a journey that lasted longer than we wanted.



We flew into different airports at different times, but we all ended up at the lovely rental house Rick arranged for us.

The pool was a hit.








We celebrated Gavin's 11th birthday with homemade pizzas and ice cream cake.




We pulled off an excellent rehearsal dinner that evening.




Poor sleepy Hudson. He was such a trooper that night, and the tests of his endurance continued the next day in the hot, hot Arizona sun.






We very much enjoyed having our whole family together, along with close friends. Ricky and Avery are a lovely couple, and they have such a bright future.






















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Back To School Meanies

 Letter From the Nest August 15, 2025 https://open.substack.com/pub/lettersfromthenest/p/back-to-school?r=48qui&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web One August, more than twenty years ago, at an evening book club discussion, my “older” friends (now I look back and know those women were the age I am now), were discussing the woes and triumphs of back-to-school season. One woman was anticipating her youngest child’s senior year of high school. She said, “For more than two decades, our lives have revolved around the school district’s academic calendar. I don’t know how I will plan my life without knowing about school breaks or holidays.” I remember her bittersweet tone as she anticipated freedom from school schedule constraints but also mourned how those constraints guided her choices. What would she do? Other women joined the discussion, wondering if their kids would have good teachers, if they’d be able to balance volunteering in the classroom, how to streamline school supply pu...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Legacy Stinks

 Letters from the Nest https://lettersfromthenest.substack.com/p/my-legacy-stinks Lately, I have been asking you, “What will you do to make Sunday special?” This is me encouraging you in your worship without giving you a prescribed list of things to do. One thing I do differently on Sundays is that I read a Sunday book that’s “different” than the fiction I read during the week. Usually, it’s a religious book, but sometimes it’s an inspiring biography or narrative nonfiction with an uplifting theme. My Sunday book for the past few months has been “Both Things Are True,” by Kate Holbrook. This collection of essays explores a range of topics, including faith, forgiveness, women’s roles, trials, history, and more. Each chapter contains a dichotomy that fuels the discussion. For example, the chapter on forgiveness explores both the concepts of forgetting and remembering. Last Sunday, I began reading the chapter entitled "The Weight of Legacy," in which she discusses the dichotomy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lyme Disease??

Let me just preface this by saying that I am soooo grateful for good health insurance. I have been to the Dr. for the kids lately so often, that I am embarrassed that they recognize our family when we walk in the door. So, here's Ricky's story. A couple of weeks ago he was extremely sick. He had a fever for over a week, complained that he couldn't move his legs, and ended up with an awful looking rash all over his body. We went to the Dr. 2 times for this. The first time, she said, it was a virus and it should run its course. When Ricky was getting worse, instead of better, we took him back in to a quick clinic where the nurse diagnosed him with strep (even though the short test was negative). Well, after a priesthood blessing and antibiotics (which we discovered later that he didn't even need to take--and in fact they may have made him feel worse), he got better. Then, last week, I discovered a new, crazy rash on his legs which continued to grow, turn purple on the in...
5 comments
Read more