I am a member of a big family - I have 4 married siblings with 17 children. Roger has 5 married siblings with 21 children. Roger and I have 5 married children, 25 grandchildren and 3 greats. One of the givens in a big family is that there are going to be lots of weddings!
This spring, we attended three beautiful ones!
Roger's brother, Scott, and wife, Sherie, have 4 boys and 1 gorgeous daughter. Lexie married Shane in the Ogden Temple on April 8th.
A dinner in their honor was held at River View Ranch overlooking Weber Canyon the evening before the wedding.
It was catered by Hug-Hes Restaurant (delicious food!).
The flowers and decorations were so lovely!
Lexie was a stunning bride! What a special day we enjoyed with Roger's family in the temple, then that evening, at the reception, visiting and catching up. This was the first family event where we were all together since Roger's mom, Lois's, passing last summer.
Between the wedding and the reception, we, with all of Roger's siblings (minus the bride's parents), met at Kneaders for a quick bite and lots of friendly conversation.
Our beautiful granddaughter, Londyn, will marry Tucker on May 14 in the Gilbert Temple and Roger and I drove up north so I could attend one of her showers.
Our daughter (her aunt) Mindy, hosted the shower in her magical home in Alpine. She served Cafe Rio shredded pork salads and homemade macarons.
I adore this cute granddaughter!
Londyn wore the colors of her wedding - orange and pink!
Her mom joined in the fun with her shoes!
Roger came towards the end of the shower from Rick's in SLC and took some pics of our kids before they left. Wish we had pics of the party. Pictured are Londyn, Mom Stacy, Cousin Abby, Cousin Sadie, Grandma Pam, new Cousin Jaylene, Cousin Katie and Aunt Jodie.
Roger's sisters, Susie and Shellie, drove from Ogden to be there - they are soooo supportive of everything family. Chyrrl was out of town, or she would have been there, too!
We had to get a quick pic with our daughters before we left to drive back to St. George that night.
We got home at 1:30 AM. We left the next afternoon for Mesa so we could attend granddaughter Anna's wedding.
The Rick Stratford Girls with Londyn as they were leaving
We arrived in Mesa the next night and stayed in Stacy and Tom's home. They were at the BYU graduation to see son, Jake, graduate. Jaylene, Josh's wife, also walked. Sadie and Joe graduated from BYU last December and didn't walk. We are so very proud of these grandkids and their spouses for receiving their degrees and making their education a priority! There was no way we could physically be at Anna and Jack's Rehearsal Dinner the night before their wedding and drive to Mesa if we attended the graduations. Why do all of the good things happen at once!
Anna and Jack's Rehearsal Dinner was held outside in The Garden at Agritopia Farm. The weather was actually even a little cool that evening in Mesa - score!
Posing with Anna's sister, Becca, as we enter The Garden
Anna and Jack are talking to her former bishop and friend, Eb Rose, and our son, Ryan, is on the right.
The Honorees - Anna has Celiac Disease and Jack's mom was so thoughtful to bring her a special meal (in container) so there would be no chance of her getting sick! The Vincents are a wonderful family!
Rick, Jodie and their kids with their spouses left the BYU graduation immediately that afternoon after Jaylene walked and caught their flight to Mesa. Stacy's Maddy and Aunt Mindy are also in the pic.
Anna and Jack were married the next day at noon. There were many from both sides of the family in the temple with them and more were waiting outside to greet them after the ceremony.
Roger and I with the newlyweds
Anna's siblings and cousins who were able to attend
Anna's Stratford Grandparents and Gilbert Grandparents
A Ring Ceremony was held at 5:30 in Ryan and Emily's backyard with a reception following at 7. I took a couple of pics of their front door entrance, though the entrance to the reception was on the side of their home.
We were there a bit early and Roger took a few pics. Wish we had more, but I included this one to partially show the way the yard was laid out.
There were 10 groomsmen and 10 bridesmaids.
Unbelievably, Ryan started trying to pass a kidney stone about a half hour before the ceremony. He had worked so extremely hard getting their yard ready for the wedding. He hit a water pipe about a month ago while drilling the stakes in the ground to put up the outdoor lights. We all told him over and over during the evening when it became dark, "The lights look GREAT!" After a Priesthood blessing by his brother (we hadn't arrived yet) and a pain killer, he walked Anna down the aisle, at a bit at a slant!
The two sets of parents and Anna and Jack shared some thoughts, and there were lots of wet eyes. Ryan told us he was pain-free during the ceremony. It was a miracle!
These two make a very well-matched couple in every way!
My heart really went out to this wonderful son!
It amazes me how he manages to shine in the face of adversity!
It makes Roger and I so happy to feel of the deep love that Ryan and Emily have for each other.
Getting set up after the Ring Ceremony
Thai wraps, a variety of acai bowls, chips and salsas and Virgin drink concoctions were served.
I was so impressed with the wonderful guitarist/singer who entertained the crowd throughout the reception.
The party starting to get in full swing
Anna's brother, Peter, aka DJ Pete (he's had training), got the party rocking! Our kids and grandkids love to dance and evidently, so do all of their friends!
We first had the traditional father/daughter and mother/son dances. . .
. . . then the kids danced/jumped for well over an hour! We took more videos than pics, but DJ Pete really had them going! It was so cute to watch our kids dancing with their kids, totally uninhibited.
The cake was cut . . .
. . . then down the driveway they ran with us all lining each side and throwing paper streamers and off they drove! They both began spring semester the following Tuesday, so they'll honeymoon later in Mexico.
It was all so lovely and heart-warming, and we will be returning to Mesa in 3 weeks for Londyn's wedding! Stay tuned . . .
