Well, it's official. We're MARRIED!!! There for a while it didn't seem like the day would ever come when we'd finally be married. And here we are, almost two weeks after the day. Sorry it's taken so long for me to update! We have been busy!
THE ENDOWMENTI took out my endowments at the Rexburg temple the day before the wedding (Friday) and was able to have both my brothers and their wives, both my parents, Malone's parents, and Aunt Paula and Uncle Varr Snedaker there. As everyone who had been through endowments knows the first time is overwhelming. This is true and there was alot of bizaar things I didn't understand completely. I think the one thing that touched me the most was just seeing my family and my soon-to-be companion there. I was calm most of the time but seeing my family and their smiling faces made me choke up a few times. Everything went relatively smooth. I loved having Malone there. I was so glad that we had that opportunity to be together for certain parts of the session. It was truly amazing.
THE SEALINGSaturday, August 23, Malone and I were officially married at 11 am in the Rexburg Temple. Everything went perfectly. We had alot of friends and family there for the sealing and it took all the strength I had to not cry with joy at seeing them there. Let's just say I concentrated very hard on the sealer, who was Malone
's grandfather. Having his grandpa marry us was definately very special. It was amazing to have everyone there supporting us. After the sealing, my mom helped me get organized and ready for the "exiting of the temple" thing and for pictures. She was a really great help. I could tell that she was really stressed trying to make sure everything was perfect for us. This will sound bad, but I was glad it was her and not me! I was perfectly calm and excited. But I think that she would rather it be that way. Thank you,M
om, for everything!! You are one really really amazing woman. She really was one serious miracle worker of the whole "production". She made the phone calls, she organized the reception, she rented the stuff, she (with the help of many others) set everything up, she and Dad paid for just about everyth
ing. I am really truly grateful for my and Malone's parents for everything they did to make this wedding wonderful. And thanks to everyone else who helped out! You're amazing! We are truly truly grateful.
Anywho, so Malone and I, being giddy and excited, exited the temple. It was probably the first time I ever felt like a movie star! There were thousands of cameras, and people smiling at us. It was so much fun! We took about an hour out on the lawn of the temple with the photographer and got pictures with everyone that was at the temple and in the sealing. Lots and lots of pictures people! I think total there were about 450 pictures for the whole wedding. That's what I'm told anyway. After pictures out on the lawn, Malone, my mom, Deidra, and I all said goodbye to friends and family while we all went down to the gardens for more pictures. By this time, Malone and I were exhausted and starving! I'd been up since about 5 am, and Malone probably about as early. We spent about 45 minutes or so at the gardens at BYUI and finally left to get ready for the luncheon.
LUNCHEONIt was fun seeing everyone at the luncheon. The luncheon was held in the Garfield church at about 2 pm. The tables were decorated beautifully, the decor was amazing, and the backdrop was beautiful. I really felt spoiled! Beverly, Malone's mom, did a great job ordering food. There was a pretty good variety and plenty for everyone. I invited a couple more friends to the luncheon and it was great seeing them too. Malone and I got a little of everthing between the two of us and ended up eating off eachother's plates alot. My dad said a few very touching words about Malone and I that I wish I had written down! Beverly said some loving words as well. Malone also said a few words, and at that point I wished I wasn't nervous or else I would have said a few things too.
THE RECEPTIONAfter the luncheon, Malone and I had a couple hours to run home and pack for the Honeymoon... which I never got around to packing for until then. Malone took a cat nap on my bed while I packed. Eventually we made it back in time for the reception at the same place we held the luncheon. By then the room was completely changed around so that it was ready for guests. Everything looked so beautiful. It was just as I had imagined. We got more pictures of Malone and I and the whole family with the backdrop. We had the ladies from Broulims bring the wedding cake, the florist decorating the cake, and a few ladies from the ward and my family preparing fo
od for the reception in the kitchen.
Speaking of the cake, here's a funny story. I'll try to keep this short because this blog is LONG. We ordered a cake from Broulims. It was simple yet elegent! We ordered two of the layers as styrofoam and one real. We ended up with three real and what ended up being a completely tilting cake! No one is sure what happened, but I think the "architecture" of the cake wasn't stable. So it tilted most of the night. Sometimes to the point it looked like it'd fall over. A little embarassing, but funny! The cake was delicious though. It had buttercream frosting and a chocolate/vanilla swirl inside. Mmmm!
The reception went well. Alot of people came!! It was fun seeing everyone and meeing lots of people. However, standing in one place that long was tiring. By the end of the night Malone and I were even more exhausted than before. However, we were excited to take off on our honeymoon. I think that's what really got us through! Eventually we cut the cake, did the garder thing, threw the bouquet (in which my best friend Deidra caught!), and we got ready to leave. Previously Malone grabbed his knife in case his car got saran wrapped. Just so happened that it was. And there were oreos all over it too. e had forgotten to lock his car, and the car was completely filled with balloons. It was completely fun! We said our goodbyes and we took off on our own. Finally after months of not being able to really "be alone", we were ALONE.
THE HONEYMOONWe spent the first night at Destinations Inn in Idaho Falls (in the Rio De Janeiro room), and took off for Utah the next morning. We spent all day Sunday sleeping and watching movies... which was nice. Malone hasn't really had much of a "vacation" since... probably before his mission. And I needed a vacation from all that wedding planning! So just relaxing and doing nothing was great! Monday we had originally decided to go to Lagoon, but those plans got messed up. So we decided to do some school clothes shopping! That was pretty much all we did that day and went back to the hotel and hung out some more. Tuesday we hooked up with Malone's brother's family and went boating. It was really windy that day so the water was extremely choppy. No wakeboarding unfortunately. So we just tubed. Tubing was exciting since every wave we hit we would catch air! Pretty dang fun! We were soo sore the next day though. That night we spent the night at his brother's house and left for home the next morning.
For the rest of our honeymoon, we opened wedding presents and moved in. Romantic eh?
We are finally pretty much completely moved in now. It's so nice to have a place of our own. I remember the first night we were moved in I sat there and was almost in tears because I was so happy, and grateful. Happy moving in was over, AND grateful to all of our friends and family who provided us with such a good start. We had lots of money, gift cards, and tons of beautiful gifts, and not to mention food! It was overwhelming to see how blessed we are to have such a good start. Thank you everyone who has given us so much support and love. We have truly felt your love and are so incredibly grateful. We are excited to have this great start, and thanks to you we have things to start out with. Thanks everyone! I have more to tell you, but I'll keep this strictly "wedding stuff" for now. Keep you posted! Peace out!
