(June 6, 2014)
I remember so many details about my wedding. I remember the
months I spent hand making all of our announcements, my ridiculously expensive dress, the fact
that my mom spent weeks preparing what would be known by many as the best
reception food on the planet, the chocolate fountain, the elegance of our cake,
the ice sculpture, my bouquet with dozens of the most beautiful bright roses,
capturing a glimpse of my husband walk down the hall in his tux and the tears
falling down my cheeks because I knew that I was supposed to marry him, my dad
walking me down the aisle and that pesky fly during the ceremony, dancing,
being surrounded by people we love, Dustin’s Grandma banging her silverware
against her glass endless times at the luncheon signaling a cue for us to kiss,
the advice from my Grandfather, being
surrounded by people who loved us and their efforts to make the day special for
us , there was no budget, my parents simply wanted me to be happy. I got everything I wanted. I remember Dustin had to shove the tulle of
my dress in the car and it filled practically the entire front seat, the way he
picked me up and carried me over the threshold, our tropical honeymoon to the
Bahamas. We were tan from spending so many long hot days in the sun building
our home, the home that would witness our first Christmas, the home that would
provide shelter for our infant children, the home that echoed laughter, the
house that love built, but also the home whose floors soaked in so many of our
salty tears, the home whose walls stood strong when at times they were the only
thing standing. That home also witnessed
heart ache, pain, fear and forgiveness.
That’s where the advice from my Grandfather comes in, “Don’t walk in
front of me, don’t walk behind me, just walk besides me and be my friend.”
Our lives together haven’t always been perfect. We have both made mistakes. There have been times (multiple times) that
we honestly did not know if we were going to make it, but through all of the
mountains that we have had to climb, we have done it together. Bottom line, we are best friends. We have a tremendous amount of love and
respect for each other, far more than you will find in the average
marriage. We are patient. We forgive.
And we have let God be a part of our marriage.
It’s hard to believe that yesterday marked our 10 year
wedding anniversary. That’s a huge
milestone considering the fact that 50% of marriages end in divorce. If your parents are divorced you are at least
40% more likely to get divorced than if they weren’t. If you have a daughter you are 5% more likely to divorce than if you
had a son.
We dreamed and talked of spending our 10 year anniversary on
the beaches of Hawaii, our favorite place in the whole world. It’s beautiful! We love it!
And we have been wanting to take our kids there since the first time we
went. We dream of beautiful hikes,
exploring sea creatures, snorkeling and white sandy beaches, but… we have some
other financial goals that just didn’t leave it in the budget, aka trying to
pay our mortgage off nearly leaves us feeling robbed every month.
What’s better than spending your anniversary in
Paradise? Spending Eternity in
Paradise. We decided to be sealed on our
10 year wedding anniversary. This has
been a long time coming. Our children
LOVE the temple! Years ago we would
drive by and Brinley would beg us to go inside.
When we told her we couldn’t she
asked us to go to the bishop and get a “ticket” so we could go inside. They love to visit the temple grounds. Who doesn’t?
I don’t care what religion you are, you can’t not love the beauty and
atmosphere of the LDS temple grounds.
There is just nothing quite like it.
The girls were thrilled to wear their white dresses. They felt like princesses! We borrowed their dresses and when they tried
them on they didn’t want to take them off.
Brinley begged, “please Mom, just one more minute!”
It was a beautiful day, inside and out. It was a great experience and if I’m being
honest, far greater than I had expected.
My Mom has really been struggling and honestly didn’t think
she would be able to make it, but being the rock that she is, she has fought
and pushed far beyond what most people would and she was able to make it. I know it was hard for her. I feel bad for putting her through all of
that, but I know it was important to her and as much as I tried not to let her
know it, it was equally important to me.
Paul Johnson from the quorum of the seventy was our
sealer. They used to live in Paradise, I
used to spend a lot of time at their house, my Mom is great friends with his
wife so I was really glad they offered to do our sealing. He had a great spirit about him, I guess it’s
hard not to when you work daily with the Prophet of God.
When the ceremony was over London said, “Mom, are you maweed
(married) now?”
Curtis and Whitney drove FOREVER from Alabama so they could
be here. It meant so much to us. We appreciated them leaving early to be here
with us.
Afterwards we threw a little party for ourselves with just a
few of the people we love most. It was
impossible to invite everyone who is important to us or who have touched our
lives, but we were able to spend the
evening with some of our favorite people.
My Grandma is the sweetest person ever. We asked her to make a cake. She loves Dustin and tends to cater to him a
bit so when he asked her to make a big one she made two. We appreciated so much the time and effort
she put into it. My cute little Grandma
walked around the corner with a white cake, resembling a wedding cake with the
cake topper from her and my Grandpa’s wedding.
It was the cutest thing ever.
Later than night we cut it together, just like we did 10 years prior. Only with two little girls to share the joy
with us this time.
When we asked Brinley about her day she said she just
couldn’t stop smiling (and she couldn’t).
She said she was nervous because of all of the people watching her, but
she was so happy that she wanted to cry.
She just kept expressing over and over how happy she was! I really don’t know why this has been so
important to her at such a young age. It
doesn’t come from me. This isn’t
something I have pushed on her. If
anything she pushes me. I’m thankful for
her, for her sweet spirit, for her desire to do good and for the influence she
has on me to get me where I need to be.
(Big thanks to Marilyn for taking some pictures for us, I'm sad we didn't get a picture with her).
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