My baby brother is married. I can't believe it. And I am so, so SO excited to have Jenna as a sister. These two have the cutest story. Jenna's mom and our mom have known each other and been close friends since college - they were roommates!
When my mom immigrated to this country, Jenna's grandmother kind of took my mom under her wing, welcoming her into the family. The moms have stayed very close through the years and our two families have been taking trips and spending holidays together for years. So you can imagine that it came as quite a shock when AJ and Jenna started dating last year. At first the moms were nervous because they thought a break up would lead to potential awkwardness. I'm pretty sure these two considered that and just didn't see the relationship ending. And they were right.
So this was truly a huge celebration, two families that were pretty much already family becoming one family "officially."
The sealing was absolutely amazing. I ended up sitting directly behind Jenna at the altar so I had a straight on view of AJ's face through the sealing and jeez. The way they look at each other... I just could not stop crying. They are so in love and the spirit in the room was incredible. My dad kept looking at me like "Get it together!" and I just couldn't. It was too sweet.
Formal pictures were a little rough. There were a record 27 weddings at the San Diego temple that day and the grounds were so busy you could hardly walk. Not to mention it was the hottest day San Diego has had all year and it was sooooo sunny and hot for pictures at 1 p.m. Forgive all the squinting. (Credit for the gorgeous photos goes to the amazing John Fahrnkopf)
Emma absolutely adores her new Aunt Jenna (and her uncle AJ of course).
This pic totally cracks me up. "I... I don't know what to do with my hands..."
Ah, but he's got his muscles. That's true love.
My cute grandmother (who just celebrated her 80th birthday!) drove all the way from Utah for the wedding.
Oh, Jenna. You realize what you married into, right?
Seriously. Look at that look.
This truly captures them.
By the time we got to the reception, we were all ready to cut loose. My parents hosted this wedding and it was completely beautiful and perfect. Jenna's mom did all the flowers (aren't they gorgeous? She is so talented) and a family friend did the Ah-Mazing cake. I am not even going to tell you how much of that cake I ate (spoiler alert: it was a ton). And we danced all. night. long.
Watching their first dance really drives home just how perfect these two are for each other.
She pretty much stuck by grandma's side all night.
Oh, my crazy brothers.
This group knows how to party.
We got my whole family - my grandma carol, all my aunts and uncles, my mom, my brothers, even Hans! - out on the dance floor in a big circle around Em. She absolutely loved it.
I mean... seriously.
Congratulations to the beautiful couple! We couldn't be happier for you and loved being there to celebrate with you.
I'm back from my self-imposed blogging hiatus because I just have to share the most amazing trip we just had. Last week, my youngest brother married his sweetheart in the San Diego Temple (more on that later!) and we took the opportunity to have a wonderful little family vacation!
We got into San Diego Wednesday night, but my dad had plans for us Thursday morning! We met up with my aunt (his sister Lisa) and her family to go paddle boarding on Mission Bay. I've never been paddle boarding before, but really enjoyed it! I definitely want to do it again. It was a good work out and a lot of fun.
When my dad first told me about his plan, I was pretty skeptical about letting my toddler ride on a board with him. But with her beloved puddle jumper, this kid had no fear and it would have been nearly impossible to keep her off. She made herself queen of every single person's board.
At first, she wasn't having it. She didn't like the sand touching her haha
But she got used to it! Doesn't she look like she belongs on the beach??
I had a couple minutes tonight so I thought I'd do a photo dump of our wonderful Fourth of July weekend! We had such a great time. It's my godbrother's favorite holiday and I think I am starting to see why.
Friday night we went to watch a special holiday performance of the Houston Symphony at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. This was such a special thing to go to for me. My parents used to take my brothers and I to it every year growing up. I think the first time I went was probably 20 years ago. It's one of my favorite childhood memories and it was so fun to be able to share that with my own sweet girl.
She was really in to it! She absolutely loved the music.
She was getting down the whole night.
Cute little friends enjoying the show.
It ends with the 1812 Overture during which they shoot off old canons in time with the music. Emma looked really scared but when I looked down I noticed she was signing for "more" in her lap. I guess she liked it!
The next morning we headed over to my godparents' new community pool. It's absolutely amazing! A little mini schlitterbahn. Em was in heaven and we spent three hours there. I thought we'd never get her out.
Always on her stomach. I don't know why!
What is it about these little flags? She absolutely loved playing with it!
Of course, we had to have a little backyard dance party. Ryan's got moves like you wouldn't believe.
Aw, they love each other.
Why is it so hard to get two kids to smile at once?
Just a little throwback fun here... their first fourth of July two years ago. My goodness how they have changed.
And off to ice cream! This kid is addicted (Emma is, too)
The Woodlands moved their fireworks this year and I didn't love it. We couldn't figure out where to go to watch them and ended up in a church parking lot. Even after the sun went down, the pavement was radiating heat and Emma couldn't really run around and play because of all the cars. Still, it was an amazing show and we really loved it.
At first she seemed a little scared, but then she got really into it and every time one went off she'd say "Oh my goodness!" She said it so many times everyone around us was cracking it.
She got super cuddly (because of the noise I think) - but hey! I'll take it.
Happy Birthday, America! Thanks for the great celebration.
It seems like a person's relationship with summer goes up and down with age. As a kid, summer meant no school and nothing but fun. In high school, it was still a revered time, but it also meant summer jobs, practices, and college prep. It decreased a little more in college when it was often just another semester to take classes. Then entering the work force, I couldn't tell you what month it was, much less what season. Summer only meant less traffic on the way to work.
But now summer is becoming an exciting time again! The older Em gets, the more fun it is. I have so many things I want to do to with her now that the sun is shining and it's warm! I was starting to put together a little list of things I wanted to do. I planned to just jot it down and stick it to the corkboard by the door leading out to the garage. Then I thought to myself "Hey, if I'm gonna do that, I may as well make it cute!"
If you're doing a summer list, what's on it? Feel free to use this little printable to help put it all down! And feel free to add to ours.
