A Wedding and Tulips

We ended our April with a busy weekend. Friday evening we celebrated Joseph's cousin Andrew and his fiancee Sarah at a beautiful wedding dinner at the Salt Lake Country Club. I cannot help but remember all my old memories of that place like swim meets, Sunday evening rollerblading, and endless night time escapades from Megan McCullough's backyard onto the golf course. Sometimes it's fun to be in the old Sugarhouse hood :) 

And the night was wonderful! I was very excited to have a night out with my hubby, to meet Bob's new girlfriend, and to hang out with the great Adams' family. Joseph is making Andrew and Sarah's wedding video so he was filming all the speeches for a good chunk of the night. Meant I got lots of time to chat with Mary (the new GF) and get to know her better—I've decided she and Bob are a darling fit and I'm delighted they found each other in old Chicago. They both seem genuinely happy together which I love. Plus they're just cute and in love...I feel like I remember those days so well and they are amazing and so fun!

 

LeBaron cheesers 

 Adams: Preston and Catherine, Andrew and Sarah, John and Lisa, Abigail and Scott

 More LeBaron cheesiness—why can't we just take normal pics?

Saturday was mostly really busy because Joseph was gone filming the couple for their wedding in the Manti temple. He left at about 8 Saturday morning and we didn't see him again until about 3:30. Because it was a perfectly beautiful 70 degree day, I took the kiddos down to the Tulip Festival. Yes, a million people were there but we are Thanksgiving Point members and got in free so I didn't feel like it was a huge deal. We can go back anytime to roam and run without crowds but the tulips really are so stunning and it's tricky to get a pretty day around here during the tulip festival! We made the short trip (thank you Mountain View Corridor!) enjoyed the glorious sun and blooms and green grass, and made it back to put Luke down for a nap and for my trusty babysitter to come over so I could go for a good, hard bike ride. I just have to get out and sweat on my bike on such pretty days!

 our totally posed "secret garden" picture

These umbrellas were being sold by a vendor in the gardens and my girls were dying over them. I caved and bought them (only $5 each) and they ended up shading my ladies so nicely!

Once Joseph was home our whole family got dressed up and ready and headed down to Trolley for the reception. We didn't last too long there, maybe 90 minutes total but it was a lovely party and fun to see wonderful friends who happen to be neighbors and cousins with Andrew too (Ramsey Warner  and Jane (Warner) Pahnke, Liz and Steve Warner, and the Cooks and other families I grew up with).

I am excited for Andrew and Sarah and their new marriage. I met Andrew when he was just a kid (12 I think!) and he's always been a crazy, cool, funny, outgoing and really good boy. He reminds me a lot of my little brother—they used to be very similar (and were even kind of friends for a while) and are now worlds apart. I have a tender spot for the friendship I have with Andrew though, and it makes me hopeful that one day, maybe really far down the road, I could have that again with my own brother. Anyway, it's been cool to see all these cousins who were so small when I married Joseph growing up and finding such awesome people to marry over the past few years. And we still have 2 more Adams' cousins wedding this spring!