Darta's Wedding

Dartagnan & Litha are getting married!! They picked the Manti Temple to get married in and what a beautiful place. I remember always going there for the Pagent but I was never able to go into the temple. I have been all over the temple grounds and it is a beautiful place, course all temples are. Darta was so nervous I thought he was going to puke. We were sitting in the waiting room and a friend went to check on him and said he was ok just very nervous. The Ceremony was beautiful and the Happy Couple seemed relieved to have it over with.

This is her beautiful bouquet thanks to Lynne Shumway. She did a wonderful job!!

They came out of the temple as Mr. and Mrs Gomes so Happy!!

We went out on the Temple grounds to get some pictures. It was really cold and the wind was starting to kick up. We knew we only had minutes to get some pictures taken.

The new Happy Couple.

They had a lot of friends and family come out to support them on this Happy cold day.

Litha was especially happy to have her Monticello parents there.

We had about 15 minutes and then the wind came in and shortly after that it started to snow. It was a very small window to get some pictures done but I think we did a pretty good job. It was a wonderful day to celebrate their marriage even in the harsh elements. I am so happy we could be apart of their wedding and to have them both in our lives. We Love you Darta and Litha and we congratulate you on your happy lives together!!

Easter

So it is Easter weekend and some of my family had decided that it had been to long since they had visited us. Gary & Nancy and their family came down to see us and we wanted to go out hiking. We took them to Natural Bridges Park. It was a beautiful day for hiking a little cool but once we got moving it was perfect. We hiked down to some of the arches and some we just went to their look-out points because of time. Brittany had to work that evening and we wanted her to come hiking with us so we cut some time off of some of the hikes to get her back in time. It was a very easy hike more like a stroll but beautiful none the less. I have missed my family and I was very excited they came down to spend the weekend with us. I apologize there will be quite a few pictures in this blog. I wanted to get everyone in for the entire weekend. We also have more family coming later which I will address later. So our hike begins Yeah!!

I think this is Alec's signature pose. As I looked back through some of our family reunion pictures I have him doing this pose many many times It is awesome.

Jeremy looking out at the arch. We were all happy to get out of the house for a bit.

Brittany & Tianna posing.

Jeremy was trying to hold onto this rock, I may or may not have taken a little long taking the picture just to see how long he could hold on.

Alec showing us how it was done back in the day.

Tanner holding up the rock.

Poser, LOVE IT!!

We found some very interesting trees and flowers. I had no idea that pine trees flowered like this it was a very pink color on top of the green. Very pretty!!

There were some cool caverns that we found. We talked about coming back another time and doing some exploring later.
It was fun to get to the arch and then go out around it to see what we could find. This pond looked pretty deep but because it was not very warm I could not get any takers to jump in and see exactly how deep it was.

Gary & Alec standing above us as we were exploring the pond below.
If you can see the ripples behind Brittany in the water, this is from Gary. We were hiking around down there while he was up top throwing rocks down in the water. We were all baffled as to where they were coming from cause we could not see him up on top. We were all trying to create how and where the rocks were coming from while he was throwing more and laughing. Good one Gary!! Alec was struggling to hold up the Arch,
Which Nancy (Alec's Mom) made it look like a piece of cake. Better luck next time Alec!!
Gary & Nancy waiting at the top for us slow pokes.
Then finally it was lunch time yummy. We were all hungry from our hikes I think we did 4 arches total it was a lot of fun.

When we got back to the house we had Jason &Heather and their family coming over that night to decorate eggs and have dinner. It was a lot of fun. We set up some tables outside to avoid any messes and thgey got a lot of the eggs done before we had a dose of rain hit us and we all scrambled to get everything inside the house. Easter Morning, the Easter Bunny came and the kids were hyped up on sugar while the adults looked like we needed anothe 4 hours of sleep.
After the kids went through their baskets all the adults prepared our Easter feast for that afternoon Shelly & Nathan and their family popped in. They were down for jeep safari in Moab so they came down Sunday Morn to spend the day with us. So the total number of people in my house at this point was 21. It was awesome!! My little kitchen didn't know how to handle everyone but I think it worked out well. We had lots of good food and even better GREAT company!!
Once everyone got there we started our Easter egg hunt. We had to have it inside because it had rained the night beofre just enough to make everything a muddy mess. We hid eggs high and low and some places I dare not mention. I thought we had found them all until a week later I found one in one of my pans I was cooking with. I am glad it was a plastic egg filled with candy instead of a real egg. Gary & Nancy had to leave Sunday afternoon so we said our goodbyes and continued on visiting with Jason & Heather and Shelly & Nathan. It was a fun filled packed weekend that made me miss living closer to home where all of my family lives. It was nice to have them all come down so we could spend time with each other. Thanks to Gary & Nancy, Shelly & Nathan, and Jason & Heather for the spectacular weekend and for all the help from my family especially my honey. Love you All!!

Now to what we came to California for, Tasha & Logan and their wedding reception. They held it in California Citrus State Historical Park. As we drove into the Park we rolled down our windows and the smell of oranges was so over-powering and so wonderful it was just inviting. I could not believe how good it smelled and it just filled all of the air around us. We pulled up to the building where they were having the reception and there were orange trees everywhere. It was very beautiful. I had never seen a park in the middle of an orchard per say that is a State Park it was a novel concept. Logan's Mom and Sisters decorated the place so well it was very beautiful. I put in a couple of pictures but it really does not do it justice to how it was in real life. The place was beautiful the spread of food was unbelievable and the company was wonderful. I was nervous going into it not really knowing anyone but Logan's family was very accomidating and made us feel very welcome and I thank them for that.

Their colors were purple and aqua blue which made for beautiful centerpieces. The kids especially loved the candy and the bubbles.

The Happy Couple.

Kids at their best!!

Logan & Natasha truly equal love. I just want to Thank his family and all that they have done for us and Natasha. As a parent I always worry about my kids and I always will but it is refreshing to find a family that loves her as much as we do and for the wonderful person Logan is for her. They are truly a match made in heaven and we love them both very much. Congrats Natasha and Logan!!