The youngest member of the Smith family is finally married! Adam's little sister got hitched in February and we packed up and headed to Utah to be part of the fun. And it was TONS of fun! (Minus the whole Makenzie throwing a royal tantrum bit :) We stayed with Adam's sister for a day and it was so good to see her and her kids again. Shane warmed up to everyone pretty quickly compared to in the past, but Makenzie wanted nothing to do with anyone or anything. If anyone even looked at her for too long, she erupted into tears. I promise this is not how she is at home!
We picked up Adam from the airport a day later and headed to temple square as a family. It was so nice going to temple square just the four of us. We focused on just being together and had no where to be. It was perfect! Shane was beside himself with excitement. "I Love to See the Temple" has been one of his favorite and most requested songs for a LONG time. We had even been talking to him for weeks about how Garnet was getting married in the temple and he just thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
Garnet was such a beautiful bride! Even though we are family and stuff, I felt really privileged to be at the ceremony in the temple. It was a very special experience. For the first time ever, Adam's parents had ALL of their children in the temple together. I am not normally much of a crier. Happiness is not something I cry about, but I definitely got a little choked up. (No I wasn't sobbing into a tissue or anything, good thing though because Adam's family wiped out the WHOLE tissue box ;) It was an experience I won't soon forget. President Uchtdorf was the sealer. He has become good friends with Adam's parents over the last several years through a mutual friend. This was only the second time I had seen President Uchtdorf in person, but it is quite the experience to see your family clasp hands and give hugs to an apostle of the Lord, not just in brotherhood, but in true friendship. It makes the men who lead the church much more real and not just pictures you see on the TV screen during General Conference.
The reception started out rough for our little family. Not only did we get there an hour late due to the worst traffic I've ever seen, but Makenzie was beside herself with fury over EVERYTHING. I hope I didn't spoil the moods of anyone else there because Makenzie was ripping my sanity apart! Thank goodness for Uncle Robert and some seriously fabulous desserts that saved me!! Eventually Makenzie got so hyped up on sugar that she just took off wandering around the reception completely oblivious, and I was able to regain at some of my composure. Shane was in heaven following Faith around. Faith is by far his favorite cousin! Half the time I didn't know where he was, but he was ALWAYS with Faith. I decided not to worry about where he was, eh. He was having the time of his life. (After pulling myself together) the reception was so lovely!
After all the wedding festivities we got to spend a day with some of Adam's family that we had yet to spend much time with. The kids got proper naps and since everything was low key, Makenzie FINALLY started showing people how sweet and lovable she can be (have mercy). After the kids went to bed we played games all night. I can't remember the name of the game, but I remember having to do a lot of dancing, charades and holding cold, sweaty hands ;) It was a super fun night! Adam told me we would leave no later than 9pm to go to my sister's house, but we were having so much fun, neither of us could stand up and say it was time to go.
We did eventually make it to my sister's house. My parents drove in from Oregon to see us. Thanks mom and dad! Adam headed back for school a day later, but the kids and I got to hang out with my family for a few days. It was so much fun!
There's a little drainage ditch near my sister's back yard that the kids went sledding on one day when it snowed. They loved it! And that is probably an understatement. It was Makenzie's first time sledding and Shane's second, but he doesn't remember the last time. I didn't have to do anything either. They hiked their sleds up and slid down and I got to watch and just glory in the pure joy my kids were experiencing. Best part of my day!! It made me bummed that our winter was so warm, and we never got a chance to break out our own sleds at home.
Although I was very worried about it, I did actually survive the flight home with the kids. It was definitely a close call though after our flight was delayed for almost 2 hours and then we sat for almost another 2hours on the plane waiting to take off, getting home MUCH LATER than I had planned. All of our recuperating we'd done at my sister's house flew out the window. Thank you for a sweet husband and warm beds waiting for us at home!
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