Hasta la vista Jolly June

JUNE.

Where did it go?!

June was a really busy month for our family but also such a blast.  It started off with preparing for Paige's wedding and making sure we were all set for the big day!  My parents and Todd flew out, and Courtney flew in the same day all the way from Japan!  It was so awesome to have most everyone in town.  We were missing Hunter who's serving his mission in Mesa, Arizona and Jefferson who's in the middle of his deployment in the Air Force and all of his and Courtney's kiddos who stayed in Japan but were missing and thinking of 'em!

The week before the wedding there was a lot of hanging out and catching up.  We watched a lot of Redbox movies and ate a lot of ice cream.  Felt like I was at home again.  Love hanging with my family.  On Thursday night, Conrad had his bachelor party, and we had a little bachelorette party for the soon-to-be Mrs. Paige Ashby.  We went and got mani-pedis and then came back for some Gilmore Girls (so glad Paige shares my obsession for Gilmore Girls).  

Then before we knew it the wedding was here!  Saturday morning Paige came over, and I did her hair and makeup for the big day.  I couldn't believe my baby sister was getting married!   Once she was off to the temple, Todd, myself, and Reese all got ready to head off too.  Eyeing the clock very carefully, we hopped in the car with 10 minutes to spare to get up to the Provo Temple...OH WAIT. First mistake.  

Yep.  She was getting married in the Timpanogos Temple. 

I knew that! Haha, I promise I really did!  Thankfully halfway to the Provo Temple, we were like WHAT THE FETCH ARE WE DOING?!?! (Insert extreme panic and hysteria).  Once we turned around, we excitedly discovered there was a marathon, yes a MARATHON, going on right down University Ave which is exactly where we needed to cross over!  Have you heard the term "hot mess"?  I was all sorts of "hot mess" at that point.  We then tried cutting through the BYU parking lot and making our way up Canyon Road to cut off some of the traffic.  Second mistake.  Every road we came to that would normally allow you to turn on University was CLOSED.  Who the H-E-double-hockey-sticks would've thought that the entire University Ave (the major road that gets you to and fro the whole town) would be CLOSED?!  I was at a rapid boil folks.  We finally made it up 800 North in Orem and were on our way.  At this point, it was 8:49am.  My sister was getting married at 9:00am, and we were supposed to be seated at 8:30am in the temple.  Let's just say that rapid boil turned into a flowing river of tears and emotion.  I was going to miss my sister's wedding.  I was actually going to miss it.  Then we got there.  Hallelujah, we got there.

At 9:11am, we walked through the temple doors.  Praise the high heavens! 

After the temple ceremony, we took family pictures outside.  It was windy and a little chillier than we thought it would be, but it was OH SO BEAUTIFUL.  And PAIGE...OH MY GOSH PAIGE.  She was stunning.  She looked so happy, and I loved seeing her start this new chapter of her life.  It feels like yesterday that Todd and I were coming out of the Provo Temple, hand in hand, as fresh-off-the-market husband and wife! OH WAIT...it kind of was just yesterday.  One anniversary down and a baby later, here we are.  

After pictures, we had a luncheon with family and friends at Tucano's, and it was delicious!  My favorite is their pineapple.  Cue salivating.  SO GOOD.  We watched a video during the luncheon that my brother Hunter put together.  It was clips of all Paige and Conrad's family dancing to the "Happy" song by Pharrell Williams.  It was adorable!  Again...Paige and Conrad seemed so happy and totally twitter-pated (spelling??).  It was so fun to watch them be so in love and excited about their new life together!

My parents stayed in town for another week after the wedding, and it was a blast to have them around.  I wish they lived closer.  I loved that they got to spend time with Reese, even though it was a little sad because she was pretty sick the week of the wedding.  We went and saw Maleficent with my parents and Todd's parents, and it was so good!  I was so surprised by how much I loved it!  So whatever you think it is...it isn't, and give it a shot.  Go in with low expectations, and you'll be blown away!  

The last week of June, we went up to Park City for a little get-away vacation with Todd's family.  It was a much needed get-away from Provo!  I loved spending time with Todd's parents and siblings.  We got to hang out at the pool, ride the Alpine Coaster and carousal, go to the Park City outlets, see Transformers, eat at some really yummy restaurants, and BBQ'd by the pool.  If you're ever in Park City and like pizza, you've GOT to go to Maxwell's.  OH EM GEE.  The wait was a little long, but so worth it in my opinion.  I got The Fat Kid pizza and drooled over every bite.  Really, it was a great trip and am grateful for the chance to spend quality time with Buns and Reese.  

If you've made it to this point in the blog, you're either my Mom, or you have a really long attention span, but brava for making it to the end! Lol.  Forgive me for any grammatical errors because I am so not in the mood to go back and edit/spellcheck.  That's what I get for being longwinded.

Hasta la vista to a jolly June, and cheers to a joyous July!

Here's a smattering of jolly June's highlights: