Weddings, Festivals, and Birthdays

This past week we had my parents come and visit us for a whole week! It was a ton of fun and very eventful.

On Thursday when they got here we met Shannen and Josh and their respective families for a "rehersal" dinner at Chuck-A-Rama. Then went to Kathy and Gary's for a fun family get together before the big wedding.
Friday morning we had to be at the temple by 11:30 for the sealing of Josh and Shannen. It was beautiful! After the sealing we took group/bridesmaids/groomsmen/family pictures. Then we sent the others away and strolled around temple square to take pictures of just Shannen and Josh. What a beautiful couple! Josh's parents held a luncheon for close family and friends at the Joesph Smith Memorial Building then we were whisked away to The Old Meeting House for the reception. I just have to say that the year of planning was worth it! They had a beautiful wedding and reception!
On Saturday we went to the world famous-kinda- Swiss Days. It's an arts and crafts festival that is actually worth going to! The entire tiny town of Midway, UT is taken over for this festival! I loved all the crafts I just wish we were rich enough to buy something. Oh well maybe next year! We went to Cafe Rio for dinner that night. Mom had been craving that since the last time she was here. Sadly she didn't get a good meal so she was disappointed and Dad didn't really care for his meal either. Oh well, we tried!

Sunday we went to church and our little CTR 4's were as cute as ever! Then Mom and I made a wonderful dinner of chicken, stuffing, yams, and broccoli. YUM!
Monday was Dad's birthday so we took him to This Is The Place Historical Monument. He likes that kind of stuff so we thought it would be perfect. Turns out we all had a great time! We haven't spent time together as a family since we went to Hawaii in 2005, so it was good to get that quality time with them! We went to Goodwood BBQ for Dad's birthday dinner then came home to open presents! Overall, I think Dad had a wonderful 66th birthday!
On Tuesday we drove down to Provo to take some family pictures. My friend Janica is a great photographer and she took our pictures for us. (Check her out at www.janicalarae.com) Then we went to Creamery on 9th for dinner and dessert. We love it when my parents come to visit us because they take us out to dinner nearly every night! Which equals no cooking for me and no dishes for Jeff. It really is a win-win for everyone! Then we went to Justin's apartment in Provo. It's a pretty nice place, there's 28 stairs to get to it, but it's nice.
Wednesday was their last day so we took it easy and just hung out at the house until Jeff got home. Then we went to see Avatar in IMAX 3D at Jordan Commons. My parents hadn't seen it before and we all thought it would be their kind of movie. And it was. They both loved it.

This past week has been so much fun having my parents and Justin around. I wish we all lived closer to each other but for now we'll just have to settle for the visits every few months! We love our family and can't wait to see them again at Christmas.