04-13-12 ~The Beginning~

I woke up on our wedding day and headed downstairs.

I was met by my mom who began to sing to me.

hahaha

The day before, she sang,

"you're getting married in the morning!!"

So this morning, she sang,

"you're getting married THIS morning!!"

It was awesome.

I had some sweet moments with just my parents.

My mom gave me a book that summed up

me

her

and us together

perfectly

It was an interesting feeling.

I sat in my dad's office

on the floor like I had a million times before

and still felt like an 8 year old...

my parents baby girl.

It was sweet and lovely and a moment I will never forget with two of my best friends.

The morning continued on with little things to do

then it was time to get ready!

Suz, Natalie, and Matt came over to bring me my favorite drink and keep me company

and I loved that!

Then Josh got to my house and BAM we were on our way to the temple

to.get.married.

I hugged my mom goodbye and it was extremely difficult.

My dad had ran somewhere and I had anxiety that I didnt get to say goobye to him.

The next time I saw them...I would be married.

I had always dreamed of getting married in the temple

and I knew that I would...no matter what.

My parents have known that same fact since I was 16.

They were gracious, understanding, supportive, and loving about it all.

But I am not exaggerating when I say

it was the hardest thing I have ever done getting married without them.

I knew it would be hard

but I could have never been prepared for how hard.

I have never cried so hard or yearned so much for them at any time in my life.

BUT

I know that it was the right thing to do.

The ceremony was beautiful and perfect and sacred.

It was shared with people we love.

Personal words were spoken about our family by our sealer

and I couldnt be more grateful for him.

He made a point to visit with my parents, brother, and nana after we were married

and he expressed his love and appreciation for them and said extremely kind words

to make them feel more comforted and involved.

That was my favorite part of the day.

The temple was where we were reminded what was most important about the day.

Our family

Our friends

The gospel

Our new family of two

and our eternal commitment.

I met Josh in the hall to wait before our ceremony and he stood up to greet me.

We sat and waited thinking how surreal the whole thing was.

We had never been so happy.

While waiting for our sealer...

a temple worker came up to us and said to me,

"In all my time working at the temple I have only ever seen one groom stand to meet his bride like yours just did with you...and it was this morning. That is truly saying something"

It did say something.
 Like I already knew...Josh is the perfect one for me.

When I got ready after we were married I met Josh to head outside.
 But before we came out to show the world our awesome little family...
we were greeted by my family in the foyer.

I cry right now thinking about it.
It was the first time my parents saw their little girl married.

My mom and dad had the biggest smile on their faces

but I couldnt help feel bad that I had made a choice that didnt allow them to be in my sealing...

that feeling went away immediately when I was comforted to know that they had been comforted and they were so genuinely happy for us.

It was a special moment.

We then walked outside to a crowd of our loved ones

I LOVED IT!!

It was so fun to see everyone together!!

It was on to taking pictures and the rest of our day...

I guess our friends like grabbing our chins??

hahaha I just noticed these pictures and I love it!

I LOVE the faces in this picture!
wish I knew how to make these pictures bigger?

Our families

Our fabulous friends

Ohhh my girls how I love you...
Brookie baby you were there in spirit and right there with us :)

This picture will only entertain those of us in this picture
Scott and I were doing the "jellyfish"
which he so thoughtfully introdiced us to a couple years ago.
hahahaha