An Affair to Remember

 Well, it happened. My mom got remarried. And what a marvelous occasion it was. I really didn't know what to expect in meeting the Cheney's and blending our families for the weekend. But seriously, it couldn't have been more perfect. Their personalities are very similar to the Wright's so we all just got along famously. It was heaven.

The night before the wedding, we all met up at a church house in Farmington. Granted, the flight situation for most of the travellers was a nightmare. Especially poor David and Liz who had to stay the night in the Denver Airport. Boo. But, by sheer miracle, we all arrived on time with our luggage. Phew. Mom and Joe had prepared a delightful "get to know you" dinner where we all just ate and enjoyed each other's company. Some family pictures were taken which I am OVERJOYED with and can not wait until the photographer gets them all back to us.

We then had the most delightful party at the home of my family's dear friends. It was a riot of a time! Janna put on quite a show that had us all rolling on the floor laughing. We did our nails and ate chocolate while Kathy Kay worked her magic in the massage chair. More heaven. We were up until the wee hours of the morning; repeating to ourselves that adrenaline would keep us going the next day.

The wedding morning found us running late, as usual. The hotel we were all staying at was also hosting a dance competition. It made the breakfast effort quite a fiasco. But, we all managed through and got to the church to finish up the decorations. Mom arrived, clueless to our delay which was exactly as we needed it to be. Tessa did up her hair, we put on our dresses and off we went.

 Mom was beautiful. She was so happy, which was awesome to see. Tessa, Janna, and I all got the same shoe which was a minor mistake when it came to standing in the line for the ceremony. Ouch with the 4 inch heels. But they did look hot! I cried through the whole thing. But I have no shame, here I am and my ugly cry!

 I probably could have held it together better if I wasn't so emotional about love and weddings as it is. Then when Joe threw into his vow the part about seeing my dad in heaven, giving him a hug and telling him that he loved her and took care of her the best he could. Tender.

The party started after their ceremony. I was surprised to see how many of my father's friends and family turned up for the event. Cameron slept through the majority of the lunchon/reception which was great for us. We decorated their car, blew them bubbles, and sent the newlywed's on their way.

It really was such a beautiful event. And even more fun to get to see all our dear loved ones who came out to support mom. As soon as the clean up was over, the Wright's headed out of town to the Ogden canyon for some good old fashion family fun! More on that to come.

Happy Wedding to my mom and Joe. I really couldn't be happier for them both. Thrilled that Cameron will now have Grandpa Joe to love him and teach him all things grandpa's are good at. He really is the best fit for my mom. She'll help him speed up a bit, and he'll help her slow down. A perfect match. My brother-in-law quoted in his wedding vows an old African proverb: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." I love this mantra that Joe and mom have adopted. I am just so happy for them both!

Photo Dump

Just some stuff that we've been up to this last month. a little driving. i made some darling VT handouts with Pinterest and that made the getting out there and meeting new sisters less daunting. we've been to the park lots, and Cameron is really starting to love the swings. Mickey Mouse is a staple starter to our mornings. we read books. we clean up the farm. we play the piano. we wave. we visit friends. more swings. we are gearing up for football season. we go to BYU campus a lot. my friend made that darling hat. she has a shop at with etsy called simply penny jane. she's talented, visit her and buy her stuff. and we eat ice cream.

more posts on our VERY eventful weekend to follow this week. :)

Ninth Month

knows how to roll around, yet still stays in one place if left on his bum. still super smiley. wearing 18 month clothes mostly. likes the cold weather; will laugh and smile when we are out in the cold and rain. doesn't like the car wash. will put item in boxes or my hand. waves hello, but it looks more like "come here". likes to chew on strings and cords. loves to stand while holding my fingers. chows down on the gerber graduates sticks, but will not eat cherrios or the gerber puffs. loves to swing at the park. love to socialize with other children. on a good nap/sleep schedule - finally. not very talkative. loves library visits and reading books on my lap. getting pretty good at turning the pages. eats everything, but especially likes feeding himself. likes running errands; sometimes when he is just cranky pants, I stick him in the car for a trip and he perks right up for the entire errand.

Love that little man of mine.

An Easter Wedding

 We had a marvelous Easter. One of the best I've ever had. Partially because it was coupled with my Sister-In-Law's beautiful wedding, partially because it was gorgeous weather, and partially because it was held on the farm.

The Wedding: Romantic

A handful of miles north of Salt Lake City, there is a small plot of land that was once owned by Mark's Grandfather, Ralph Vavricka. Mark and his siblings spent the better part of their summers on the farm with Gramps and Granny. One of their big summer projects was the rebuilding of "The Honeymoon Cabin". As a gift to his wife, Ralph returned to Idaho to purchase the cabin they spent their Honeymoon in. Then, as a summer project, the exact logs that had been carefully disassembled from it's location in Idaho were then reassembled, log by log, by Mark and his siblings, on the Vavricka farm. Time passed, Granny and Gramps passed away, and the farm was left to mother nature. A few months ago, the farm was purchased by the Morrell family again! Many winter weekends were spent cleaning the overgrown weeds, the copious cobwebs, the everything. In the meantime, Malissa and Brian decided to get married and wanted the Honeymoon Cabin to be their wedding location. Jumping into hyper speed, the family worked overtime to get the farm ready for us all to arrive in celebration. It was such an emotional day for everyone; being able to see the farm return to it's glory and be a special place for the next generation of the Morrell Bunch to enjoy.

The ceremony was beyond beautiful. Their vows made me weep. I love to celebrate love. I love families coming together, promising to be there for each other, to support each other, to witness each other's lives. I just couldn't help but fall in love all over again with my perfect man. Well, at least until the snack box explosion mid-vows, and the realization that I had lost my wedding ring right when they were exchanging theirs.

The Wedding Party: Caloric

Following the ceremony and pictures, we drove up north a few minutes to another Morrell tradition, Maddox! A little-bit-big restaurant with delicious rolls and raspberry/honey butter. Oh my calories! Amazing. Father's said a little blurb which was so sweet, Bride and Groom said a little blurb which was touching, and we all ate like kings. Except for Cameron, who played happily in the corner with his socks.

The Hunt: Epic

After we had all stuffed ourselves to the brim, we headed back to the farm for the Epic Easter Egg Hunt planned and prepared by Uncle Tom. "there were spreadsheets involved!" And epic it was. Sadly, Cameron wasn't old enough to enjoy in the fun like I wanted him to, but I did manage to stage a cute picture of him with his basket. A Wright family tradition was a basket was also hidden among the eggs with a few little goodies to enjoy. With the copious examples from my past, I was quite pleased with the outcome of this years baskets; my first of many years to come. The Easter Bunny went the nostalgic route and hid Mark's basket in "Mike and Tom's delicious food stand" which is now filled with all kinds of junk. But the cute memory was cute enough for me. That and a classic fist pump made the photo op ideal.

Games and Tractor Rides: Non-Traditional

Doesn't every wedding end with tractor rides? And croquet, and horseshoes, and frisbee golf? It was a marvelous day. We couldn't have ordered in better weather. The kids were just darling playing together and building that fun cousin friendship that I've been hoping for for Cameron. A simply LOVELY day in every possible way.

Conclusion:
I found my wedding ring the next day; in the cup holder of the car. About a minute before Mark went out to buy me a replacement. 'whew'

A place we call Home

 I finally got my house photographed so that I could document a little about where we have moved into. We are renting a townhouse that was built just 6 months ago, so it is really new and really lovely. I made the most darling "hello", compliments of Pinterest, and we purchased a hallway table so I could display my holiday themed stuff still.  And it makes me happy just looking at it now.

Because we're renting, we can't put any holes in the walls, so we used as many Command strips that we felt was safe to at least have a few things up on our walls. It isn't much but it helps a little. I am glad the walls were painted green rather than the traditional white, it really helps amp up our space. Although the kitchen space is different than my old house, I am starting to see the great value of a pantry and wonder why California didn't ever allow me one. That part is lovely.

Our unit isn't situated in the most desirable location here in the community. We are backed right up next to another building, so we don't ever get any direct sunlight in our living areas. I constantly have to have my lights on, basically all day, to feel like it is daytime outside. It is just naturally dark and sullen. But it is really nice and that suits me just fine. Upstairs didn't get photographed because I can't keep it clean long enough to merit a photo. But there are 3 bedrooms there, one that is our office. We sold our delightfully comfy spare bed and switched it out for a blow up mattress for guests. At least its more than the floor. I am certainly making a list of things that I want our next house to have, a basement for one. Upstairs requires to many jaunts and I prefer to not have to do that each time I need to run to the bedroom or office.

I do love the area that we ended up in. Winco is just 6 minutes away, and University Avenue/Pkwy hold all the memories and eateries of my college memories. Family is super close. The Library is a mecca of amazingness. A park is a very pleasant walk from my door. The running trails are amazingly beautiful, which has helped increase my weekly milage. Its a good place for us for now. A really good place. You're all invited to check it out for yourselves. We'd be delighted to have you.

This day in History

On this date in 2009, history was made when something that had never happened before, suddenly happened. Two cultures, the Wright culture and the Morrell culture, came together for the first time ever, to make one entirely new family. These two cultures had their differences, yes. For example, His culture was a Santa-puts-your-stalkings-on-the-couch culture where hers was a Santa-keeps-them-on-the-mantle. His culture kept their butter in the cupboard while hers kept their butter in the fridge. His culture knew how to drive well in the snow, her culture knew how to drive fast...always. Her culture spent their summer's camping and at the beach, His culture spent their summers on the farm. Despite these differences, these two cultures promised that they would work together and create an eternity of joy, love, and happiness, sprinkled with a good dose of Disney Magic. And so they've been doing from that day forward.

Four Years. We've just barely scratched the surface of our happily ever after.

How I love that Man of Mine. And oh how he loves me.

Happy Anniversary to us.

Born with Friends

One thing we know for sure, Cameron will never be lonely when the cousins get together. It was really no surprise when we found out we were having a boy; it is mostly the trend on both of our sides. Mark's especially provides Cameron with 11 other male cousins (and now, with Malissa's new step-daughter, only 2 teenage girls among the lot of them). And boy is it fun to see them all get together. Collin and Christian and Alex will be the closet in age to him, but Kaden is only a older by 4 years.

There was a time when I thought I wanted a house full of girls, but now with the farm up and running, and living right next to Julie and her boys, I am thinking it would be so much more fun to have a house full of boys to add to this ever growing, and ever rowdy bunch of boys. Dirt, slime, bugs, races, digging randomly, and big toothless grins - sign me up. I can't hardly wait for Cam to get older so that I could plan and plan and play and play.

Who am I kidding. I already plan and do things, even though he is too young to take it all in. I just want to plan and to more things. It's just who I am. 

Zip-a-dee do-dah

Despite the fact that I did just announce that I was "getting back into a rhythm", I immediately neglected my blog for too many weeks. Sad. But do not fear, I still have been adding to my "blog this" list to ensure that I don't miss too many fun things in my life. And really, I've been meaning to take pictures of our new place to blog, and haven't, so that too has added to my neglected blog.

Which means, my friends, that you will get yet another Disney post. As was previously mentioned, we made a trip down there when we moved and had just the best of time, as always. We were joined this time by the Sullivan clan, both Ruston and Mark brought their families down after way too many years of absence. I knew immediately that Ruston and I would get along when I learned that he had decided to join us on the trip 12 hours before departure. His brother said, "yeah, we're leaving for Disneyland tomorrow," to which Ruston responded, "I think we'll go too". Family of my own heart. Sounds like something Mark and I would do. And so the bunch of us showed up for a splendid trip in the sun.

Cameron was a splendid delight as always. Even missing his naps didn't make him in sour spirits. He was just all smiles and clapping all day for the 3 days we were there.

What is a post without the mention of my favorite ride; Toy Story Mania didn't disappoint. Well, actually, it did. Our first trip through and Mark had the broken gun! Ruston and Miguel (the name we call Mark Sullivan to ensure we don't confuse the 2) did not stop giving Mark a hard time. "Oh sure, your gun was broken!" But really guys, 500 points is a bit of an embarrassment. Never the less, the term was jabbed at Mark several times during the day. What fun laughs we had about it.  We were lucky to get a re-ride card which we used later that day to improve our scores slightly.

 Another ride fiasco was that of Splash Mountain! Any veteran Disney goer would know that riding Splash Mountain after the sun sets is usually a recipe for a very soggy evening. I guess you would say we forgot this tried and true rule, threw caution to the wind, and boarded our log at 8:00 pm; with 4 other fully grown adults. It must be said that we were actually assigned to rows 3 & 4, but the couple before us had taken our rows and offered us the front. How could we say "no thanks?" It only took the first drop for Mark to realize that this was going to result in a very wet body. He handed me his phone and the camera and took the brunt of the water. On the big hill, the water literally went over the front of the log like a tidal wave! Mark was drenched. When we were exiting the ride, the couple who sat behind us, barely wet at all, had a huge smile with his thumb up in the air saying "Fantastic!". Mark had to enjoy a very soggy evening! Fantastic.

 Saying that we loved going with the Sullivan's would be an understatement. They were more than delightful. We walked our feet right off and enjoyed one wonderful birthday weekend for me. And I suspect that they had a great time too, because Mark somehow convinced both families to acquire Annual Passes. Guess we'll get to have those good times all over again. Zip-a-dee Do-Da.