Wedding Week

This week was one of the best weeks I have had in a LONG time! I had so much fun meeting up with family and friends and making new friends and meeting new family. Celeste Cook is an amazing girl and so is her family and I am so glad she is now a SHURTLEFF! Welcome to the family Celeste! So I am going to start with the day before I left and go day by day! :)

Tuesday was a very busy day I had to pack and clean. I also had a meeting and a lesson to plan. I finished it all around 3:30am and went to bed.

Wednesday- woke up at 4am (so yes that's only a half hour after i went to bed) showered and left for the airport. I arrived in Oakland and rented a car and drove to the temple to meet up with David and Celeste and her family. We all went to lunch together and then I headed to Santa Rosa with Celeste brother Landon and sister Brittany. It was about 1 1/2 drive, but I enjoyed getting to know them. When I arrived at the Cook's home I was amazed at how beautiful it was and the view they had from the house was perfect. I felt right at home! When David got back to the house we just hung out until it was time for the girls to go to the bridal shower and the boys to have a party. I went with them and enjoyed the shower.

When we got home we all just sat around the front room talking and laughing and getting to know each other while we waited for Davids sisters and best man to show up. Around 2am Kathy (Celeste mom) looked out the window and saw Will's(the best man) car stopped on the mountain. So she went to wave them down when she turned and tripped over her grandson and dislocated her elbow. It was gross and sounded painful. So her husband came back in and put it back into place. Well her daughter in-law had recorded the whole thing. It was sad but we all sat around watching it over and over again in slow motion, faster, backwards, and regular speed. When Will, Michelle, and Sandra came in we showed them the video and then went to bed. I got to share a room with my cousin Michelle and I havent seen her in awhile so we decided to talk...I think it was probably around 3:30 when we went to bed. (I had been up for about 42 hours)

Thursday- Wedding day- First thing we got up around 8 and ate breakfast. We talked and showered and then went our own way for the day. I took my cousins Michelle and Sandra to Oakland to meet up with Michael and to find some shoes for our dresses that afternoon. I enjoyed the time spent with them. When we met up with Michael and Beth at the hotel we changed and got ready for the wedding. The wedding was at 4 and it was amazing and beautiful. My cousin and his wife are such a cute couple! After the wedding we headed over to the dinner. The food was AMAZING! We all sat together and ate and talked and just had blast. The place sat on the water and it was a beautiful sunset. When dinner was over we said goodbye to everyone and then I went back to the hotel to stay with Michael and Beth. Thankfully this was the only night I went to sleep early. (11)

Friday- Reception Day- After getting out of bed and eating breakfast I showered and packed and we loaded the cars up. I had to return my rental car and after that we headed towards Santa Rosa to help set up for the wedding. We spent all day at the church decorating (this was so much fun) and then we ran back to the hotel to shower and change. When we got to our hotel we were surprised to see that it was not a hotel but a hole in the wall disgusting MOTEL....BLAH! Lets just say I skipped the shower and didn't take my shoes off. We changed and did make-up and I had visions of being killed in my sleep. When we got back to the church the reception was beautiful. We ate and partied together and just enjoyed a fun night. After it was all over and we sent the bride and groom off to Mexico, we had to take down. Cleaning up was not that bad because I really enjoyed the company of everyone who was there. We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned some more. I got back to the hotel about 1am and then Jason and I talked till 4am. I went to bed.

Saturday- I was sad this day had come because as I looked over the past whirlwind days I wanted to go back and do it all again. We made new friends and met our new family. I enjoyed every second of the trip. I was up at 5:30 and Michael and I headed back to Oakland (1 1/2 drive) to get me to the airport. The plane rides went well and I got back home safe. I posted some pictures of the beautiful event. Enjoy!