Keeping Up With The Joneses: 2012

It is hard to convey all of the thoughts and emotions I had on this wedding day-December 17, 2012. It seems impossible that all these little children have grown up and are leading lives of their own. It was an emotional day--I could not help but weep as I dressed my last daughter in the bridal room. It was wonderful to have all of our children together, there to support their youngest sister. It was a perfect day.

Our day began early when someone who wasn't me mistakenly set the alarm for 4:30 am. At least we had plenty of time to get ready! Jen, who grew up with my girls in our Billings ward and is now married and living in Salt Lake, came to our hotel bright and early and did Megan's hair. It turned out beautifully.

We had a grand experience witnessing David and Megan's marriage.

Megan's dress is ivory, so she was married in the temple's dress.
I loved her dress. It was originally a "Mermaid" dress, but Megan had the store take out yards of tulle underskirt and take in some of the lower seams to reduce the fullness of the bottom. It was the perfect dress for her.
Note the turquoise shoes, which perfectly match David's tie.

Megan's bouquet is made of white hydrangeas, made by someone Bonnie and David recommended. It was gorgeous.

I wish I had more pictures of us at the temple, but that will come later when we get the professional ones back in a month or so. I won't lie-it was plenty nippy that day, with a cold breeze blowing.

Just looking at this picture makes me shiver (not to mention how it makes me tear up a little to see all my kids together).

I spotted these turquoise dresses for the older grand kids and ivory for the younger two back in October at Costco for $15-$18 each and snapped them up. I don't think I could have made them for that much. I'm pretty sure I wasn't going to try! I found the bow ties and suspenders for the boys online. Notice that Krew is missing. He likes to think things over before he lets people start snapping pictures. As you will see, he was much more cooperative later on.

Megan and David could hardly move a step without being swarmed by admiring nieces and nephews.

After some pictures at the temple, we went to Lion House Pantry for a luncheon. It was wonderful to have Judy, Bob, Bonnie, and David with us, as well as Kent, Kim, Diane, and lots of other Jones cousins who made the trek to be with us.

The Butlers hosted the Utah reception. They choose Heritage Gardens in Sandy, Utah, a beautiful building that was perfect for the evening.

This place had an upstairs, with a room for the bride to get ready, and a downstairs with video games for bored grand kids (and their parents).

Heritage Gardens does all the set up and makes their own food, which was delicious.

I asked Ashley to be my camera women, and she did a good job tracking everyone down and taking pictures during the evening.

I seriously did not think Jessica would make it to the wedding--she's about as gloriously pregnant as a woman can be. Myla was born less than a week later.

Megan's girlfriends made the trek to Utah to be at her wedding. It was so fun to have them there.

Is it just me, or did these girls do this better than

the guys?

This is David's immediate family that was there--his brother, parents, brother, sister, and brother-in-law. The three children belong to his sister. David is fourth of six kids.

More of David's extended family on the Butler side. Some of his mom's siblings, which I didn't get a picture of, came all the way from Atlanta.

Soaking up some adoration.

Shelly and Ken, it won't be long before Kailyn....

And now for a slew of pictures of mostly grand kids:

By now, Krew was all about getting his picture taken.

The silly face Brinlee likes to make when she sees a camera.

Clearly, Ava was there for the food.

These fancy dresses are a challenge for some of us.

It's hard to find our feet under all that fabric.

It's fortunate to have cousins who notice our dilemma

and come rescue us.

Ava, on the lookout for more food.

Krew and Chase immediately bonded.

These boys need to spent some time together. Right now they are both three, but Chase turns 4 in January, and Krew in May. I think.

Makayla looks like she's had enough excitement for the day.

Brinlee with her second cousin, Easton. Brinlee was born a few days before he was, but he's been twice as big as her from pretty much birth on.

There goes Brinlee, doing what she does best--

being friendly. Doesn't Easton look impressed?

Yep, even the hug didn't seem to do it.

Kailyn, maybe you could give Brinlee some "smile more naturally" lessons.

Krew is a bit of a ham. Here he is, kissing Mama, and at the same time, making sure the camera caught it.

We didn't have a formal line; almost everyone who came was family, and we just tried to greet each guest as they came in. Here is Stephen and Aunt Resa.

As part of the evening, the parents took a minute to talk about the newlyweds.

That picture in the background is the slideshow that played all evening of Megan and David over the years. That's Megan lounging around in Denver's NICU.