Jenny & Kyler's Wedding

Despite being in Utah for an entire month in June, I got the opportunity to go back to Utah for a few short days to participate in the wedding festivities of my best friend from Occidental College, Jenny Willis and her fiance Kyler Mahoney.

I arrived in Utah Thursday afternoon and spent a few hours with my high school friend Kim Smith.  She was kind enough to pick me up from the airport (right during nap time) and hang out with me until my mom got back from Cedar City. It is always wonderful to see her.  Once my mom picked me up we went to Murray and I got ready to go to Jenny's bridal shower in Pleasant Grove.  It was decorated so beautifully and she got lots of fun stuff for her honeymoon :)  After that a few of us got the privilege to spend Jenny's last single night with her.  The pictures a little fuzzy, but here we are (plus Jenny's mom).

 Noel, Tawnya, Jenny, Jackie, and Kristine

 Jenny heading down to breakfast on her wedding day!

Jenny got ready through the morning and then her fiance came and picked her up for lunch and to head to the Salt Lake Temple.

 Here is Jenny trying to get into her dress and not mess up her hair!

Jenny & Kyler

 Jenny coming out of the temple, happy as always!

 Jenny hugging her dad!

Jenny and I

The sealing was beautiful and always makes you reflect on your own sealing and the feelings you had that day. That night I got to hang out with my family and I also got to see my cousin Brian who was in town writing a story on President Monson's birthday celebration.  We stayed up way to late talking as usual.

The next morning was Jenny's wedding brunch at the Grand America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City.  It was a beautiful place for the brunch and the food was excellent.  I ate so much that I wasn't hungry all day long!

Jenny and I at the brunch

After the brunch I got to visit with my in-laws Anne and Steve.  I met them where they were celebrating Steve's birthday and got to do a little bit of shopping with them at City Creek.  It was so great of them to take the time to visit with me and I'm glad I got to see Steve on his birthday!

That night was Jenny & Kyler's reception in Heber.  It was decorated so cute and she served frozen yogurt.  It was tasty!

 Cutting the cake

1st dance

It shouldn't have come as a surprise to me that I got along so well with all of the friends Jenny has made since our time at Oxy together. I love Jenny, so of course I'd love all her new friends! I had such a great time getting to know many of them.  Here is Annette, who let me hang out with her and her husband for most of the evening.  She was husband-less through some of the other events as well, so we kept one another company.

I flew out early Sunday morning, so it was a crazy weekend, but I had such a wonderful time.  I got to see so much of Jenny which I am truly grateful for.  This was the longest time period I have ever been away from Hayden and I missed her and Paul so much.  I was worried how she would respond to seeing me again.  I was hoping for excitement, but was preparing for her to ignore me for leaving her for so long.  When I got to baggage claim, Paul said, "look there's mamma" she saw me, her face lit up and she ran as fast as she could to me.  It seriously brought tears to my eyes.  I'm not kidding, I cried (this kind of shocked me), the bond between a mother and her child is special isn't it...It's never fun being away from family, but I'm glad I was able to support my friend and celebrate her special weekend with her.