The Iditarod: Andrew's Wedding

Andrew and Alicia's wedding was a great excuse for us to get the heck out of Michigan. On April 9th (when it's supposed to be SPRING), we left our winter wasteland for what Matt calls "The Motherland", or "The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey". I guess we still would have gone even if it was snowy there too, but the lovely dry Arizona heat was a notable perk.

Here are the boys at the start of our never-ending journey west, thoroughly studying the safety pamphlets on the airplane. Our family should be allowed to sit in the exit rows simply because of their commitment to understanding emergency procedures.

One-month old Adele was pretty great on the flight, but if you've met her, that's no surprise.

We got into Phoenix late that night. The next morning was an idyllic scene I won't soon forget. The boys got up and dressed with Grandma. Matt and I awoke to sunlight. Not cloud light, but pure, clear blue skies that we hadn't seen in too long.

We walked outside in our pajamas and bare feet, because the grass and air was actually warm enough for that. We picked a couple of grapefruits from the tree in the backyard, then I sat on the swing set peeling and eating my breakfast while the sun warmed my back and neck and hair and whole entire SOUL! I told Matt at that moment that we should move to Arizona. A morning like this after an unbearable winter was just what we needed.

Something about the sunshine made my husband want to do yard work...first thing in the morning. This has never happened in the history of the world. Imagine how beautiful our yard could be if he had this motivation in Michigan!

Soon afterward, Stephanie and Kevin came over with their adorable baby girls. I finally got to meet my first little nieces!! They are so beautiful. Here is Matt feeding Emmy, and me feeding Piper.

Something about being around twin babies makes you really want to know what it's like to nurse two babies at once. Yes? Am I the only one?

Another tender little meeting we got to witness that day was Grandpa Murray holding Adele for the first time. They love each other already.

Of course Adele got to meet her wonderful aunts and uncles too that day, but those moments are not so well-photographed. (Thanks a lot, Michelle!)

Josh and Jude stayed entertained by playing sports on the Wii (which we don't have at home), and roping in grandparents to play every board game they could get their hands on.

The next day (Friday) was the day of family pictures and the big family dinner. Here are a few fun moments from that photo shoot that I didn't mention before.

Jude looking for turtles in the creek with Aunt Alicia,

and Josh posing with Uncle Andrew the same way he did almost five years ago in the exact same place.

And as usual, here are the Snow siblings standing for a picture, each trying to look like the tallest. Matt is winning here only because he's a big cheater.

Later that day, Matt (kind of) and I made some fun cakes to serve as groom's cakes for Andrew at the family dinner. He loves pirates and ninja turtles...obviously.

Matt's Grandma Snow was able to take a break from her mission in Chicago so she could be there for the wedding. A bunch of Snow cousins and family came to the dinner too. Here they are: Steph, Piper, Michelle, Emmy, Matt, Adele, Josh, Adam, Jude, Grandma, Lucy, Amelia, Melissa, Amy, and Brandon. To Scott, Misha, Aaron, Ethan, Ryan, and Lizzie -- we missed you!

Jude became good friends with his second cousin Adam. They worked up a sweat running around the church together, and there was an abundance of hugs. By the end of the day, he was really worn out!

Later that night, the siblings all went over to Kephanie's apartment for Andrew's "bachelor party", complete with lots of candy, fancy root beers of all kinds, YouTube favorites, and the most ridiculous movie I've ever seen/fallen asleep in. I think it was called...nope, can't remember.

Okay, onto the big day!

Andrew and Alisha were married in the beautiful, brand new temple in Gilbert. After the ceremony, the whole family waited outside for their grand exit. Josh and Jude might have been more excited about the Ninja Turtle stuff Great Aunt Sandra got them that morning, but Adele was clearly ecstatic about the nuptials.

And here is the happy couple!

They probably have the most beautiful wedding pictures ever.

That evening, just before the reception, we had Adele's baby blessing at the house. In the little prayer circle were her Uncle Andrew, Great Uncle Roger, Grandpa Murray, Daddy, and Uncle Kevin.

Onto the reception.... Yeesh! This post is getting way too long! No one's gonna make it to the end!

Here's how Jude showed up to the reception at the Hilton's house -- two swords sheathed in his dress shirt. Just in case.

The boys were fascinated by the tiny candles lighting the pathway to the party. (Side note: obviously the good pictures here are not mine. They were taken by the amazing Jonathan Gibson, once again.)

Oh hi, Adele! Everyone wanted to hold her that night.

It was so fun to have all the Wilseys there for the weekend -- Janel, Lisa and Troy, Denise, Laura, and Aunt Sandra.

Josh mostly played quietly on my phone that night and asked every few minutes when it was time for cake, while Jude enjoyed attempting to sneak into the pool area, and fighting bad guys with Adam.

They liked helping with this job because there were Oreos involved.

This is me wishing I had three more arms.

We sent off the newlyweds with sparklers. Jude got his own, which seemed like a good idea until I left his side for two seconds and he decided to grab the hot end with his bare hand. The poor thing had blisters for days.

The next day we went to church together. Some of us may have skipped the middle portion.... But seriously, who wants to nurse in a Mother's Lounge that stinks like a thousand dirty diapers and blasts the AC to hypothermic temperatures? Not me.

The rest of the day was spent playing outside, suffering through Monopoly, cooking and eating.

MY cousin Christiana was in town checking out a potential job with her husband. They ended up moving to Arizona! It was so nice to catch up and to see her meet Adele. She'll be having her third baby pretty soon too.

One thing I wanted to do on this trip was hike to the Hole in the Rock. Matt tried to take me to this place nine years ago when I first visited his family, but it was closed for some reason. When we took the kids, it was a perfectly warm day and a quick and easy hike. (Even though we were the only family in flip-flops.) This is also the place where Andrew and Alicia had some of their bridal pictures taken. It's beautiful!

At the end of our stay, everyone got in their last little snuggles with Adele and the boys, and we were on our way home.

These two had a particularly special bond that week. Jude called Laura "the red turtle" because she was such a good playmate that she earned a Ninja Turtle nickname.