Amy and Derek are MARRIED!

George and I woke up bright and early, left the kids with George's amazing parents, and drove up to the DC temple to see Amy be sealed to Derek. 

The sealing was performed by Grandpa Allred and was beautiful. Sitting in that sealing room surrounded by family with George at my side brought back many tender feelings and memories from our own sealing 9 years ago.

After the sealing, we went outside to wait with the family for Mr. and Mrs. Derek Bruton to make their appearance!

Chad and Darnell had flown a red-eye from California to be there! It is always amazing to see them.

Chad got to introduce him to all our family friends. There were several friends there I hadn't seen in years!

I gave George the camera so I could talk to everyone. I love the candid photos he captured while we waited.

Derek's father and his grandmother

Grandpa, you are amazing for being here!

Derek's sister and her husband

I believe this is Derek's best friend.

Here they are!

Derek was so cute and twirled Amy before dipping her. They. Are. Cute.

Laura to the rescue!

Time for pictures. It was freezing, by the way. It kept threatening to rain, but the clouds made the picture-taking convenient. 

Gosh I love this handsome man!

Ha! I love how Laura and I are standing exactly the same. We must be related or something.

After the sealing, we all drove to Tyson's II where the Brutons hosted all the family to a luncheon at Wildfire.

There he is! The man behind the camera. I'm so glad he got to be here for this!

Guess what we say in the parking garage on our way home from the luncheon? 

 Ruby!! George's old car from High School. Oh man, this brought back a flood of memories... I had to take a picture.

AND look what happened that day!

Crazy! She's a week away from being 11 months! 

(Compared to her siblings, she's in the middle of the pack. Lance walked at 9 1/2 months, Lily right at 10, and Jude and Cole both walked right at a year old.)

Congratulations, Amy and Derek! I can't wait for your reception in a week!

Amy's getting married! Wedding prep...

We are so happy for Amy and Derek! We came up a couple days early to help with the preparations and to see all the family that flew in!

Jason! He flew in from BYU not long before this. It's always wonderful having him here!

Bethany flew in as well! We missing having her and her family so close. The kids had a great time playing with her.

Grandma Brewer! We love her!

So much to do... working on the guest book the night before!

Susan Mezzullo took the most gorgeous pictures for their bridals.

Aunt Cherryl was in town too! I haven't seen her in years. I was so glad she could meet my kids and we could catch up. She is an amazing woman whom I have missed dearly!

Grandma and Grandpa Allred flew in all the way from Utah so Grandpa could seal Amy and Derek! I know it was a huge sacrifice for both of then since Grandma isn't getting around as well as she used to, so it make it extra special that they were there. 

Lexi had a good time playing blocks with Grandpa.

 We sure love our family!

The night before the wedding I made the bouquets for Amy, myself, and Laura. Thankfully Amy wanted something simple, so it didn't take too long.

I think they turned out nicely! 

Can't wait for tomorrow!

Sleep, slides and snake

May! Whew! Only another month and the kids are out of school and summer officially can start. We are so ready.

Jude continues to find every excuse to not sleep in his own bed. Most nights he ends up in our bedroom snuggling with Bender.

Bender doesn't seem to mind and Jude sleeps well surrounded by his parents and his dog, so I guess it's a win?

This little girl is such a ham. She insists on doing everything the "big people" do. One day she found this empty can in the trash and decided since she sees Daddy drink them, she should try it too. We are in trouble!

 You don't need any extra energy, little girl. 

(And don't worry, it was completely empty--we do not let our children drink energy drinks.)

In other news, we finally put together a crib for Lexi in Lily's room and moved the girls in together. So far it's been great and Lexi wakes up a lot less in the middle of the night. I am loving the extra sleep!

The weather has been perfect and since the mosquitos aren't too bad, we've been spending more time outside. 

Lexi discovered the slide with the help of a very sweet older sister.

Lexi can't walk yet, but I think it's just around the corner. She's starting to stand for a few seconds here and there. She's never been one to be left behind, so I can't imagine she'll take her time becoming more mobile.

On May 4th, Lance found himself at his Uncle Dan's wedding with the rest of the Dahlquist crew! He looks so grown up in this picture. I can't believe he's 11 and starting Middle School in the fall.

Speaking of school, this little boy got to be in the spotlight when he brought in our snake Kaos for show and tell one day.

He was a little shy and didn't want to talk very much, but his excitement was palpable. I'm glad he got to share something fun with his class. They all thought the snake was amazing and took turns touching him. 

Lily was my little helper and showed the kids that Kaos is a nice snake.