Wedding Time

Planning a wedding was a challenge for me. I am not a big party planner to begin with. We decided to go to our friends and family instead of making them all come to us. We planned to have our wedding in Florida and a mini wedding in Tucson a few days later. We went with a low key small event in both locations and were very pleased with the outcome. 

Florida Wedding- December 21st

I had my hair done by a local salon and had my friends do my makeup

With my Mom! We actually got married on the same property she was married on just a few years ago! Like mother, like daughter.

The property is owned by a friend of hers. I think they are looking into making it into an actual wedding venue in the near future. Her daughter catered our wedding and owns a local company called Sweets' Bakehouse. They are such a wonderful family and I would recommend them to anyone.

Walking with my Dad

The ceremony

We wrote our own vows.

My turn

The rings

Becoming husband and wife

Husband and Wife

Just a little bit of the family

The brothers!

My wonderful friend Kim pulled everything off so wonderfully. 

Thank goodness I had her help on this!

Guest book

About to eat lunch with family and friends

We had our mom's sign the marriage license

With my Lovely Ladies

Shane and his best buddy, Tom. He came out from Arizona to perform our ceremony in Florida.

Arizona Wedding

We decided to have our little Arizona wedding/reception at the same church when his mother and father renewed their vows. We thought it made for a good location. 

My friend Jimmie took a few photos for us. I am not going to overload but here are a few of her works of art! She is very talented. If you need a photographer in Tucson check out 3 of 3 Photography.

Bride life. Shane's sister did my hair and makeup.

In the Desert!

Rings and things

Shane's mom actually planned and put together the whole Tucson event. She catered and decorated everything. She even ordered some cute custom chocolates to put out. 

My heart in Tucson

Our Tucson Family.

We could not have made our traveling wedding adventure possible without all of the help we received from friends and family. We felt so blessed to have so many hands on board to make this adventure a reality. Now we are on to our next great adventure... Life as a married couple. We closed on a town home a few weeks ago and are excited to announce we are expecting an addition to our family this Fall. 

That should catch us up to present day!

Summer 2015 Yellowstone/Grand Tetons

I have to back track a little since about a year has flown by and I have not kept up on things. After our engagement everything became a whirlwind. 

Two of my great friends flew out to Utah for a visit. Another old friend that lives in Utah joined us in the festivities as we celebrated and made a few plans. 

Needless to say girls weekend was a blast. I showed the ladies around Utah visiting lakes, waterfalls and antelope island. 

Not long after the girls left Shane and I got serious about planning our trip to Yellowstone. We decided to meet up with my cousin, her husband and four children. They all live in Montana so it was a good way to visit with family and explore the great outdoors. My younger brother Evan decided to join in on the fun and flew out from Florida to take the road trip with us. 

In route to Yellowstone. 

First stop: Upper Mesa Falls

Short walk to beautiful views!

Worth the drive! We even had a beautiful rainbow!

Peaceful!

Next Stop: West Enterance KOA! Shane and I used his brothers old tent and poor Evan (my brother) got the mini tent. Home for the next 3 nights.

Big Evan and Little Evan! My cousin and her children met us at the KOA! 

At the KOA

Next we loaded everyone in vehicles and headed out to Yellowstone Lake!

Following the paths around the West Thumb Geyser Basin

A little wild life

Family Photo!

Taking in this strange new view

Warning.. Don't try this at home (or around geysers)

Geysers everywhere!

And into the lake they go.

Next stop: Old Faithful

We arrived at the perfect time. Looks like some people had to wait for almost an hour.. this was us after 5 minutes. It erupted shortly after. 

Getting ready...

There she goes!

We decided on the scenic tour of geysers near old faithful after watching it erupt. First we got our ducks in a row!

The kids were loving all the critters

And off we march.. 

One last stop on the way back to camp. Midway Geyser Basin

Beautiful! 

So many people were stopping here to take pictures. I wonder why.. :) 

And that wraps up day #1! 

We hit Upper Mesa Falls, Yellowstone Lake, Old Faithful and Midway Geyser Basin! 

The kids were troopers because I was beat by the ed of the day myself!

We headed back to camp to make dinner and eat s'mores!

First Stop on Day 2: DOWN.. I Mean Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River!

The walk to get here was a steep downhill one. The while time down a carried one of the kids.. the only thing I was thinking was.. NOW WE HAVE TO WALK BACK UP THIS THING! By the time we got to the bottom that was the last thought on my mind. the Falls were breathtaking and worth the journey. 

Another Family Photo

One last look down before we hiked back up to the top

Short stop on the way to our net adventure. I did't catch which geysers these were. In Yellowstone you will find that there are geysers pretty much everywhere!

Another pretty view

Spotted a friend near the Albright Visitor Center. Looks like these guys hang out here all the time because we saw a few every time we passed through. 

Taking our brief walk (well one of us was carried) to the Boiling River Hot Springs

The refreshing springs... within a few feet you could be in freezing cold, warm or really hot water! SO much fun and very enjoyable after all of the walking/hiking we had been doing. 

Kids with their new toys

And that wraps up Day #2! Once again our day was full of adventure and fun!

Day 3 started out with a sweet goodbye! The kids headed home and Shane, Evan and I continued on our adventure.

We booked a rafting tour and drove up to Montana to enjoy the ride. 

Pit stop on the way. North Entrance

SO MUCH FUN!

It was a first for all of us and I think we were all ready to book another tour by the end of it!

Day 4- *Last Touristy Stop* Grand Tetons (side note * It was my 27th birthday! Good way to spend the day)

Moose Sighting!

Jackson Lake

Taking a ride up the mountain

Cooling down in the sky

Enjoying the view. We saw some wildlife and some daring hang gliders!

It was a Happy Birthday

Time to go and head back to Utah. We made a pit stop in Idaho to sleep and were home the next morning. What a wonderful trip to remember and reminisce on. 

The next few months we laid low since we had a wedding (or two) to plan. I will try to get our wedding post on here ASAP so I can get my blog up to date.