I just returned from a fabulous trip to Utah for my dear friend Brooke's wedding. She married a great guy- Lex Drolinger. They are an adorable couple- so in love and cute and perfect for one another. Brooke was the last of my five college roommates to get married. The whole Park Place forever crew was able fly in for her wedding. This was the first time we've all been together since college and we had a blast. Last summer we had a roommate reunion, but sadly Brooke was the only one who couldn't make it. All being together this weekend made us realize that we have to make this a yearly tradition. Those college years were very formative for each of us and we have a super close bond with one another. I just love all of them so much and miss them already (sniff, sniff). Three of us had babies in tow (myself w/ Gid, Marci w/ Preston, and Kim w/ Wyatt) and it was really fun to see the babies all interact with one another throughout the weekend. My sister Lisa was kind enough to let us all crash at her place in Springville. Her basement is very large and there are three bedrooms where each baby was able to have his own, quiet room to sleep in. We probably should have been separated because we ended up staying up WAY too late every night talking our brains away.
On Friday we had a bridal shower brunch for Brooke at the
Red Rooster Waffle Company. We put together a "honeymoon basket" with necessities that I won't type out but I'm sure you can guess would include and a nice piece of lingerie. What else are old roommates good for at a wedding, anyway? After the brunch, Brooke ran off to take care of last minute wedding preparations and Kim went up to Ogden to attend her cousin's wedding (good timing for her!). The rest of drove to Provo and walked around BYU, reminiscing on the good 'ol days. Bobby stopped by the BYU bookstore to say hi and to give Gid and I a hug, which was really nice. After BYU, we stopped by Anna's house for a short visit. I got all teary eyed when I saw Jimmy. He looked so big and grown up to me. He was telling me about his Star Wars spaceship and there wasn't the slightest hit of speech impairment from his repaired cleft, and it just made me cry because I know it's been a long journey for my sister. Both Johnny and Jimmy are so handsome! I love them so much. It makes me tear up again while writing this...
Anyway, we got Gandolfo's (yum, yum) for dinner and headed back to Lisa's to eat together. I had a nice little bonding time with David. Sure love that little nephew. He is the answer to so many prayers and such a sweet, smart little boy. We tried to go to bed early, but it didn't really work because we got to chatting again. Woke up early the next morning (Saturday) to drive up to Salt Lake for Brooke and Lex's sealing in the Salt Lake City Temple. It was a very special ceromony- Brooke's grandfather was able to seal them together and he did a beautiful job. All six of us roommates were in the temple together for the first time. It was a very wonderful experience. After the ceremony, there was a luncheon at the Garden in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Crazy, crazy thing happened- as Marci and Caroline and I walked in (Kim and Liz were not far behind), there was this old man who greeted us (it's a mormon thing- there are always people greeting the visitors). Marci and I looked at him and we both immdiently recognized him as our Freshman year Book of Mormon teacher, Neil Lambert. He was such a nice, old man and a fabulous teacher. There is a story that goes with him, though. Freshman year, Marci, Liz and I decided to ditch school for 10 days and fly to Ireland. He was the only teacher who was understanding and kind enough to let us make up the work we missed while traveling. Anyway, it made our day and his to see him and tell him what a great teacher we thought he was.
The luncheon was delicious. After eating, Brooke and Lex took off (whoo hoo!) and everyone was on their on for a few hours before the reception. We walked around temple square, tried to re-capture a roommate photo we'd taken during our sophmore year, then spent a little time shopping at the Gateway. We then headed over to the reception to help set up and arrange the flowers. The reception was beautiful. Brooke is so cool. She rented a photo booth for her reception. We had ALOT of fun taking pictures in the photo booth.
Flew back home on Sunday, after a quick stop by the Brookes' residence. Had a nice chat with all the kiddos and Matt and Elena. I always love going to Utah. It's so fun to see friends and family.
Now, for the pictures. All of the pictures are courtesy of Marci. Thank you, Marci!
bridal shower/brunch:
walking around BYU:
Anna's house:
Gandolfo's
Wedding day:
