Once Upon A Time...Happily Ever After.

It was a Friday morning. April 30, 1999. I woke up in a different bedroom than usual because all my stuff was in my new house and we had lots of relatives staying over. So I slept in a small bedroom with someone else. I don't know if it was my little brother or my cousin or who. But I wasn't alone.

The first thing I did was go to the window to check the weather. The forecast told a sad story of rain. It was raining. It was gray outside. I sat back on the bed and cried. Luckily the sealing wasn't until 12:45. I had time to take my time.

I soon remembered this was a happy day. Even though my hair was going to flip, I was marrying Daniel. I stopped crying, went downstairs to eat some breakfast, went back upstairs to someone else in the shower. Hello! It's my day. Why is some uncle in the shower?? I got all my stuff together and sat and waited my turn.

When the bathroom became free, I took it. I locked the door and took a long hot shower. I enjoyed my time alone. I did my makeup and then worked on my hair. My hair. I have natural curl which tends to look like a really bad perm when it's humid. I had gone to my hairdresser the week before for a trim, but for some weird reason, my hair was just unruly. I tried to put more curl in it with a curling iron so the weather wouldn't reek quite as much havoc. I really didn't like it. It was just wrong. But there was just nothing I could do about the humidity. I wasn't in control of that. So I figured the only thing I could control was my emotions. So I sucked it up and hairsprayed away!

I got dressed in my sleek navy blue dress that made me look so slim it made me want to cry again. I had all my stuff packed and ready to go. I headed downstairs to the bustle of all my relatives getting ready and eating. When my grandma saw me she said, "Oh, isn't she gorgeous!?" I did my best to not comment on the hair situation. My mom and dad and grandma and grandpa and whoever else wanted to come, came into the living room with me. My dad gave me a Father's Blessing and I cried. My dad cried a little. I was his oldest child. I was his last daughter to get married. They would now be stuck with all my brothers. I would have cried about that, too.

When it was time to go, I got into my parents' car and headed out to Bountiful. It was rainy and gray. Daniel planned to meet us at the temple and he didn't disappoint. I loved him so much and it could have rained a hard rain all day long for all I cared. We went inside and got dressed and then Daniel and I got to sit in the Celestial room until it was time. We got to sit in there for a very long time. I don't know what was happening, but we enjoyed just sitting together. A man came up to us and asked if we were getting married today. We said yes and he said that there is a look about a couple who are waiting there to be married. We had the look.

It finally came time for us to go to the Sealing room. When we got there, all of our family were there waiting for us. Daniel and I held hands, I cried, Daniel's hands were sweating. So I kept wiping my eyes with tissue and Daniel kept wiping his hands on his pants. All I got from the sealer talking was that today we were beginning a family. Until the end when he said we were Mr. and Mrs. You Know Who.

YAY! YIPEE! YAHOO!

We were husband and wife. We were married. We were hitched. We could now begin our life TOGETHER! Oh Wait! Pictures. In the rain. We had hired the photographer, so I guess we should use him.


We came out of the temple to everyone cheering. Reverently, of course. When Daniel kissed me my aunt called out, "Kiss her again!" So he did. Then she yelled it again. He did again. The photographer took 4 pictures of us kissing in front of this door.
It rained. The photographer said rainy days are the best for photos. We got to use his big umbrella. With my off white dress and the white in the umbrella, those pics just look funny. But we got some really good shots under the covered parts of the temple. Do you think we could have even stopped smiling?!

We had a luncheon for family and friends after we left the temple. It was in a church and after we all got there, the fire alarm was going off and no one could figure out how to turn it off. It went on for quite a while until they got a hold of the right person to come fix it. Daniel's sister Lisa organized the luncheon. The theme was bears because they just couldn't "bear" to see Daniel single anymore. Etc, etc. We had a really nice lunch and got to hear from Daniel's brother, his grandma Shelba, my sisters and then Daniel and myself. I don't know what anyone said. I was Mrs. Daniel and we still had to get through the reception. Time was moving a bit slowly! We got to the reception and had to change back in to wedding dress and tux. But hey, we were married. So we got to get dressed together. Wierd! We got more pictures taken all around the JS memorial building.

Calla Lilies are my favorite flower. I love them. So they were my wedding flowers. We had a beautiful reception. Our line didn't end until my mom grabbed us and told us it was time to cut the cake. She was determined that the bride and groom should NOT wait for late comers to come greet them. The time is clearly stated on the announcement. You are late, you don't get to greet. So we cut the cake and then at 8:30 on the dot, we ran out of the reception room to the dressing room. People cheered and laughed as we ran out. We were ready to be done.

We changed into street clothes and met some newly arriving guests at the elevator. I don't think they recognized us because of the jeans and t shirts. We arrived at our car that had confetti in every imaginable place and snakes and tp. We arrived at our hotel for that night that has since been torn down and the Valet asked if we would like him to clean out the car. Of course!

I think I will end there. Except to say that confetti came streaming out of the air vents for weeks. And several months later we found more confetti when moving one of the sun visors.
So that is the story of us. After all the dating horrors, I had the best guy in the world. And he had the best and beautifulest gal in the world. As we celebrate 10 years of Us, we are grateful for so many things. We have 3 AWESOME kids. We have health. We love each other even more than our wedding day. We have had trials that have made us stronger and more in love. We are happy and we are living. So I guess that with a story book beginning we should have a story book ending. But it seems so abrupt to just say we lived happily ever after. The point is...we are living!!

Daniel...I love you! I am so glad I married you. You are the best dad and the best husband. I love that you adore me. I love that you love to just be with our family. I am looking forward to eternity! I love you!!