Two California Temples (Melanie)

Chad and I have been going to a lot of different temples. There are three within the same distance from where we are living in Southern California right now. The LA temple, the Redlands temple, and the Newport Beach temple. We've only been to the LA temple and the Redlands temple so far, but I think the next one is the Newport Beach temple!

The Redlands temple is smaller than any I've been to, but it is gorgeous.

It was so bright! This is the best we could do for our eyes.

The LA temple is massive. And gorgeous, of course. :)

This is the view from the street. 

Here we are in front of it the other way. You can't see Moroni

on the top, but there we are! (and yes, I wore the same thing

both times. I really like that outfit.)

Can't wait to share the Newport Beach temple with you!

Girl Night Nails (Melanie)

So a couple weeks ago, Errin, Sarah, Juli, and I decided to paint our nails. Here are some pictures! (and a tutorial to paint your nails like I did)

Juli's toes. After we painted them pink, she decided she was done.

Sarah painting Errin's toes. 

My toes, which I did. They're a little lopsided but I'm still pretty

proud of them. :) (That's a sticker on my big toes by the way)

Sarah did wonders with her fingernails. (I'm sad I didn't get pictures

of Errin's fingernails.)

And the tutorial of how to paint your nails like I did (for my fingernails). 

I don't like the colors I picked, but I kind of like the design. I also don't like

the feeling of that much nail polish on my fingers, so I ended up taking it off 

pretty soon afterwards. (Like a week)

First use tape or a sticky strip of something. This is to create your lines. 

Paint!

I eyeballed the mint color, because I didn't want to put sticky

over the polish I'd already put on my nails. If you do a geometrical 

pattern though, it's a bit easier.

I also eyeballed the white tips. And I made them a little bit too 

thick for my taste, but they still looked alright. :/

Finished product.

What have you done with your nails? Wanna share?

Oregon Backyard Reception (Megan)

Some of the scenery from Caroline's backyard reception. I loved the classy outdoor summer feeling. The lemonades were amazing but hard to keep full people used them so much.

Also, NO SHERBET! Sherbet is such a wedding cliche I was super happy that Caroline threw it out the window.

Pretty lanterns all over and white chairs. So calm and chill, with gorgeous weather.

Sitting at the table with some of Caroline's friends and bridesmaids. Normally this isn't too exciting, but sitting here means that I am not standing in a line. Caroline didn't have a receiving line! The scandal and shock! But this wedding anarchy worked beautifully.

You do not need a line! Don't let anyone force you to have one. People came in, found who they wanted to talk to and didn't get funneled into a line waiting to talk to 12 strangers, and then the one person they know.

Cutting the cake. Caroline had a small cake, and then a bunch of cute and delicious cupcakes.

The bubble blowing lines forming on either side of the path for the couple to run to the car.

Overall it was lovely and hopefully a good start for the two sweethearts.

Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium (Melanie)

A bunch of us from the family went to Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium. It was fun! Dodgers lost pretty badly, but President Dieter F. Uchtdorf threw the first pitch. That was way cool. I don't have a picture though because we were way too far away to get one.

We had to get Dodger Dogs!

And Garlic Fries...

Here's Chad getting ready for the big fireworks show!

Danny and Errin!

Errin and Tabatha. Aren't they cute?!

okay, I'm not the biggest fan of fireworks, but this was awesome!

All Worth It (Megan)

This post will be mostly photos because it was when everything came together and was beautiful. It doesn't take very many words.

Here's the wedding party excitedly waiting for the bride to come out. All those little girls! I love them all. They look so gorgeous.

Look at her glow!








This sums up a mother's perspective for me. Standing there barefoot in the grass because your feet hurt from all the running and work you've done to make it happen, but you get to watch your little girl happy sitting on the temple. Married and happy moving on to the next stage of her life.

The Caroline Pre Wedding (Megan)

 I got to stay with Caroline's beautiful family was an adventure. Her little sisters were sweet hearts and so much fun to be around. But babysitting a whole bunch of kids for a while made me decide I never want to have 12 kids! More power to those who do.

On the left here is Caroline's youngest sister Christina getting ready for the wedding by putting on as much jewelry as she could find.

 I got to help create the bouquets for the bride, bridesmaids, and family of the two lovebirds. You can see the aftermath of the flower madness.


Here's a close up of one of the bouquets I made. I loved the colors and how fun flower arranging was. I had over complicated it in my mind when it's very simple. A few tips for people who want to try it


•Start with groups of three (flowers and filler)
•Don't be afraid to trust your instinct to make it look nice
•Check from different angles to make sure there are no gaps.
•Keep the stems extra long. You can cut them all to the right length later.  

Also in Oregon I got the first pedicure of my life. I've never felt so much like an evil dictator as when an asian woman scrubbed my dirty feet. I at least have comfort that she was getting paid, but in my opinion not enough. It felt amazing though, and I think I will repeat every time I am going crazy at a wedding. 

Featured here are Caroline's french tip and her little sister Suzanna's peach toes.

There's no avoiding the last minute detail that goes wrong at a wedding, but Caroline's certainly took me by surprise. Caroline and I were trying her wedding dress on the night before her wedding for last minute details. Making sure it fit right and which necklace worked better. 

I was standing behind her as she was checking in a mirror when I saw a fat spider about the size of a quarter sitting on the sleeve of her wedding dress. "Caroline. Don't move."She froze and I stood there stiff with panic. I couldn't flick or brush it off just in case it was too squishable. At that moment it took off running across Caroline's back towards her neck. I used the hanger in my hand to flick it off on to the wall and squished the bugger. I still get a shudder every time I think that

this gross spider smudge was almost on her dress.

The Oregon Expeditions (Megan)

I designed this invite for Caroline's wedding in Oregon. (blurred some of the details for a little bit more privacy, sorry all)

But then I waited one day too long and all the flights to Oregon doubled in price. $500 minimum (Ouch!) I was depressed, but Caroline found me a way up and a way back–for free!

Road Trip!
On the way up I snapped a few pictures of Idaho and all the water in Oregon.

We fit Caroline, her fiance (Now Husband ;) ) Troy, Troy's Grandpa and Grandma, and me in a Minivan and booked it up to Oregon. We also had the Grandparents two dogs and vocal cat.

Which was fine until the cat got car sick and starting barfing on the carpet. Don't travel with cats.

The only place the cat was really happy in the entire car for the entire ride was on Grandma's Purse.

Coming back to Utah after was the best. I was almost giddy to be home after the wedding and took these photos of what was probably a chemical plant, but was glowing and the sunset with a million telephone wires

But the travel parts of this Oregon Trail was not the most exciting part by far, but those details will come later.