Sam and Bonnie's Wedding

On Saturday August 8, 2015 Ben's little brother Sam was sealed in the Seattle temple to Bonnie Young. We were able to drive up for the weekend to participate in all the festivities.The entire event was wonderful and couldn't have been more beautiful.

On Friday we made the three and a half hour trek toward Seattle, since Bonnie is originally from the area and her family still lives there. She and Sam had chosen to have their reception the night before at the home of Bonnie's brother Scott. He and his wife Aubrey have a lovely home in Maple Valley, Washington, about 45 minutes outside of Seattle. We arrived in the afternoon prepped to help set up for the reception, but by the time we arrived everything was basically done and looked amazing.

Ben played with the kids while I helped put together the flower arrangements and bouquets. The flowers were gorgeous- white hydrangeas, dahlias, etc. It was so fun to arrange such gorgeous flowers and I enjoyed visiting with Bonnie's mom Terri as we put everything together.

The photos are a mix from Ben's dad, Ben and my own camera so pardon the modge podge.

Teddy eating some pre-reception snacks. This kid loves fruit.

He can eat five strawberries in 30 seconds flat. He shoves them in whole as fast as you can hand them to him. No, I'm not exaggerating.

The setting. Like I said, everything was beautiful.

Once the flowers were done, family began to arrive. We were so excited to get to see Ben's family from Utah. All of us were together except for Landon and Liesl in Chicago, who were unable to attend.

Ben's dad (Grandpa Dave) and his parents had traveled from Ogden

Grandpa Dave can often be found with a guitar in his hand, serenading the grand kids.

 All the little boys wore white shirts and black bowties

Ben taking pictures of me, like he does

Ben's grandparents with Nayeli

 Kent and Nyla Petersen aka Grammy and Poppa

 Ben's mom, Gary and Chelsea were also there. We were so happy to see them as well.

I love these two women (yes, unbelievably Chelsea is becoming a woman) :)

Grandma Jane is always so fun

Nayeli and Grandma Jane sharing an Italian soda

Teddy enjoying his soda in his own way. Yes, this is the same evening, but I had already changed him out of his white shirt to preserve it for the next day. This picture shows exactly why I had to do so.

Pretty in pink (her favorite color)

 Be still my heart

Sammy the groom

The happy couple. They really are so great together.

A photographer came to take photos of everyone, and while we weren't in photos we took an advantage of being all dressed up and got a few of ourselves.

All the nieces and nephews, including those from Bonnie's side. It was hilarious chaos.

Brothers :)

  Ben's dad took some photos of our family and I'm so pleased with how they turned out. So don't mind me as a share a whole bunch :)

We arranged flowers in these beautiful stands. Unfortunately this is the only picture we got of the flowers.

After photos, people began to arrive for the reception. Bonnie and her family had gone to SO much work and it was just wonderful. They had (basically) a full course meal, ice cream station, Italian sodas, s'mores to roast in the outdoor fireplace, a station of games for the kids, a table with all their journal entries about one another, photos of them everywhere, etc. It was so well thought out and put together. We had such a great time! In fact, excluding Teddy who I put to sleep in the house earlier, we were all up until 11am having fun then helping clean up.

I should mention that the wedding was only the second time we had spent time with Bonnie (if you don't count Skype phone calls). We met her on our trip in the Virgin Islands and fell in love with her, but of course we still wanted to get to know her better. Although it was busy for her at the wedding, it was so great to see her again and spend time with her family. We spent most of the night talking to her parents and siblings, as well as their spouses and kids. We became acquainted with them and felt like we were getting to know Bonnie better too. All of her family was so kind to us and warm- we felt so welcomed and enjoyed all the conversations we were able to have. 

As I mentioned, we stayed to help clean up then loaded our kids up around 11pm to head to our hotel. It was the cheapest we could find, and there was a reason why. To put it mildly, if we had gotten bed bugs in our hotel room I wouldn't have been surprised, but it was too late to switch so we made it work. I wish I could say we were all so tired we slept well, but Nayeli refused to sleep in her sleeping bag on the floor and we three ended up in the queen size bed together. Needless to say, we were all glad to have morning come. We had fun plans for the day and were ready to get going.


The Wedding Day

The Seattle temple

Since the wedding wasn't until the afternoon, we met Ben's dad and grandparents at a mall near the temple to eat lunch at P.F. Chang's. It was fun to chat with them and get caught up on what has been happening in their family. We then all drove to the temple and left the kids with Chelsea and the other grand kids to play.

I have to interject and say that during this whole process, I didn't feel like it was my brother-in-law that was getting married, but my little brother. I have always felt a connection to Sam since we served missions to adjoining countries (he went to Guatemala) and I often wrote him letters since I understood the area and people well. Then while he was in college he lived with my parents twice. He learned many of their quirks and habits and I could often joke with him about them just the way I would with a sibling (sorry Mom and Dad! :) ) Plus Sam is such a great kid and Ben and I have grown very close to him since he returned from his mission. For all these reasons and more, I was so excited for him to be married.

The sealing was beautiful. The spirit was so strong and as Sam and Bonnie walked into the room I had the strongest impression that, "This is right". Bonnie looked beautiful and both she and Sam looked so at peace. The sealer gave powerful advice and all that he said was a good reminder to me of the power of the temple and the sacred promises I have made to God and Ben. Ben sat near me as a witness and it warmed my heart to see how proud he was of Sam. After the ceremony we got to give hugs to Sam and Bonnie and I felt as if my heart would burst with joy for them! What a tender moment it was! I was and am so happy for them. What an amazing beginning to their future together.

After the ceremony, we went back outside to wait for them. And then... they emerged!

This is a reflection of the whole day- massive smiles and happiness everywhere.

Nayeli helping Bonnie with her dress, sippy cup in hand :)

 With Tio Sam

 Teddy with David. The real question is, who stuck their finger up their nose first? :)

All the groomsman

 Siblings

Clearly Sammy had too many sandwiches at the reception the night before :)

Wheeee! Ben entertaining the kids while we waited to be in photos.

 What a great day!

After the sealing, there was a luncheon at a nearby church. The food was great and there was a fun slideshow of Sam and Bonnie. We then bid farewell to the bride and groom and helped clean up. Since we have never been to downtown Seattle, our original plan was to stay another night and sight see in Seattle on Sunday after church. As we the left the luncheon though we looked at each other and realized we just wanted to go home. Our kids were grouchy, sleep deprived, and when we thought about staying in our hotel another night, it was a no brainer. So we drove back to the hotel, packed our bags, and headed the three hours (no traffic this time) home. It was the perfect decision and we were so happy to sleep in our own beds that night.  

The entire wedding was wonderful and once again, we are so happy for Sam and Bonnie. We look forward to getting to know them as a couple, spending time together, and being a family.