We're in Utah again! Surprise! Nope, not a surprise. We are always in Utah. My baby brother Timmy got married yesterday. Cue all the tears of joy and nostalgia. I'm very excited about Abby being in the family. She loves Harry Potter and Halmark movies and jumpsuits and donuts. She's a good egg. Jared is on a "blackout rotation," meaning there was no way he could get time off to come to the wedding. So Jack was my wedding date. If it had been on any other day besides a Wednesday Jared might have been able to finagle his schedule to use his personal day to make it down, but alas. Wednesday was the only day they could get married. Glad they did too, because I think Utah Valley is cracking down on covid HARD as of today and they might have had to cancel their luncheon/reception/maybe even wedding if their wedding was even a day later.
^^My first and probably last time as a real life bridesmaid with a designated bridesmaid dress! Isn't it beautiful?! Nicely done, Abby. It was really fun to have a full family/party day yesterday. I'm a little sad that all my siblings are married now, because no more Haines family wedding days. Don't get me wrong, it was exhausting. I was in charge of the luncheon slideshow and I am a first-rate procrastinator, so I pulled several late nights in a row trying to bust that out. It ended up great but I am wiped.
The luncheon was in Grandma Roper's backyard. It ended up being hot and we had to scramble for canopy shades for each table. But again, it turned out great and the food was top notch.
We all had headaches after that long in the sun, so went for a soda run with my sisters-in-law. Love these guys. They better not move away right before we make it back to Utah for good (AMANDA......)! jk, do what is best for ur family---and stay here with me because I am the most important family of all!
The reception was at the White Shanty. So beautiful! I know it's an old warehouse, but I just love its charm. Whoever was in charge of decorating nailed it.
Some genius decided to put the donut peg board right at toddler height, so Jack and his cousin Asher ate about a million donuts each. Gr8 dinner. I don't even mind because the donuts were amaaaaazing (I think from Provo Bakery?) and I would have liked to have a million donuts myself. Jack was in heaven all day. He's such a social little guy, which is weird since he's my child. He kept finding groups of kids, then pointing at them and saying "go!" and running away to try to get someone to chase him. He started crying as we drove away and said, "Party, again, now, please!" And that's actually the first thing he said when he woke up this morning, too.
^^The life-changing bridal shower for Abby at her aunt's adorable farmhouse in Salem, UT. I'd never actually been to Salem before this but I'm in love. Woodland Hills is still my favorite, but Salem is right next door and cute and farmy and I love it. Also her aunt had these gorgeous, huge oil paintings all over her house. Turns out her son is a famous oil painter. Jared would have died. It's my life mission to get us invited back there sometime so I can show Jared.
^^Jack approving Grandma's enormous dahlias for the luncheon centerpieces.
^^Now that the wedding's over, I went for a hike up Dry Canyon this morning to see the fall leaves. 10/10, would recommend. They're on the verge of dying but it's still so pretty, and the sound of crispy leaves rustling all around is the best.
And now a few random pics from my phone lately. This ^^ is how Jack wakes Jared if he needs to be up by a certain time. Usually this happens the day after Jared worked a 24-hour shift. He could sleep all day after that, but he shouldn't because he needs to be able to sleep again during the night to resume his normal schedule the next day. Speaking of, Jared has a 24-hour shift tomorrow that I'm hoping not to be back for. This is actually probably a good week to have to be apart, other than Jared missing Tim's wedding. In addition to the 24-shift, Jared had to work two extra evening shifts at the jail, and had a huge, stressful presentation to give on Wednesday that he had to hunker down and prepare for days in advance. Hopefully next week will be less hectic for the both of us.
^^Jack eating fancy Seattle chocolate from Grandma Deborah in his crib. I quickly confiscated it and ate the rest myself when I realized how amazing it was.
^^We got a freak snowstorm the first week of September in Casper. It was a BIG snowstorm, too. Like all day and all night and all another day. A LOT of snow. Jack was in heaven. I didn't mind it either because I knew we'd be back to a warm fall within a few days. The actual best winter is a 3-day-long winter.
(When I showed Jack this picture he said, "Jack, and cozy. Jack eat yorgen!) Right before the snowstorm, I checked out an audiobook about Hygge on Libby (the free library app--can't believe I just discovered this). Hygge is all about the Danish secrets to happiness, which basically comes down to "appreciating coziness." Snowstorms make for perfect hygge conditions, and we ate most of our meals by candlelight those days. I'm not excited about the 6-month Wyoming winter we're bound to have soon, but maybe hygge will make it a little more bearable. And if not, I'll at least have moving prep to keep me busy. I'll be going through everything we own and starting to box it up this winter. Now we just need an official job offer so we can know where we'll be headed next. Could be awhile though, so I'm trying to be patient about it.
