Wedding Shopping!

Mike and I took a trip to Macy's to find him a stunning suit for a very special occasion... our wedding!  Our trip was a success!  Found the perfect suit.  It helps that he looks good in anything.
Finding a wedding dress for me was not quite as successful...

My future husband

I looked all over online for the perfect Beach Wedding dress.  Unfortunately, they were all a lot of money, which we didn't exactly have.  I did find a cute website through Pinterest that had some I thought would do the trick.  The part that made me excited were the price tags.  The dress I wanted cost only $130!!  The downside was that they took a minimum of 6 weeks to ship because they were coming from China.  When the dress FINALLY arrived, I tried it on and was completely disappointed because it did not fit right at all.  I did not look like the gorgeous bride in the website photo.  I realize I am not her, but the dress just did not flatter me :(  That meant I had less than a month to find an acceptable wedding dress.

The strap about cut off all circulation in my neck and my head barely fit through the tiny hole.  The empire waist came down WAY too far.  A bride's worst nightmare:  finding a last minute dress...

I pictured the dress looking more like this pic

I searched for the contact info for the Chinese lady up in Logan who I bought my first wedding dress for... I remembered she was amazing, and I don't know why I didn't start with her in the first place.  Lesson learned.  Turns out she bought a shop on Center Street in Logan called Belle's Bridal, and offered to work some seamstress magic on my dress or even find me a new one for a discounted price, if I liked another better.  After trying on several dresses I found a winner.  It was the One.  Big sigh of relief!  And the price tag was incredible as well, not much more than it would've cost to taylor the existing dress.

Avril and McKel posing at the wedding dress shop.  Avril wanted mommy to choose a purple dress... glad I went with my own choice on this one.

 Don't worry, I will post TONS of pics of the winning dress when I post my wedding day pics :) :) :)

Date Night

Never thought I'd say this, but there are a few perks to being divorced... one of them being that every other weekend we have a free babysitter.  Which means we get to spend some time together, alone without the chaos that comes along with having little ones (whom we adore, don't get the wrong idea).  We dined out at a fancy Italian restaurant in downtown Salt Lake.  It was lovely :)
Oh yeah, and my man is soooo sweet.  He bought me flowers just because.  They were delivered to my work.  He knew I was having a difficult time adjusting to the transition of a move away from Logan.  He knows how to make me smile and feel loved.  I am a lucky girl!  Love him.

On our way out to din din

My beautiful bouquet from my sweetie pie

Dining Out

Dining out when you have two small children is just never a good idea.  Yet somehow the idea always still sounds appealing.  I had a coupon to Johanna's Kitchen so thought we'd go out as a family and use the coupon.  First off, food = overpriced and not so yummy.  Secondly, McKel was climbing into other booths, running all over the restaurant, and threw a complete fit.  Next time we want to dine out as a family, I choose a place with a playland to kill some of that crazy energy these girls have.

Nana Comes

Since Mike had to work in St. George for a few days, Nana came down to visit with the girls and help out for a bit.  She brought the garlands that she hand designed for their hair for the upcoming wedding.

Avril colors while trying on her special wedding garland.  So beautiful!

These are all the decorations Nana made for the wedding and reception.  She did such an amazing job!  She made the garlands, the flower girl baskets, as well as the bridal bouquet.  They turned out just perfect.

Nana also brought Halloween cupcakes as a treat for the girls.  Avril devoured the cupcake and hams it up for the camera, showing off her pearly whites!  This pic gets saved to show her boyfriend someday :)

McKel is more interested in making messes than eating her treat.  She admires the mess of spaghetti and cupcake on the counter.

Thank you for coming Nana!  The girls loved getting to spend time with you, and we very much appreciate the help :)

St. George Family Photo Shoot

 Mike had to do an IHOP remodel in St. George for work.  I just so happen to have an old high school friend who lives down there and is one of the most amazing photographers ever!  Since we didn't have any family photos with all 5 of us in them, I thought we should all join Mike in St. George and meet up for a family photo shoot.  It was a quick trip, kinda crazy, but a success!
The girls, Bret, and I drove down together to meet up with Mike.  We stopped at this animal farm to see all the funny looking animals, and the girls enjoyed some DQ ice cream cones :)

McKel checks out a real life Little Pony!  Avril is always happiest when eating a treat.

ice cream soul patch on Avril :)

Llama llama!

Bret checks out the ostrich

The pony is just Avril's size!

Bret poses with his soon to be lil sis!

 ...once we finally arrived, we hurriedly stopped by Mike's hotel to get all glamorous looking for our photos.  Chaos!  But so worth it, I LOVE the way the photos turned out.  Here are some of the faves (I have a lot of faves):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you Kellie!  Couldn't be happier with the photos.  Now to decide which ones to frame and put on the wall....