Beach Photo Shoot

The view from the 'top'! Kristin took this while the rest of us trekked down the ramp to the sand and water. It was a gorgeous evening.

Heisler Park Beach in Laguna

Lisa hadn't been to the beach in almost 20 years. She was so anxious to get her feet in the water. We literally grew up at the ocean. Here she is when the first wave washed over those toesies!

Jenn took this one looking in from the water. She was wading as well! It's a good one, but the ones Steve took looking out AT the water are amazing. Robert is definitely a 'knight in shining armor'. He made a fantastic save of his 'princess' when he picked her up in a flash as a rogue wave washed up waayyy to close and almost got her and the dress. You know--gotta save the dress at all costs right now! He twirled her to safety and sacrificed the pants of his brand new suit! Steve was laying down in the sand looking up taking the pictures and got wet, but saved the camera! Oh the risks at the beach when the tide is coming in!

We had a GREAT time. He shot until the sun was gone. Then we were off for home to get the rest of us in some dry clothes and get her out of the dress.

Temple Photo Shoot

Here we go with the photo shoot. These aren't the pictures that the photographer, Steve, took, but ones from my cousins, Kristin and Jennifer's cameras. What a fun evening we all had. I took absolutely not ONE picture because I was too busy being the mother of the bride! So thank you to the 'gals' that I borrowed these from!

Natalie is TOTALLY a traditional girl. Check out the hair and train!

In front of the window of one of the sealing rooms.

On the temple grounds. Kristin was playing around with her new camera and loved how she could focus in on Robert and fade Natalie out in the background.

The NBeach Temple was supposed to be white, but all the neighborhoods wouldn't agree to that, so President Hinckley chose a 'pink' granite. It is soooo gorgeous in every light of day and night, and works well with Natalie's colors! The pictures at this temple just 'pop' the bride in her white gown.

You just got to love the California Pepper Trees here!

By the columns at the temple entrance.

"Wuv...TWU wuv".. (name that movie???)


Happy Feet today. They'll be totally sore the day of the wedding.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Happy Happy Birthday To You!

Mike came 2 weeks early, so by the time I was two weeks early with Josh I was READY and EXPECTING this baby to be here! No, he took his sweet time and decided to come 2 weeds LATE! It was a lesson in patience to go an extra month.

But my labor and delivery were MUCH faster and easier this time around. 5 hours start to finish. I did have postpartum hemmoraghing and ended up having to have a blood transfusion. It was 1980, in Provo, but every so often they still test me for HIV. He ran a fever on the day we were to come home, so they transferred him to the NICU. Scared the life out of us. They tested him for everything under the sun, only to find that they 'thought' it might be an infected circumcision. Yes, fasting and prayers truly are REAL!

What a happy baby. Content, smiley, good eater and sleeper. He was my biggest baby weighing in at 7lbs. 14 oz. Yes, I have small babies. Nice for me!

We were so excited to have another boy! Michael had a brother and they were close and always have been. We were so poor with Duff finishing up his last semesters of college. But we were HAPPY. We had each other, our little boys, the necessities of life, and the gospel. What more did we need????

Josh, we love you! We are proud of you. We love Meredith too.

HAPPY 28TH BIRTHDAY!

More for Monday...

Still trying to catch up and regroup from the FAB weekend. Check back soon....

Well, today was a whirlwind. I woke up with my mind going a million miles an hour and had to will my body to keep up! BUT I got a lot done to get back on track.

Christine and Taylor had a plan in place since last night. Originally they were going to get up at 5am to go next door and swim. Fortunately for everyone--they ended up sleeping far past that! They made breakfast for all of us--Christine's light and fluffy pancakes. I wished I had taken a picture, but I didn't even think of it until later. Brain burnout. Then they took off for the pool.

The cleaners came, I began the 12 loads of laundry that needed to get done. Jenn got them packed up and then they left for the airport with Duff as he is going to Utah to meet with his brothers and sisters and go through their mom's house and divide things up and get it ready to sell.

Mike and Adrianne had all of us over for dinner. Mike was grilling away, Adrianne was setting everything up and Meredith was making the salad. A BIG THANKS for having us over. I was 'pooped' and very grateful for not having to be in the kitchen tonight. They have made their place very comfortable and it is nice when we go over there.

We came home at 10pm and Addy came over to spend the night with Christine. They decided to sleep on the couches in the family room and watch Pride and Prejudice--Mormon Version. What a crack up. Addy hadn't seen it before. I stayed up with them and watered the pots in the back and front at 11:30! I got a burst of energy and thought I might as well get things done. Finished up the 12th load of laundry too. Whew--at least I won't have to worry about that tomorrow.

Sunday

Lots to tell, but I'm too tired! I'll get to it soon, I promise...

Okay--Duff had meetings, the rest of us slept in because we were EXHAUSTED from Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Then up and mad dashes for showering and off to 11am church. Lisa and group woke up at 10:30 am and were stunned to realize they had slept that long at the bungalows! They packed up and dropped off Jennifer and Taylor at our house and got on the road for Arizona.

When we got back from church, we had left over Tutto Fresco pasta and salad from the shower the night before. Jennifer got her second wind and made ANOTHER double batch of chocolate chip cookies--she made a double batch on Thursday while I was with Natalie getting a mani/pedi for the bridal pics--from a new recipe she got from a baker where she lives. We've always been a Toll House or Mrs. Fields fans, but I think we just found a NEW one. They are awesome!

Along with the cookies she whipped out an APPLE PIE to boot! That girl has energy and she is quick! We had a good afternoon and evening visiting and laughing.

We had our monthly 'FHE' with all the kids and spouses. They all reported back on their assignments that Duff gave them 2 weeks ago from Elder Bednar's talk on marriage. Then we went over the Proclamation on the Family again and talked about what we are in store for with our fight on the definition of marriage here in California and what we will be called upon to do. It was a good family meeting. Duff called on Taylor to give the prayer and he gave such a touching one.

Good Day!

Temple Endowment and Family Shower

The weekend is FINALLY here! We've been preparing for the many 'festivities' for months and it's soooo exciting.

Stay tuned. The temple was a sweet and wonderful experience. We are now home and relaxing for just a BIT, and then we will get the tables set and everything ready for the Family Bridal Shower!

UPDATES TO FOLLOW!

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Enjoy being together with family and friends and celebrating the birth of our great country where we live with freedom to choose. Let's be grateful to God for His hand in bringing this nation to the place where the gospel could be restored in it's fullness for our benefit!

Memory Lane

This is Redondo Beach. This is the beach I grew up at. Today while I was at the beach with the kids getting pictures taken it swiftly took me back to growing up.

• Marine layer coming in.
• Seaweed
• Rocks
• Sand
• Waves
• Foam
• Smell of the ocean
• Seagulls
• Salt
• Outdoor showers
• Chill at night
• Humidity
• Shells
• Stairs and ramps
• Sandy, white feet
• Coppertone
• Baby Oil
• Onion Dip with Ruffles Potato Chips
• Good Friends
• Bon fires
• Sunset
• Early Morning Seminary with donuts and hot chocolate
• Foster Freeze
• Grunnion running
• Riptides
• and so much more!
  

Wish You Were Here!

Family. What can I say? What would we do without one? Jennifer, Kristin, Mom and Dad, and Lisa all arrived today. Taylor, Ann, and Jan, and the Newell family all come tomorrow.

Taylor is coming to spend time with Christine. They are just a few months apart and are good cousins even though we live far apart from each other. They have the ability to just pick up right where they leave off whenever they get together. He has worked really hard and saved his money to make the trip!

Wish you were all here!

**Uncle Rodney update: Sounding good and feeling o.k. He was up 3 times today to walk.

Wedding Dry Run

I was off to the airport first thing this morning to pick up Jennifer. Came home and Natalie and Robert had weeded all the dead blooms out of the society garlic plants. They worked hard and it looks great in the back yard. Meredith ran other errands for me. So we got a lot done. A 3-fer.

Then Jenn made cookies and Natalie and I ran over to get a mani-pedi. Well, we both got pedi's and she got a mani also. BECAUSE, soon after that Elyse arrived and did the wedding hairdo for the bridal portraits and temple and beach pictures. The photographer, Steve, recommended we do them a few weeks early for several reasons:

• the evening has MUCH better lighting than the middle of the day after the temple.
• beach pictures look better at sunset
• it's a good dry run for timing on hair, make-up, scheduling, etc. before the wedding day

So we left home at 5:30pm and met Steve and Dianne at the temple. Since he is now based out of Mesa, this is his first wedding at Newport Beach temple. He spent prep time walking around to decide good places to shoot. We were there for an hour and then followed him to Heisler Park Beach in Laguna. We hiked down to the water and he shot there until the sun was all the way gone at 8:20pm.

Here is a shot of Heisler Park during the day. Isn't it beautiful? Robert made a fantastic water save of Natalie and her dress! The tide was coming in pretty high, and Steve was working fast to get lots of different shots in when all of a sudden a huge wave just kept coming and coming and before we knew it, it was seconds away from soaking her wedding gown! Being 6' 3", he just scooped her up and swung her around and saved her and the dress while Steve was scrambling to stand up and save the camera equipment. (He was laying down on the sand taking a shot looking up.)
Lisa and Jennifer and Kristin came to the photo shoot with me and the kids, and Lisa and Jenn came down to the water too. It was fun to stand in the waves.

We didn't get home until 9:30 after we hiked back up and drove home. We grabbed some take out at Wood Ranch Grill, came home and now are all unwinding and going to bed. It was a good dry run for the 25th. Oh, and btw: Steve will take pictures at the temple after the ceremony, and those will be nice, but these we can order and have framed to display at the reception. AND we will be really glad that the pictures we did today are DONE so we don't have to stand outside in the end of July heat at noon for 2 hours! Thanks for the seasoned suggestions, Mr. Photographer!

New Look

Meredith helped me change my blog look for something different. I was scared to death to change it in case I LOST everything. You know me and my computer skills! So she did it as I watched and it came out nice. Then I added the other pictures in between while making dinner. The 4th is upon us and my company starts coming tomorrow, then the temple and then the family shower!

Uncle Rodney

Pray for Uncle Rodney, Gramma Sigie's brother. He was taken to the hospital on Sunday morning right from church and had a mild heart attack. Today he had open heart surgery and had 7 ,yes, seven! bypasses. He got out of the O.R. around 6:30 pm.

Marci, his wife, and Leslie and Denise my cousins, (two of his daughters) are keeping everyone in the loop. I'll post updates as I hear them.

So far, things look okay.