St George Weekend {Karlie's Wedding}

This past weekend, my cousin Karlie got married! She has lived in the St. George area her whole life, so it makes sense that she would want her wedding to be in St. George. When Brynne & I went to her bridal shower a few months ago, we discussed coming down for her wedding and decided to make a weekend out of it! Last minute, Jeannene & Lauryl ended up coming with us, so it was our first trip with the 4 sisters and no parents!

Friday we left around 7 PM. Popper rode in our car. We listened to the BYU game on the way down - they beat Utah State 31-14. Not an expected win, so that was a nice surprise! Utah State has got REALLY good the last few years, and our offense has been struggling a bit. But we pulled out the W, which is always nice!

Driving down to St. George

We got down there around 11 PM and checked into our hotel in Hurricane. We stayed at Super 8. This was also the weekend of the St. George marathon, and EVERY hotel was booked. We had wanted to stay at the Marriott in St. George that we stayed at on our way to Vegas in April, but they were all booked up, along with everyone else. So we settled on this hotel. No bugs or anything like that, so that was a good. Not a total crap hole. But not as nice as other hotels I've stayed at. Guess that's what we get for booking the hotel {last week} so close to the wedding!   

After we got checked in, Jake, Popper & I went to get 4th meal at Taco Bell. We came back to the hotel, got everyone situated for the night and went to sleep. Brynne & Blake woke up early the next morning and went to Kneaders for breakfast with Blake's mom, who drove in from Vegas to see them. Jake, Popper, Jeannene & I had the continental breakfast at the hotel and then took it easy until conference started. The morning session was amazing - there were some really good talks. I love conference. Unfortunately, it ended up being the only session I was able to listen to. I'm hoping to watch the rest of the talks on the internet with Jake for Family Home Evening in the next few months.

After Brynne & Blake got back, we got ready for the wedding and then left to grab a quick bite before we got to the ceremony. We let Brynne & Blake chose, and they chose Taco Bell! Good thing we all really like eating there haha!

Everyone getting some lunch

Our hotel was actually SUPER close to where the reception was, which worked out perfectly. We got there, signed the guest book and enjoyed the gorgeous surroundings. It was absolutely beautiful! The day before had been super cold & crazy windy, but Saturday it was clear as could be, with almost no breeze during the ceremony & it was actually pretty hot. So glad the weather turned out for their special day!

The sign in table - they had a country theme with orange, pink & yellow as their colors

Their new last name, the date & their initials were carved on tree stumps throughout the place. Such a neat idea!



Gorgeous waterfall right above where the guests sat during the ceremony

View of where the guests sat, and where the ceremony would take place - across the pond on the platform, while their parents sat in the gazebo

Uncle Bryan, Aunt Shauna & cousins Halee, Adam & Joshua were all there too! Brandon had a football game, so he stayed home

Waiting for the ceremony to start

Our view of the platform and gazebo they would be married at

I love this sexy guy

The parents walking across the bridge to the gazebo

Karlie's dad Gordon {my uncle} and her step dad walked her down the aisle

The ceremony was beautiful. Colten had a family friend who recently became a Bishop and he was able to perform the ceremony for them. He gave some great advice and overall it was awesome. I'm very excited for these two to be married. After the ceremony, they walked back across the bridge where we were so that everyone could hug them and then we walked around before the luncheon started and looked at the decor throughout the rest of the venue. 

Their  cake outside of a second gazebo. They had a table set up for gifts and pictures hung up on a clothesline throughout the gazebo. Super cute!

Close up of their cake. It looked just like the tree stumps everywhere!

Other side of the bridge, where the rest of the pond was. It was so beautiful!

After the ceremony, they served a dutch oven luncheon for those invited to the ceremony. There was chicken, potatoes, salads, rolls & 3 different kinds of cobbler with ice cream. SUPER yummy! And it smelled AMAZING!

Eating the yummy food 

The fountain that led to the waterfall. Once again, everything was gorgeous!

After we were done eating, there were a few toasts & speeches given. Because of where we were sitting, I couldn't hear anything {that gorgeous waterfall sure was noisy!} which sucks. We helped them clean up a little bit and then went and mingled with family. It didn't take long before Adam & Joshua started using Blake & Jake as a jungle gym. Seriously about melted my heart to see Jake playing with all the kids.

Adam & Joshua having fun with Jake

My Uncle Gordon and his 3 grandkids {technically they're step grandkids but you couldn't tell by how much they love him or how he treats them! Damian is oldest, then Xander & Jacie is the adorable little girl}

Jacie absolutely LOVED Jake - she followed him everywhere. Seriously, be still my heart. I was dying!

Damian, Xander, Adam, Joshua & Jacie playing with Jake & Jeannene

Shauna told Adam he needed to go hug Karlie at the beginning of the wedding. It took him 2 hours to gather the courage. So cute!

Karlie & Adam

Karlie's dress was gorgeous! Only shot I got of her dress - talking with Bryan, Myrleen & Gordon. Can't believe I forgot to get a picture of her with her hubby!

After we were done at the luncheon, we left to go hang out at Bryan & Shauna's hotel in Cedar City. They had an indoor pool, so we ran back to our hotel, changed into comfy clothes & grabbed swimsuits and headed to swim with them. Jake & I chose not to swim, so we just sat next to the hot tub and talked with everyone. At one point, Jake & Blake pulled Popper out of the hot tub and threw her in the pool. Hilarious. To get back at Jake, since Blake was already wet, Popper came and snuggled up on Jake and got him SOAKING wet. It was SUPER funny!

After swimming, we all drove over to Chili's and had a late dinner together. It was fun to get to talk with Bryan & Shauna and to get to spend more time with their kids. Even though they only live in PG, Jake & I don't see them as much as we'd like so it was really nice to get to talk with everyone. After dinner, we drove back to our hotel and got ready for bed. Both nights we went to bed well after midnight, which is becoming a norm for me at home too. I've been such an early bird sleeper this whole pregnancy and all the sudden I don't go to bed until nearly 1 AM each night! Once we got back to our room, we all fell asleep fairly fast. I took a picture early the next morning of our chaotic sleeping arrangements in our room.

Jeannene slept on a roll out bed, Jake & I slept on the bed closest to the bathroom & Popper, Brynne & Blake slept in the bed by the window. We had zero walking room and no outlets thanks to all the cell phones, curling irons & laptops plugged in everywhere

Palm tree outside our hotel!

Sunday morning we woke up, had the continental breakfast again and then packed up and headed home. The drive home went by pretty fast, which I was grateful for. And once again, I made it the whole trip without throwing up! Gotta love my motion sickness medicine! I'm so glad that I haven't been motion sick lately. It's been SO nice! I started feeling crummy as we got closer to home, so once we got home we dropped Popper off and picked up Max from my parents house and headed back home, where we proceeded to sleep for the next 6 ish hours haha. I waited too long to eat dinner and ended up throwing up, but I know that's a trigger for me and just chose to not eat since I didn't feel good. I'm hoping I get feeling better in the next few days, since working & being sick isn't much fun. There's been a pretty nasty cold going around that so far I have avoided. Hoping it stays that way!

It was a super fun trip, although it was pretty fast. I'm glad we got to see so many family members, and got to see Karlie's wedding. Congrats Karlie & Colten!