Honeymooners

The first day we arrived in Cali we went to lunch with Zach's family and then headed to the USS Midway with my parents and Grandpa Dee. It was so fun to see how much my grandpa loved seeing the ship and all of the different airplanes. After touring around San Diego for a while we headed to Carlsbad where we were staying in a Condo. That night we went to BJ's to eat with both of our families. The waiter brought us a cute little cake with ice cream and a candle for our wedding!

The next day we went to the ocean with for a little while to bodyboard and then went back to the pool/splashpad that was at our condo. After playing in the sun all day I went back to the room to get ready for the engagements we were taking that night at the beach. I went and had my hair done at a place close to our condo and then we loaded up to head to the beach! Zach and I road separate because he hadn't seen me in my dress yet. All of our family came with us so we could get family pictures as well, and it was so fun to see our little nieces and nephews playing and watching us. I was able to walk up behind Zach and get it captured on camera for him to have the "first look."We ended up taking pictures until dark and then went back to our Condo to get ready for the BIG DAY! I remember just laying in bed thinking about everything and so excited for our wedding day that I couldn't sleep! It was around 2 am when I fell asleep and then I was back up at 6 am to go get ready! Our day was so special and everything we could have dreamed of and more. We spent our first night at the Carlsbad Seapointe Resort. Our family loaded us up with all of the extra groceries they had left from the first couple days we were there so we took it all to our room with us. 

Day One: We slept in and snuggled all morning and had a muffin, yogurt and orange juice  for our first breakfast as husband and wife! After getting ready for the day we headed to Oceanside where we were planning to stay the rest of our honeymoon. We went and got checked in at the Oceanside Pier Resort and immediately changed into our swimming suits and hit the beach. We walked around, jumped in the water, and enjoyed our first of many sunsets for the week. The next day we slept in (of course), and then packed a picnic and went to the beach.

Day Two: of the honeymoon we went swimming, bodyboarded, and enjoyed a picnic on the beach. My parents ended up staying a few days after the wedding as well so we decided to meet up with them that evening. We ended up going to Old Town where we visited the Mormon Battalion, walked the streets, and had some yummy mexican food for dinner. After dinner we drove over to Coronado and walked the beaches and enjoyed the sunset. It was fun to see my parents after we had been so busy with all of the wedding stuff.

Day Three: Was a low key day. We walked up to a fun little restaurant for breakfast and then headed to the beach. We pretty much laid out, napped, cuddled, and people watched. We went back to the hotel and watched the sunset from the hot tub and then went back to the room for a relaxing bubble bath and movie watching. 

Day Four: We met up with Zach's family for a day at the beach! We bodyboarded until our stomachs were rubbed raw and had a picnic again at the beach. We had fun walking the pier and watching all of the people fishing off of it.

 

Day Five: We decided to do a day at Sea World. It was a blast and took the majority of our day! It was so fun to see all of the shows with the dolphins and killer whales. After getting back to Oceanside we ate dinner at a firestone pizza place by our hotel. 

Day Six: We swam in the pool and the ocean, soaked up some more sunshine, and then went to eat at the restaurant that was at the end of the pier called Ruby's Diner. It is a cute little burger joint with an amazing view. We had an amazing banana split for dessert and talked about all of the fun memories we had been making the last week and how fun it was to be married! 

Day Seven: Was our last day beachin' it up. We spent plenty of time cozying in our room and snuggling. The yummy place we ate for our last day was called "Hello Betty." It was a fish house along the ocean that was really fun. Zach had the fish n' chips and I had a mahi mahi fish sandwhich that was so good. We had so much fun on our honeymoon and we feel so blessed to have been able to do all of the things that we did. It was so fun to come home to a HUSBAND! Yay! I no longer have to go home alone every night! Marriage has been the best!

Our cute room at the Oceanside Pier Resort

Our little red car we bopped all around in

Our Happily Ever After

August 14, 2014

 When Zach and I started to talk about where we were going to get married I told him that I really wanted our wedding to be about us and our family. I have always loved the beach and the San Diego Temple. When we started to talk about it realistically we weren't sure if it would work with our families...babies, expenses, work, traveling....but once we spoke with everyone they were more than amazing about helping us have the wedding we hoped for. We flew out on Tuesday August 12th to spend a couple days doing things with our family and then get MARRIED on Thursday August 14th! We went down to the beach on Wednesday the 13th to get some engagement pictures on the beach as well as some family pictures! We are so incredibly blessed to have the amazing supportive families that we do! 

These are a couple pictures of "the first look."  

Thursday morning I went to get my hair done bright and early. We left after that to head to the temple and had to be there by 9 AM. We were greeted by the sweetest temple workers! We were the only sealing that day so we were never rushed and felt like we had all of the time in the world. The temple workers took my temple bag when we first got there and once I got to the bridal room they had made sure my dress was freshly ironed and had everything laid out. My shoe had lost it's bow and they had noticed and sewn it on and added a velcro piece to my packet so it wouldn't open. The bridal room was so beautiful and they had a glass vase of water and a cute little dish of mints there for my Mom and I. There are so many little details about the day that I never want to forget.

Having our closest friends and family there with us was the biggest blessing. Our sealing was so special and I'll never forget the promises I was able to make to my sweet husband. When the sealing was over we were able to stay on the temple grounds and soak it all up. Keeley took a ton of beautiful pictures for us and we are SO grateful for her.

After pictures we headed back to Carlsbad where we were staying and we had a little lunch at our condos and visited with the family. The kids all had a little break and either went to the pool or the beach to play for a few hours. Later that night we had a dinner with all of the family at the Carlsbad Seapointe Resort. It was absolutely gorgeous and right on the beach. We had a big banquet room with the whole wall of windows overlooking the ocean. My Mom went above and beyond what I could have ever hoped for. The caterer had a beautiful table set up with yummy food! Denise had made a cake for us while we were there that we cut and had for dessert (yes she packed all of her cake plates and cooking supplies ALL of the way to California). We had our wedding video playing and also had a DJ with a dance floor! The DJ was so much fun and played music for us while we ate and then we had our parents and siblings give us a little toast. I was able to have my first dance with my new hubby that night as the sunset! Our first dance was to "Hey Pretty Girl" by Kip Moore (the song that Zach sang to me when he proposed).

We danced for a couple hours that night! It was so much fun to dance with our family and see our cute nieces and nephews have so much fun. We also roasted marshmallows in the firepit that was right outside of our banquet room.  Our last dance that night was to "Not A Moment Too Soon" by Tim McGraw. This was the song I had sent to Zach a while after we started dating that was exactly how I felt about him. "Not a moment too soon, with not a minute to spare. You touched my heart when I didn't have a prayer. In my darkest hour, when my world was filled with gloom. Your sweet love saved me, not a moment too soon." We spent our first night together at the Seapointe resort and then stayed for our honeymoon in Oceanside until August 21st. 
The weekend we returned home we had an Open House in North Ogden. We had so many family members and friends come to support us and show their love for us. We had an ice cream bar in a waffle bowel with tons of different toppings. I can honestly say that I would never change a thing. I have married my best friend and the most amazing man I could have ever imagined. He amazes me on a daily basis of the way he is able to give and show love to me and the people around him. 

“Marry your best friend. I do not say that lightly. Really, truly find the strongest, happiest friendship in the person you fall in love with. Someone who speaks highly of you. Someone you can laugh with. The kind of laughs that make your belly ache, and your nose snort. The embarrassing, earnest, healing kind of laughs. Wit is important. Life is too short not to love someone who lets you be a fool with them. Make sure they are somebody who lets you cry, too. Despair will come. Find someone that you want to be there with you through those times. Most importantly, marry the one that makes passion, love, and madness combine and course through you. A love that will never dilute - even when the waters get deep, and dark.”