"Well obviously I know something about boys... I am engaged!!"

the sweetest newlyweds ever: Courtney and Ben Hugo

married July 2, 2008 // Bountiful LDS temple

We're home, sweet home from our lovely five day trip to Utah and Nevada! We had a lovely, bloggable time in both states, but we'll go chronologically and start with Utah - but rest assured that the Elko Fourth of July part-ay WILL be recorded for our posterity :)

The Smiths (Reed, Gloria, Will, Courtney, Nate and Heidi) are dear, wonderful family friends who lived in Boise once upon a time and have been unable to shake the Bradens despite their return to Utah a decade and a half ago. While in Boise, Gloria and my mom served in the Relief Society presidency together and Will, Courtney, and Nate attended my mom's preschool. After they moved, we visited them intermittently until the spring of 2000, when we happened to visit over Spring Break and into the first weekend of April - General Conference weekend. Six months later, we showed up again on a General Conference weekend, and we've been there ever since for the Semi-annual Smith-Braden(-Izatt-Hugo) General Conference Extravaganza! *It should be noted that we've all missed a couple for various reasons, but most of the Smith and Braden family members are always there, with the exception of the most recent April conference since baby Will was a week and a half old. But we'll be there this October! Anyways, we've since starting mixing in random winter and summer visits because half a year is too long to go without enjoying their fabulous hospitality. Last summer, the occasion was Will coming home from his mission, and this summer was Courtney's wedding!

Our intention was to leave Boise around nine-thirty Tuesday morning, but we followed tradition and left three hours late. This was baby Will's first real car trip, and he did fabulously, most likely due to the fact that Clyde slept most of the way, and therefore didn't poke and prod the wee one. After a quick stop at the Smith home to change clothes, we arrived in Salt Lake City at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for Courtney and Ben's wedding dinner, which was very elegant and grown up (at least until we rolled in with a car seat carrier, diaper bag, sippy cup, and two boys under two!).

Heidi, baby Will, myself, and my mama on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Clyde jumping off of things, as usual
baby Will looking darlingly preppy - don't worry, we buckle him into the seat when it's in a car, I promise!

Wednesday morning was the actual sealing and my mom, Chuck and I were able to attend the lovely ceremony. Because I'm a ninny, I didn't have my camera with me to take pictures outside the temple, so you'll just have to IMAGINE how fabulous Courtney and Ben looked until I can procure a picture from a wiser wedding guest (hence my cop-out use of their engagement picture above). After a spot of lunch and a quick trip to Target for a gift, we availed ourselves to the bride's family to help in the reception location: their beautiful backyard. Chuck did a variety of jobs, including weeding, pool cleaning, moving stuff, etc, my mom touched up flower decor bouquets and helped rig the fountain, and I . . . I . . . um, wrangled my children? Thank goodness I could volunteer my darling husband to do the heavy labor and such! We were really happy to help, since Gloria was invaluable in the prep for our reception back in the day - she was pretty much responsible for the beautiful arch we stood under in our reception line! Courtney and Ben's reception was amazing, especially the two pieces of apple crumb pie I had :)

Clyde hugging a little cousin of the bride's - I just told him to say 'hi' to her!
Yep, this is the only picture I got of the happy couple - go Jana!
Heidi Georgia, the BEST (and prettiest) maid of honor ever. Also, please note the aforementioned cool fountain in the pool.
Mmm, I forgot that Clyde helped before hand, also. He has a seriously unhealthy obsession with brooms.

Here are baby Will and, uh, regular Will. While it is true that while we were engaged, Chuck lost a high stakes video game bet to Will (involving naming rights of our oldest child, naturally) we maintain that our child is named after his father and great-grandfather, but Will is allowed to believe otherwise :)

This is Courtney's cute friend Keely, who not only served as a bridesmaid but also as a baby-sitter (along with Heidi but not so much Nate) for Clyde and baby Will while we were in the temple. Despite his apparent indifference in this picture, Clyde LOVED Keely and Heidi!

And finally, the obligatory family picture because I'm obsessed - regardless of where we go or what we're doing, I always try to get a shot of the four of us, especially if we're at all dressed up or color coordinated. Chuck knows this and so he sweetly arranged for Heidi's friend Lydia to take a couple quick pictures at the reception.

Yay for weddings! Courtney is one of the most darling, spirited redheads ever and she and Ben adore each other. We're so glad that we could be there for all the fun!