Stizzy ties the knot!

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A few days before Christmas, we were delighted to be able to attend the Salt Lake City wedding of Chuck's absolutely darling sister Amanda and the equally awesome Steve:

. (photo courtesy of Wings of Blue photography)

.Aren't they beautiful? But first we had to get to Utah, which meant leaving Idaho SUPER early on Saturday, the day after my graduation. I may have grumbled the tiniest bit about how early we all piled in the car but luckily Chuck agreed to drive so I could snuggle up with a blanket and pillow in the front seat and sleep peacefully. Until THIS woke me up:
. Oh yeah, we blew a tire! It worked out so well, though, because A) Chuck was driving, and calmly pulled off onto the shoulder (whereas I would have probably panicked and caused an accident) and B) we were rockin' a caravan with Chuck's parents, so together Chuck and Pops made quick work of changing the tire and C) thanks to leaving so early, we had enough wiggle room in the schedule that the stop in Jerome for a new tire didn't stress us all out!

Les Schwab was so great; we were in and out in about twenty minutes, just enough time for the boys to run around a bit. Then it was back into the car, where I slept a bit more, the boys watched movies, and we had way too much fun talking to Chuck's parents back and forth with two-way radios :).

We arrived in Salt Lake safe and sound and got all checked into our excellent hotel (more on how five days of hotel living spoiled us for regular life in a future post).

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That evening Amanda went through the Bountiful LDS temple, and Chuck and I felt so blessed to be there and be a part of it. Mucho gracias to Sam and Terri, who not only watched Clyde and Will that evening but also took them overnight. Chuck and I drove to Orem to retrieve them the next day and spent some time hanging out and eating yummy food. We also managed to find a sacrament meeting in Orem to crash, although since our timing was a bit off we couldn't stay for the whole thing - who starts church at 11:30 instead of 11 o'clock anyways?

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Sunday night all of Chuck's family gathered at Aunt Sue's house for dinner, except for Uncle Bill and Aunt Gina's family, as they were snowed in at an airport somewhere (Detroit?).

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Visiting in the kitchen . . .
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little bit o' Guitar Hero downstairs . . .
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and storytime upstairs!
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The next day was the big day! Amanda stayed in our room Sunday night, so Chuck showered and dressed early and then headed down to watch ESPN in the lobby to give Amanda some space. He also left this on our door:
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He's such a cute, overprotective big brother!
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The beautiful bride was actually up and getting gorgeous, but the note did help let these two boys sleep in a bit longer:
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Okay, it might be because Will is wearing Clyde's sweatshirt, but if I glance quickly at this picture I can't tell who's who.
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Amanda had to be at the temple early, so I waited until after she left to start getting ready. And that's when my fabulous personal hair and make-up guru Heidi showed up and did her magic:
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Heidi, me, and Desirie (Heidi's BFF who is now, by extension, my BFF also).

Not only did they come to get me all dolled up, they also took care of Clyde and Will while Chuck and I were at the sealing (wedding) ceremony. It took so much stress off of me to know that the boys were happy and safely accompanied over to meet us at the temple, thanks again girlies!
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We had a little downtime before Steve and Amanda came out of the temple, so I let the little boys run around. The Salt Lake temple is so pretty - and I loved the cool trees.
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Stephen and Amanda Lindsay, yay! Steve is now officially the last 'joiner' in the Izatt family and we couldn't be happier :)
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It was FREEZING outside; the little boys (plus cousin George) ran around and around to stay warm. Luckily we were only needed for the first couple 'big group' pictures, so then we warmed up at the hotel before the luncheon and took wonderfully long, much needed naps before the reception that night.
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Their decor was perfect; I wish I'd taken more pictures.
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Beautiful quilts! I don't know the story with all of them, but Steve made the blue one in the middle a few years ago (Steve's mom is an a-mazing quilter) with the intention of someday giving it to his future wife! Isn't that so sweet?

Sam and Terri were able to come to the reception, so here's our effort at a nice picture. As always, note my tight grasp on Will to stop him from wiggling out of my arms. Also, isn't Terri so cute pregnant?.
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Pretty soon the reception was over and it was time to (quickly) pack everything up in preparation for the Elko reception the next night.
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As always, I volunteered my husband to help on my behalf while I chased Will around and took pictures :)
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The cutest thing was how intent Clyde was on helping - luckily Chuck found a job that Clyde could do. He kept excitedly telling me how 'Daddy carries the big trees, and I carry the little ones!'

. And that was our Salt Lake City adventure; more to come on the exciting Elko reception adventure, including a birthday party and a very blizzard-y drive during which I snapped off the driver's side windshield wiper. Stay tuned!