On June 11th my beautiful best friend, Maegan, and her bf of 4 years sealed the deal. Lots of us have been anxiously awaiting this special day, and what a special day it was!
Maegan and Landon were married in the Logan, UT temple. It was neat to be to a temple I've never been in before and it was wonderful to get to be there for the special occasion. Here's the new Mr. and Mrs...
Maeg looked so beautiful and they both were all smiles all day.
The gorgeous Olsen family, my second family! People have often asked my relation when we're together and the Olsens always respond... she's a sister!
Of course most of the Cheetah crew was in tow to support our Maegers. Aren't they so good looking? :)
Since the sealing was bright and early. The 2 ashleys (far left and 3rd from left), Sara and I drove up to Logan the night before and split a hotel room. I loved our girl bonding time!!! Living in Tucson for the summer has made me miss my ladies mucho and it's making me sad for the day we all split our ways and leave p-town (except you AshBash ;) ha, jk. kinda)
The bride and myself. It's so fun to think about how we met in 3rd grade and how much we have done together since that time. We've been side by side all through elementary school, junior high, high school and college. We've been on family trips together, had our crazy college days and always have the most fun celebrating our birthdays with each other. It is exciting to think we're both now in a new stage of our lives. I feel like we're getting old...haha
After the sealing was an enjoyable luncheon and Maeg had the cutest dress for the event! This picture doesn't do it justice with the adorable detail on her perfect vintage find!
Nat, Dan, me, Ashbash, Maegers, Sara Rae, and Ash. They are simply the best.
Night of the wedding there was a reception in Idaho, but I had to fly back to AZ that afternoon so I could make it to my parent's farewell the following day. No worries, there was an AZ reception the following week so I felt like I didn't miss out on much. :) The reception looked fantastic and it was fun to catch up with a lot of people.
Bride and her bridesmaids.
Quite attractive, huh? I must add that Maegan's mom sewed all of our dresses...they turned out so perfect!
Hayley and Mel...beautiful friends that it has been way too long since I've seen!
My dear friends Brooke and Ashley. I can laugh all night long with these fine ladies!!! Love them.
Ah, I love weddings. So happy for you Maegs and Landon. Best of luck in NC!!!
Maddie and Lindsay were both glowing with huge smiles on Saturday! These two are loved by many and had lots of family and friends around to support them on the big day. Their sealing, luncheon and reception were all wonderful and Maddie looked STUNNING.
I have lots of photos to share and after events like these I always wish I had more. Here's some of the fam that was in town waiting for newlyweds... Everyone looked so good for the reception, especially my man and the little ones! A little blue steel with the brothers... The greatest in-laws... Modelicious bride Maddie The Nielsen fam of 2 :) The Halbison family The Jacobs family love this photo Happy happy couples Grandparents + grandkids...
Delicious and gorgeous cakes (i made the chocolate ones!)...
Maddie and Lindsay had a little choreographed number for their first dance. It was so fun and everyone loved it! As one of the wedding helpers informed Sam...the party was JAMMIN! We're so happy for Maddie and Lindsay and also grateful that we were a part of their special day. Now we'll see who has babies first ;)
Do you know how long it's been my dream to say that??? I received the greatest email yesterday which informed me I had passed my performance test and am now a certified interpreter in the state of Utah! I went from crying, to dancing, to shouting.
I'm so thankful for the teachers, mentors and ASL friends I've had who have helped teach me and push me. Don't get me wrong, I'll still need a lot of help and have a TON of learning to do, but it's so great to reach this milestone. My first certification!
I'm most grateful for my friends half way around the world who really motivated me and gave me courage to work hard for this goal. I wish I could go celebrate with them. I think about my Ghana students a lot and am so grateful for the opportunity I had to work with and learn from them.
Since this is all about ASL here, I'd love to share my favorite Deaf music video. Yes, I said Deaf music video. It's really quite inspiring:
*For some reason the first time I did this post only some of the pictures showed some of the time. Crossing my fingers blogger decides to not hate me anymore and actually show what I post 2nd time around...
Meet the soon-to-be Mrs. Leavitt...
What a babe! Two weeks ago a wonderful bridal shower was thrown for Maddie and I was so happy I was in town and able to attend! Maddie's BFF, Paige, and her mom, Shelley, hosted the fabulous party...
The party was a 50's Housewife theme and the invites told everyone to "tie on your apron and wear your heels!" I thought it was such a cute idea and might just have to copy it in the future. All the Nielsen ladies followed dress code!
Vanessa, Brooke, Maddie, Me, Sallee
A yummy brunch was served while we lounged outside in the gorgeous weather..
Then it was gift time. This girl got a lot of lovin! Can't wait to see her all glammed up as a bride June 4th!
Two nights before Sambo and I left Provo, we got to meet up with some of my long lost Heyman cousins. OK, they're not really long lost. I used to get to visit them in sunny Southern California all the time when I was younger, but it had felt like FOREVER since I had seen them. Their brother got married the day after me, so they weren't able to make it to mine and Sam's wedding and STILL hadn't met my lovely husband. A reunion was very much in order.
Shauna, me, Lisa and Cara. (I got to see the missing sister, Heather, the following night)....
It's cool to be a brunette.
The husbands and children were in tow as well and let me tell you, these kids are entertaining. I made the mistake of telling the little ones to smile with their ice cream. All three here quickly corrected me, informing me they had popsicles. Not ice cream. My bad.
This was the best photo I could get of little Ms. Bradli... Adorable Adurey... Spiderman and his twin also made an appearance. The restaurant we randomly picked to meet up at had a private little room set-up for us, which was just perfect! It was so great to see family I love and miss and have Sam finally meet them as well. Fortunately, it won't be long until the next reunion as cousin Heather is tying the knot July 16th in Newport Beach! Whooo-hooo!
Hi! We're still here....and here is now Tucson, AZ. The past two weeks have been a complete whirlwind. Within that time Sammy studied for and took 4 finals, finished 2 projects, I took an interpreting test, I worked out details so I can continue working from AZ, packed our belongings, drove to AZ, picked out an apt in Tucson, moved into the apt, celebrated Easter with our families and now settled into our new place. WHEW. That was just exhausting thinking about it all again.
Sammy got an internship with Tucson Electric Power for the summer. He's excited about it and we are so grateful for this opportunity as it will really help him with future opportunities and to prepare for the "real world".
When we found out we'd be for sure moving to Tucson, I gave my work my "2 weeks" notice. The day after I broke the news to my manager I was told that I might not have to quit and they were willing to make it possible for me to keep my job and just work from home for the summer so I can return in August. Blessing? Yes. The more things that fell into place the more grateful I am that my job made this exception for me.
I failed at taking pictures on Easter, which I'm pretty bummed about (especially because Sam looked mighty fine in his new suit!). Easter was extra special this year because my dad was released as Stake President so I got to hear both he and my mom share their testimonies during stake conference. My dad shared a little story of a conversation he and my mom had about going on their mission that really touched me. Since I don't keep a journal, I wanted to write it on here so I could remember it...
On the day it was obvious to my dad and mom that they were going to be called on a mission soon and that my dad would be the mission president, my dad jotted down on a paper what this meant for them financially. After looking at the numbers he knew this wasn't a financial decision, rather a decision of faith. That night he and my mom were talking about the whole situation and sacrifices and my mom said to him, "If the only legacy we leave our children and grandchildren is that when everything was going really well for Mom and Dad they gave up everything to go serve people in another country and another language, who wouldn't be able to pay them back, then that legacy was a good enough reason to do it".
Can't ponder too long on that or else I'll keep crying.
Sorry no pictures, mainly just a journal entry here. However, Carrie Underwood recently sang "How Great Thou Art" again and I get chills every time I hear her sing this song. In honor of Easter I'd love to share:
Last week my fine ladies and I had a great night celebrating Maegan's upcoming wedding. (My camera must've been on a strange setting because the lighting in all of these pics is weird)
Her fiance, Landon, served his mission in Italy, Maego's taking an Italian class and they're most likely going to be going on their honeymoon to Italy, so it was proper for us to add a little Italian flair to the event!
We filled up on yummy italian sodas and homemade margarita pizzas...
Some of the fine ladies in attendance...
The gift opening is always so fun and entertaining at these parties :)
We love our bride-to-be!!!! The night was just lovely. My friends make me so happy (and so does my awesome husband who helped knead the pizza dough and stayed in the back room but then appeared just in time to be our photographer at the end! Love him.)
