Reception and Ring Ceremony

On Saturday we had the reception and ring ceremony. Both were beautiful and fun events. Here is the bride getting all dolled up! Aunt S did her make-up:

  After that we took some family pics.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures at the reception or the ring ceremony. The ring ceremony was really lovely. Mr. J's dad led the service and did very well-mixing scripture with love and sentiments and some good humor. The bride and groom said sweet words and of course I thought the flower girl was the most beautiful flower girl that ever walked the face of the earth! Here is a pic of the flower girl and the bride talking. (Actually this pic really touched me because all night I had to keep checking on where the kids were. Well, on one of my periodic checks I looked all around for M and instead of out playing with her cousins she was just standing, holding Aunt K's hand talking to people she didn't know. She just wanted to be close to her new Auntie!)

After the festivities were over M got to spend the night with Auntie S one more time (much to M's delight!):

Halloween and Big Trip

Well, a lot has happened since I last updated. We had Halloween and a big trip! Here is Pumpkin #2 that we carved:  

A couple days after that we picked Mr. J up from the airport. The kids missed him so much that they just wanted to be with him constantly. Little J just wouldn't leave his side! I don't think he minded too much!

The next day we left on our big adventure to MS for the wedding. Here are a few (okay, maybe more than a few) of the 150 pictures that J took on our long drive to the good ole' South. I guess this is the world through J's eyes:

The first day we were there was Halloween. We got to go to the library and hear a Halloween story and color and play, aka: precious time with Grandmoma:

Unfortunately we had storms that night so Batman and a Bride trick-or-treated inside the house. By far the best way to trick-or-treat! We went from room to room and met some really nice "neighbors" that filled the kids' bags with candy. The "neighbors" looked astonishingly similar to Grandaddy, Grandmoma, daddy, and Auntie S! ;)

The next day was The Big Day! We are so happy for Uncle S and his new bride. We drove to Memphis so they could be sealed in the Memphis, TN temple for time and eternity. We waited in the waiting room  for a few minutes until it was time to go in.

 A big shout- out to Auntie S for keeping the kids for us. I hear she got a pretty good work out playing freeze tag. What a champ!

 I even had a surprise show up: my mommy! I couldn't figure out why my dad would drive all the way to Arkansas to see an old friend! Those tricksters! 

It was a beautiful ceremony and lovely to be there with parents- both mine and Mr. J's. The sealer said a few things which I have thought about a lot since then. He spoke to us about how life is hard. It is meant to be that way. We are supposed to have trials and hardships and challenges. What we have to learn is that through the Gospel and through Jesus Christ we can find joy in life and triumph through each challenge. He talked about being so close with your spouse to make it through the challenges together. In other words  "cleaving" to your spouse. I think those are really wise words to live by in a marriage. Doing so is not easy, but so very worth it! I enjoyed being in the bride's room helping my new sister-in-law. I'm really inspired by her and so proud of the newly weds!

After the ceremony we went to Bone Fish Grill for a nice meal before everyone headed home.

 to be continued....