Sam's Wedding

This past weekend, Alicia, Peter, Kate, Ryan, and I went down to Arizona for this beautiful girl's wedding:

Sammy!

Sammy is one of the cutest, sweetest, and all around best people I have ever met. It was the first time I got to see her since she left on her mission almost two years ago, so I was so happy to get to be part of her amazing day! She looked so gorgeous and was so happy and giggly! I didn't really get much of a chance to interact with Nathanael, but he seems amazing. And he must be because Sam would never marry anyone who wasn't. 

Sam and Nathanael

We stayed the night in Provo Thursday night and started out early Friday morning. It is a fairly long drive, but it was actually really fun. We brought "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" CDs to listen to, but the whole way down we only got through 1 1/2 CDs because we had too much to discuss. And I'm pretty sure we covered the full range of possible topics. Once we got to Glendale, we stopped at Shannon's house for dinner and to catch up. Then we girls went to Sammy's bachelorette party while Ryan took Peter to the Instacare. (Side story: Peter is never sick and had never been to Instacare before this trip. He was super nervous, which sort of made me laugh. He's a funny sick person.) The party was fun, but mostly because it was great to get to see and talk to Sammy. I forgot how much I love that girl!

We slept at Sam's Grandma's house and woke up fairly early the next morning to go over to Sam's to get ready. When we got back to pick up the boys, we discovered Alicia hadn't brought Peter any church pants. Luckily Sam's Grandma has an eye for such things and knew that a certain guy in her ward was the same size. She totally saved the day on that one! While everyone else was in the sealing, I sat outside and did some homework. The weather was so amazing! I loved it!

Yay! They're married!

So, Ryan was put in charge of the camera, for some odd reason. Therefore, there are a lot of odd pictures of all of us. And me, in particular, because a theme was Ryan acting creepy toward me, me calling him out on it, and Peter informing me I needed a little more creepiness in my life. ...Yep...

Random picture 1

Oh Peeta!

Random Picture 2

We're either eating the flowers or singing into them.

So attractive!

Kate!

Leesh, Shan, Me, and Kate

Random Picture 3. Also, I actually did my own make-up. Amy was so proud!

Taking pictures was highly entertaining, especially when the photographer was having us do serious/seductive faces. Not our specialty. She did ones with everyone and then decided to do close up shots. As she came up to Alicia and I, Alicia said, "Oh no!" which promtly made both of us burst out laughing and tell the photographer she was going to have to start on the other side. Alicia was also disappointed that we hadn't done the "cheering while the couple kiss" picture. But when she imitated what she would do, it looked more like a war cry. (Don't worry, she finally got to do it at the reception). The other great joke that came from pictures was the phrase, "Give the people what they want!"

Right as we finished pictures, Magerin, Kate's ex-boyfriend, walked past on his way to get married. We didn't say anything, but we had a good laugh. Then we went over to eat lunch with both of the families, during which one of Sam's uncles tried to set Shannon up with another one of her uncles. So glad I live in Provo and am only 20.

Since we had about an hour and a half to kill before we needed to be at the reception for pictures, we went back to the place we were staying. Ryan, Kate, and Peter all took a nap for a few minutes. Shannon and I laid down, but just ended up talking and were soon joined by Alicia since she couldn't stand the number of noises in the other room. Even though it was only for a few minutes, laying on that air mattress with my sisters giggling was probably one of my favorite moments of the trip. 

The reception was amazing! Seriously, my mom would have died. There were tons of antiques and a sweet shop. So many little, beautiful touches.

At the reception

Peter and Alicia

Sisters

Story: We decided Ryan was our brother on this trip. So this is our family picture. Also, Ryan is attempting to tickle Shannon and I, which explains our faces.

The AWESOME old car

Love Ryan and Kate!

Little Touches

More Awesome Decorations

By the time the reception actually started, Sam was exhausted and both Alicia and Shannon were starting to get a headache. So Shannon and I ran to the nearest store, Walgreens, and picked up a Red Bull for Sam and a couple of Dr. Peppers for the rest of us. The lady at the register looked at us super weird at first and then tried to make a bunch of lame jokes when we explained we were matching because of a wedding.

Shannon looking tiredly at the Red Bull and Dr. Pepper

Once Sam and Nathanael decided they were done with the line, they cut the cake and did the traditional garder and bouquet toss. The last semi-awkward moment of the day came when Peter realized the girl who caught the bouquet was the first girlfriend he had after his mission. So basically I was the only one who didn't feel awkward that day. Score! 

Probably one of the funnest parts of the night was dancing. Since we didn't know anyone, we had a blast just dancing and making fools of ourselves. And, turns out, Peter is quite the dancer. Who knew? It really was a ton of fun. (Even though Peter got sick again and left about halfway through. Poor guy.) At one point we were basically the only ones dancing, so I'm sure the photographer got a lot of...very attractive pictures of us. 

Right before they left, Sam sang to Nathanael. Normally I would think it was weird, but it was completely cute and Sam was just so beautiful. Afterward, we sent them off with sparklers and then went back to help clean up. Kate was totally blown away at how quickly Sam and Nathanael got away and that the entire reception was pretty much cleaned up by the time we left at about 9:30.

After a quick, but funny stop at the grocery store to pick up food for the way home, we went back to Sam's Grandma's and went to bed. Early the next morning we set back off for home. This time we listened to more of the Harry Potter CDs, which was totally fine with me. Plus, since Peter has never read any of them, he had a lot of questions and I felt super smart that I knew all of the answers.

I loved that I got to see a completely different side to Peter on this trip. The more time I spend with him the more I love him. (You did good, Leesh!). I also loved that I got to spend so much time with some of my very best friends. Until this trip, Alicia and Peter didn't know Ryan very well (and vice verse) and I am glad they got to become such good friends. I love all of them so much, so it means a lot to me that they all know and love each other, too! It was definitely an exhausting weekend, but it was so much fun!