It happened

Sitting in the temple with loved ones surrounding you on every side as you watch your daughter marry her sweetheart is a surreal experience.

In so many ways it's one of the most beautiful and joyous experiences.

But as I heard the name "Akayla Juliann Ferrara", there were suddenly millions of memories flooding my mind......the first time I held my darling baby girl, sitting beside her teaching her to read, playing duets on the piano together, helping her get ready for her first Prom, the bazillions of late-night conversations about heartaches and dreams, holding her hand as she had her wisdom teeth removed, brushing her beautiful red hair, and seeing her grow into a lovely woman.  And then it hit me.... she would no longer be Akayla Ferrara.  

My goodness the time passes quickly.

I remember people telling me to enjoy every moment with my kids, that I would really miss everything someday, and that in the blink of an eye it's gone.

It used to really annoy me actually because I knew I would never miss diapers or the naughty hard stages.

The funny thing that I've learned for myself though is that all the bad things just sort of smudge out in my memory.  Looking back on the days of raising my oldest kids all I can remember is the rosy happy things.  I do miss a lot of things, and I will always miss having my kids home.  Life isn't all smiles and merriness -- it's a whole lot of work and sometimes frustration teaching kids to become responsible adults.  But there are such beautiful moments......and I know from experience that those are the things that will fill my memories.  

Akayla and Dex moved to Vegas a couple days ago.
It's silly because we'll see them on Friday for their Open House, and they're only going to be living in Vegas for the summer (working) and then they'll be back in school in Rexburg in the Fall.

But the point is my daughter moved out for good.
She is married now and she's forever with her husband.

So I've felt a little blue, but luckily she's just a phone call away!
It really is a good thing we had so much time with Dex before they were married.

I can honestly say I love him.
He isn't just the boy that married my daughter - he's another son.
He is one of the best men there is.
I couldn't have chosen better for my precious daughter!

Here are just a few of the pictures my wonderful sister-in-law Erin has given us.
She has a gift for capturing beautiful moments.
I'm still processing all these feelings....

I know there will be many more pictures to come, and I'm excited to see them.
I really want to see all the pictures of the reception - so much work goes into that, and I just want to see how it was seen through other eyes.
And I am anxious to see all the family pictures.

peeking in....
the kids were so anxious to see the bride & groom

   

Dex's 2 favorite women in the world

It was a freezing cold and windy day

1st dance as a married couple

beautiful cake made by my sister-in-law Ayrial

crazy ladies fighting over the bouquet

and the winner was Mars -- even with a broken arm!!!
This picture kills me - my daughters are so beautiful,
and Mariah looks soooo grown up!!!

bubble send-off

We had planned a family reunion with the Ferrara side of the family this summer.
Because we're all so spread out it's hard to get together, and it's been 4 years.
Since we had a wedding over here they all just decided to move the reunion this way too.

We met up a few days before the wedding and stayed at a fun hotel in the Salt Lake area.
It was a great few days getting re-acquainted!

The best parts were the game night - playing family feud Ferrara style, and having all the Ferrara family....mom, dad, siblings and spouses in the temple together.  I'll post more pictures later.

What a great family!

tour of the Conference Center in Salt Lake

We also got to spend a little time getting to know Dex's family.
It's easy to see why Dex is such a great guy.

He has some pretty amazing parents, and his 4 younger brothers and sweet little sister were so great to jump right in and help with everything!  We're so used to girls around here, so having a bunch of guys to take care of the heavy stuff was super helpful!!!

We're excited to have some time with them this weekend in Vegas at the Open House!
Would it be weird if we had some of our daughters marry their other sons?  haha!

setting up for the dinner after the wedding --
aren't they all so cute?!!

My family also all came to our house to help set up and clean up after the reception (I'm sure I'll get pictures at some point - I never even thought to pull out my camera the whole time unfortunately).  There's no way we could have pulled this whole thing off without such supportive family!  My mom was in the kitchen helping my friend Lindsey with the food, and I didn't have to worry about anything because I knew things would be taken care of!

Weddings are such happy occasions, but there's a lot of stress involved.
A lot of emotions, and a lot of financial distress as well (just being real here!).
But we had so many wonderful people around us, and so much support!

I loved seeing old friends and just looking around at so many people that we loved hanging out at our reception.  Several friends from Dex & Akayla's mission came, and I LOVED that!!!  I felt like I knew them because I'd heard so much about them!  So fun!

I'm so happy everything turned out so perfectly.

A day to be remembered!


good things:
perfect moments
family
temples