So, officially the BEST MOVIE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, it's true I, Anne, went to the midnight showing of TWILIGHT. And yes, it is the best movie EVER!!! It was really good and definetly worth staying staying up late and being sleep deprived the next day at school and work. By the way the above picture is the background on my phone right now and has been that way for months. That is how excited I was for this movie.
Anyway so the Thursday was the most stressful and exciting day I have ever had. Between a nine page paper due (that wasn't even close to being finished), my very important application to the Athletic Training program at WSU, a service project for my Communications class, and packing and getting ready to go to the movie it was a crazy day. Made even crazier by the fact that I couldn't focus on anything but the movie.
So, after getting everything finished and turned in me and my friend Amy left for Thanksgiving Point, which is where we were going to see the movie with Amy's sister. We wanted to go to Thanksgiving Point so that we wouldn't have to go with other people we knew. I know that sounds weird but me and Amy had our reasons and nobody else understands us so I won't try to explain. Before going to the movie though we went to dinner, at an Italian Restaurant. You Twilight fans will know why we had to go somewhere Italian. It is because Bella and Edward eat at an Italian restaurant in the book and the movie.
Then we finally got to the theater. I won't bore you with the details of the hour and a half we spent there waiting for it start but just know that there are some crazy fans out there that are really really weird. I am not one of the really really crazy fans. I didn't start crying or hyperventilating when the previews started. The previews not even the real movie, the previews. I am not that crazy. But forgetting the crazy screaming, crying, hyperventilating and just plain crazy fans the movie was really good. It was amazing! I liked almost everything, and it kept pretty close to things that actually happened in the book, and the things that didn't happen in the book I still liked because they fit in pretty well with the movie.
So if you need a movie to see TWILIGHT is it!!

GRANDMA'S WEEKEND WITH EMMA

Okay, so it's been awhile since our last post. But really, there is nothing going on since the great let down since the wedding. And since our photographer hasn't readied all the photos from the wedding shoots yet, we don't have any to post here. But hopefully within the next week or so we can share some of the fun pictures.


Since the wedding, we are just catching up on everything that we "let go". Of course this mainly applies to Manja since she neglected cleaning the house, grocery shopping, laundry, etc. So, mundane, everyday tasks are the norm again. Only one thing new for Manja - she gets to teach Relief Society now!!!


Taylor is swamped with band, choir and play practice as usual. He starts his day at 7:00 everyday of the week and sometimes we don't see him until 6:30 at night following play practice.


Anne is neck deep in the last weeks of her first semester at Weber State. Papers due, tests to take, programs to apply for, service projects and observation hours keep her going from dawn to midnight. She, of course, if living for TWILIGHT!! Finally, just hours away, Anne and her friend have tickets for the midnight showing at Thanksgiving Point.


Bryan has kept busy with a "Dad, can you help?" project. He has been helping Quinn lay tile in their bathroom! It looks great and the Lavenders can't wait to actually use their upstairs bathroom again!! (and yes, Laura painted the walls "lavender")


LUCKY GRANDMA!! Laura and Quinn needed a "couple's escape" this past weekend and so Grandma was enlisted to babysit. Emma was perfect, sleeping through the night, eating well and a great help with raking the leaves. Grandma stayed Friday night and through the day Saturday while Laura and Quinn went off to Salt Lake to play. Raking leaves on Saturday morning was Grandma's exercise and Emma's play time. She loved it! Grandma set Emma in the middle of a big pile of leaves and they didn't bother her in the least, she would play and then when it was time to move on, crawl right on through a foot of leaves to the cleared grass. Enjoy the pictures from Saturday's activities!

VISITS WITH EMMA

THE WEDDING!!

What a beautiful day - in so many ways!

Friday dawned bright, warm and wonderful. Seeing a child married is a bittersweet experience. Sweet, because our Carly has grown into such a lovely woman and is beginning a new life with a wonderful young man, and bitter because another child has left the nest and things will never be the same.

I've spent a lot of time the past month or so reflecting on my role as a mother and the changes to our family dynamics as our children have grown and left our home. Sometimes I have regrets that the time has gone so fast and I didn't enjoy the small moments of childhood. However, I don't think I'm alone. When are homes are filled with diapers and runny noses, book reports and halloween costumes, we think we'll never see daylight. We ask, will they every grow up? Will they ever dress themselves, brush their own teeth, find their own socks?? Well they do. We do all we can to raise them to be independent adults so they can be prepared for "real life" and then they go and do it -- they grow up and leave.

Bryan and I have been extremely blessed to have such great children. They have all been obedient, faithful and responsible. We are proud of each one and they good choices they are making. I also realize we didn't do this alone - our prayers were answered, our children came into this mortal life prepared to be obedient and faithful and fulfill the roles and stewardships their Heavenly Father has for them. Their spirits are strong and we are amazed at who our "babies" have become

So back to the wedding day. It was perfect. There are hardly words to describe the feeling of sitting in a sealing room in the House of the Lord and seeing a child married and sealed by the holy priesthood of God. All the teaching and directing, the praying and worrying about our imperfect parenting skills finally paying off! Carly was beautiful in her wedding dress, Jeff was handsome and all smiles, and of course they couldn't take their eyes off each other -- as it should be.

As mother of the bride I tried to enjoy the moment, I spent a lot of time just gazing at our beautiful daughter and the man she will walk hand in hand with from now on. But of course I spent a lot of the day worrying. Worrying about getting everywhere on time (yes, I'm a "be on time" freak). I was the one always trying to get everyone moving on to the next deadline, the next item on the schedule. Worrying that Carly would be happy with the one day she has dreamed of forever was stressful for me. I wanted her dreams to come true. Hopefully they did.

Things went pretty smoothly though. It was fun to have family and friends join us at the temple and then later for the reception. In between, we stopped in Bountiful for lunch and then we had to travel to Ogden (of course during rush hour). Oh, and since when does UDOT completely realign the lanes on the freeway between Wednesday and Friday, right at the exit everyone needs to take?? We had more than a few guests confess they missed freeway exits, couldn't figure out where the reception center was, etc. But they made it, eventually!!

Thanks to everyone who helped, in any way!!! Here are a couple of pictures from the original photo shoot at the temple with Carly and Jeff on October 10th, and we're anxious for our photographer to get our photos ready from last Friday.

Happy Ever After Carly and Jeff!!