jerry and heather's wedding.

We spent this weekend in Santa Barbara with Matt's family for his brother Jerry's wedding. On Thursday Ranae, Richard, Celeste, Alayna, Emily and Sofia came to spend the night. We spent the day shopping for food and cooking for the rehearsal dinner. Then we packed up and left Friday morning for Santa Barbara. The whole family rented a vacation home, a very beautiful vacation home. It was perfect, equipped with everything and an awesome place for the family to stay.

On Friday we cooked all day again for the rehearsal dinner once we got there. We made 7 batches of pasta, 2 ginormous salads, 2 gargantuan coconut cakes, and lots of appetizers. I decorated with candles and vases filled with purple flowers and greenery. It turned out beautiful, but man it was a lot of work. This is probably my first and last rehearsal dinner!

On Saturday Matt spent some of the day with the wedding party since he was a groomsman. He went over and got ready in his tux, rode in the limo and had lots of pictures taken. I kind of felt like he was going to prom without me! I stayed with the girls and did hair and make up and primped for the wedding. The boys thankfully took a very long nap to make this possible! We went to the Natural History Museum around 5:30 pm for the wedding. I won't lie, I don't know if the ceremony was nice or not. The boys were keeping me busy. Bentley brushed his teeth and used almost a whole tube of toothpaste the whole time. Thankfully Celeste helped me out a ton. Gaige wouldn't let anybody hold him except for me, whatta momma's boy. This pretty much sums up how he was the entire weekend.

Bentley, Gaige and I were able to meet Matt's dad for the first time. He came with Alicia and Bridgit, 2 of Matt's half sisters. It's really crazy how much Bentley and Gaige look like him because Matt looks so much like his dad and they look just like Matt. All four of them have the same eyes. We had a great time getting to know them. I just wonder how Matt ended up with so many pretty sisters, they all make it hard for me to keep up with them, and now there are 2 more to keep up with!

Bentley and Gaige loved hanging out with all of their cousins and especially their Grandpa Richard and Uncle Rob. They really loved looking for frogs in the stream that ran through the wedding site.

After a very busy and fun weekend we came to the same conclusion as always, there is no such thing as a vacation with 2 small boys! But we are so glad to have them in our lives. They make everything so much more meaningful and memorable. And we wouldn't have it any other way, even if people do think we are weird for actually doing what Heavenly Father intended us to do (have a family). The boys help us keep our priorities straight and definitely know how to keep us humble! And even though they drive us crazy we can't help but kiss them all over! They are too cute for words and we are grateful to be blessed with their sweet spirits.

Bentley can now put his velcro vans on by himself, and even gets them on the right feet. He can now say his name: "Bentey", and loves to squeal the word "NO". He also likes to play copycat with me. He'll stick out his tongue, make funny faces, click his tongue, put his finger up his nose, smile and lots of other things for me to copy. He thinks it is so hilarious. We play for at least 5 minutes straight.

Gaige adores his stuffed monkey, still shoves everything in his mouth (he'll have a cracker in one hand and shove rocks in his mouth with the other), blows kisses, loves to sing "Popcorn Popping" and can do the motion for popcorn, loves peek-a-boo and follows his brother everywhere.

Ashley and Gaige

Matt and Bentley

Me and my baby

Me and Celeste

Rob and Madison

Ashley, Kaylee, Alayna, Madison, Emily, Sofia

Grandpa and Gaige

Bridgit, Alicia, Jerry, Ron, Matt, Bentley

Gaige and Alicia

Mother's Day 2009

Bryn's Baby Shower - Michelle, Bryn, Jaime, Emily