Mel & Jade

My little sister, Melanie, got married Friday, September 9th to Jade Magnum Thomas...I don't usually put full names on my blog...but his is just so darn cool, I had to spell the whole thing out. :) We are so happy for these two. They are so darn cute together and VERY happy. Here they are coming out of the Oakland Temple just after their sealing.

See! Cute, and happy! :)
We took the whole family up to the temple and my siblings Emma, Jacob & Nathan were kind enough to watch all 9 nieces and nephews while the rest of us were inside for the sealing. Thanks again guys! Here's Jem chillin' in front of one of the fountains...side note...I found out a few years ago that every temple has a water feature of some sort because it is symbolic of Christ who is the "Living Water". Cool huh. (Pretty sure you told me that, Sharee.)

Jemma & Carter with their Aunt Mel.

Me & Mel. :) Wasn't she a lovely bride! She gave the honor of fixing her hair that day. I am KICKING myself for not getting ANY shots of the sides and back of her hair. Lame. Maybe the professional photographer did...

Our family in front of the temple...Brandon and I were married here a little more than 7 years ago, so we thought it appropriate for us to take a current photo of our family in front of where it all began. :)

The three musketeers "playing patty fingers in the holy water"(name the movie!)...j/k. For those who are not LDS and reading this blog, we do not consider this water to be holy. Just a pretty addition (and symbol) on the temple grounds.

More fun in the fountain.

Some of the kiddos outside the temple.

Left to right: Dallin, Jemma, Gavin, Ruby, Kyrie & Daphne.

After the temple sealing, we all headed back to Ceres to prep for the family dinner later that evening. Melanie didn't wanted a reception...just a simple outdoor dinner for family and close friends, so that's what we did and it was LOVELY.

They had these cute pom poms at the family dinner that Gavin was totally intrigued by. He kept walking around under them trying to figure out how to get one down...if I remember correctly, he did finally retrieve one. Here he is headed off to check the pom-poms out.

Melanie talked about having a pinata at the dinner, and by golly, she pulled it off. She and my sister Emma tore apart some hideous pinatas and made them much more appealing...

Here's Mel helping my nephew, Dallin, gear up to hit the pinata.

Jemma takin' a whack at the pinata. Gavin had his first swing at a pinata that night too, I was just too busy helping him swing that 10 lb bat (not kidding. that thing was heavy) to take a picture...and Carter, well, he refused to take part...crazy huh!?! Ya know what, it just boils down to him getting super introverted when we're in public...he's very athletic and would have thoroughly enjoyed swinging that bat, if there hadn't been such a crowd.

This was Gavin's expression during the whole pinata extravaganza. Completely mesmerised.

Did I mention it was a blazing 98 degrees that night? Well it was. Scorching, I know. While Gavin was wandering around the yard (and I was supervising said wandering), he sauntered his way around the house and into the front yard where he discovered the front lawn being watered.

It took about 5 seconds for him to decide to run around in those sprinklers, and I let him...in fact, I almost joined him.

Much better (cooler).

It was such a wonderful day from start to finish and we are so grateful that we got to be there to witness it all. We love you Melanie & Jade and can't wait to see where life takes the two of you!