Here's to the Married Man...

We were thrilled to join in the Ryan & Karen wedding and festivities. They chose a beautiful location, a beautiful (freezing) day, and a beautiful ceremony in the Manti temple.


Zachary honestly didn't understand what he was feeling. The temperature had him very confused. I think he prefers the sand in Hawaii over Utah's white sand.

Prior to the big day, we all gathered for Mom's birthday.

Later, we stayed in posh Manti, partying hard at a local pizza shop after being rejected by another diner. We stayed up late, preparing reception material, and the infamous honeymoon basket. Well, we did, but Zac was cooked for the night.

After the wedding, we went to Payson for a wedding breakfast/lunch. We joked the day before about all moving in with Mom and Dad and starting a catering business after we lose our jobs. The boys did a great job on their "Here's to the Married Man..." cheer,

...as well as their made-for-Ryan-and-Karen wedding song.

The reception was held later that night, at the Peteetneet Academy. We mostly spent the time keeping Zachary at bay on the stairs, but did have time to snap a few close-ups of family.

Parker, my buddy for the weekend:

Garrett:
Bryson, looking fierce:

Brynlee:

Tanner:

Zac, and his other father, Cory. In Sunday School, Zac honestly couldn't figure out who was his dad--Cory or Brady.
Zac, wearing a tie for the first eight minutes, thirty seconds of the reception:

GQ Blake:
Maddie and Rachel, who entertained crowds with their matching dresses and twirling.The groom:

Brady and Scott:Kristen:

Natalie:

Ang:

Me and Zac:

Brady:

The kids were sure excited for Ryan and Karen to bust out the wedding cake:

Easton and McKay:
The girls skipped out to decorate the car in sub-freezing temperatures. The night before (at the motel), Kristen broke out tissue paper and started us on 110 home-made flowers. I remember thinking that this was exactly the kind of project I try to avoid, but it ended up being a memorable experience and certainly the best looking car I've helped decorate.

Rachel, wishing Ryan and Karen a happy honeymoon:
Ryan, ready to get on the road:

The day left us all quite worn out:

Later in the week, we went skiing at Alta with Cory, Kristen, Blake, Rachel, and Kristen's father and brother. Cory actually caught us at the end of a run with his camera phone:

It snowed on us much of the day, but we absolutely loved it, especially the runs when we were with Cory and Kristen.

Brady had to leave Sunday, along with the other out-of-towners, but Mom, Dad, the Ritchie family, and my siblings were good enough to entertain and feed us for another week.

Mom and Ang even watched Zac another day while I went skiing with my brother, Kev, at Park City. It was a beautiful day, and a better resort.

Zac and I also spent an afternoon at the Draper Temple Open House. Walking through the silent tour, he let out a chorus of "Wows." He won some hearts that day.

Other things of note in this endless blog post:

• Thanks to Emily for watching Zac on Day 1 of skiing. It was also nice spending an afternoon with her little family!
• We spent most of the trip with a cold, that we ended up giving to everyone we had contact with. Apologies.
• We saw both sets of my grandparents, as well as another aunt and uncle, for some delicious dinners and conversation.
• We spent an evening with Zac's birth mother.
• Zac and I went ice skating with my siblings. Very fun.
• We were supposed to go to a basketball game, but we showed up for the 7pm game, which actually started at 4pm. Boo.
• I have not cooked in 3.5 weeks.
• Ang, Mom and I picked up some great items at the outlets one afternoon.
• We went to Cafe Rio twice. Yum.
  

You Know You're In Utah When...

• You can see several temples from one location
• Running in 3 degree weather and a foot of snow is no surprise
• You are asked several times by strangers if your son stuck his finger in a light socket (the humidity in Kauai apparently keeps his hair in control)
• Stores with names like "Modbe" and "Knee Length Shorts" are not uncommon
• You can get "gourmet" food--chocolate dipped strawberry included--for $7.99!!
• While in the grocery story, you hear a group of teenage boys stating that last weekend they "drank a case and a half" followed by "of water." Wow.

Swells and Sunsets

Yesterday, we heard about a swell bringing in 25-35 foot waves to the North Shore. Brady left work a little early, and we cruised up. We only saw 15-18 foot waves, but caught a dramatic sunset and Brady got to find out the capabilities of his new camera lens. (No photoshop was used.)

I'm Number One

It's hard to believe that Zac is now one year old. His first gift from Mom and Dad was a haircut--which was very overdue according to Brady. In a matter of minutes he transformed from a baby to a little boy. Heidi did an excellent job on Zac's hair as seen below.

We tried alternate hairstyles.

Here are some of Zac's birthday memory favorites.

1. Perhaps it's that Zac's birthday is so close to Christmas, but he figured out underneath all that wrapping paper there are great surprises. "Wo!"--his favorite phrase as the unwrapping began.

2. His new train toy which he had to immediately take for a spin around the kitchen-- all while still saying "Wo!"

3. Books from Erin. Zachary loves books.

4. Our attempt at making Zac's first birthday cake. If you're now laughing as you look at the picture, we are laughing with you. Seriously, we're rookies, what can we say? If you guessed that this cake is supposed to be Nemo than you really are guessing. Ha ha.

5. Watching Zac have his first taste of chocolate cake and ice cream. He went for the ice cream first...

then washed it all down with a healthy piece of chocolate fish-head. He honestly ate the entire thing. Like father, like son.

S&N

We loved having Natalie and Steve visit! We have looked forward to hosting them over the holidays for several months, and the house seems pretty empty now that their two week visit is over.

On Saturday (Dec 27), we went on a hike with them to see two waterfalls. While normally a very easy hike, it was quite muddy, and the falls still looked like chocolate milk. It was beautiful walking through the forest, though.

Unfortunately, forest means mosquitos, and Zachary and I were attacked! It rained on us part way through the hike, and we think a lot of the repellent came off with the rain. When we woke up Sunday morning, Zac had 12 very swollen bites! They seemed to swell even more at church (where I'm sure many angry mothers thought I brought a child with chicken pox to church), so we stopped by the pharmacy on the way home to see what dosage medicine we could give him. While the pharmacist talked, tears were just streaming from my eyes. I felt so bad that I let this happen!! I realized then that as each year progresses, I get sappier and sappier.

This shot is post-Benadryl. Pathetic, huh?

One night, we all got ambitious with a present from Brady's boss. Although I am absolutely anti-toy guns, it was a blast playing gun darts and competing with S&N. We had a pretty intense scoring system, and a close competition.

We also enjoyed some fun dining experiences. Here is the famous Hula Pie:

New Year's Eve was a blast at Jeff and Dawn's house. Zac turned in a bit early. In fact, none of us made it to midnight. LAME! Oh well. We should have done the 8 min New Years like the Ritchies!

Steve and Natalie are like two honeymooners, constantly exchanging affection and kisses.

According to tradition, we went to Hanalei again on New Year's Day. The weather and waves were once again favorable! I kept telling S&N that they must have brought the good weather with them!

Natalie ate up the boogie boarding, and Steve was again successful on the waves. I had to add this classic Natalie shot:

Brady looked hot catching some great rides:

During my turn, I was able to go out with Megan, who is a dancer. She is a natural! I really loved talking to someone in the water. That doesn't happen very often anymore.

Here I am, about to hop on a wave:

Zachary is a true beach baby. We were at the beach 4+ hours, and even without a nap, he was the happiest kid in the world. He loves to play in the sand, splash in the waves, and find things to stick in his mouth. It's fun to see him so delighted.

When we were done for the day, Zac decided to take a turn at the surfing business. Good job, baby!

Thanks, S&N, for sharing some good times!!!