A Wedding, A Birthday and A Baby

So, it's been a busy week for "us peoples" whose last names will remain unwritten.
First, thanks everyone for your comments on my last post! Since my self-esteem is directly tied to my comments, I am flying high this week. I CAN CONQUER THE WORLD. Okay, maybe not. But really. It was nice.

First the birthday: To my little Rinnie-poo Shae-head: Happy Birthday! Shaelynn always saves me when she comes to visit. She plays with the girls, lets me live vicariously through her dating experiences, and helps me weed my closet so I don't look like some sort of 80s/90s train wreck. Although sometimes one of my shirts is in the wash and it sneaks by and I still look like a train wreck, and it's not her fault.

Here, Shaelynn expresses excitement over her absolute favorite present-- a sparkly jumprope. In case you ever wondered what shoes my mom wears (so you can say, in a funny teenager voice, "Your mom wears those shoes."), that's her leg and shoe in the picture. I'm not sure that is her hand since it is unusually small, but it could be, because she likes brooms. Shaelynn also recieved flip flops, a baton (because what single 23 year old doesn't need a pink baton to twirl or use to bat at useless or inconsiderate dates?) and a Clearplay video player. If you don't know what that is, it's a video player that filters out violence, nudity, and swearing. So sometimes all you see is a distant shot of some people standing in a circle, with a zoom in until you can almost hear what they are saying and see them, and then boom!, the movie is over.

Next, what birthday is not complete without a test of fitness? So if you can't tell what we are doing, we are not playing fat dog (a proud and time-tested family tradition). We are doing intense and concentrated sit ups. My mom won. But only because Shaelynn made me laugh. Okay and because I don't exercise anymore.

And, finally the birthday cake. Except it's not a cake. It is a fantastic, melty, delicious creation of ice creamy, fudge, whip cream goodness made by my mom. We don't eat cake around here. Cake is for sissies.
So Happy Birthday Shaelynn! I hope your day was fabulous, you won the lottery and a boy pretended he didn't like you enough that you liked him back. Love, Stephanie.

This post is going to be really, really long. I should probably seperate it out, but then I will have 0 comments on a post and it will make me sad.

Next, the Baby. No, I didn't have a baby. Although I wish I could have a pregnancy where suddenly, 'Surprise! Those aren't cramps they're labor pains.'
My other ultra-awesome sister, Alisha, had her baby! On October 15 (only 5 days past her due date, much to Alisha and Dustin's dismay, but mostly Alisha's), little Sophie came! We are so excited to have our first niece on my side of the family! And look, isn't she beautiful? And I swear I have that exact blanket that's in the background. Hey, Alisha, did you steal my Bambi blanket?
Congratulations! We can't wait to come and visit!

Finally, the Wedding (And I'm not even going to blog about our trip to St. George that we just got back from. Not in this post anyway.)
Aunt LaLa has been off in lala land for the past, what 6 months? I don't remember. But she met this guy, Jared, and since they were compatible in height and personality, they fell in love. They probably fell in love for a lot of other reasons, but that's all I know about. (Kenzie kept asking me, "Mom, why did they fall in love? What is a honeymoon? Why do they go on a honeymoon? Will they go to the sky?" After one honeymoon discussion she said in a highly dramatic voice, "I will climb to the stars with my prince. I will find a good one when I get married. I will marry Ethan.")
We are so happy for Laurie and we love Jared, even if he thinks Hannah cries a lot.
They were married on Thursday and we are still enjoying the food from their wedding.
Here's some lovely pics:
Really, I'm not that short, but I am the shortest adult on Mike's side of the family.

Exiting the Ogden temple. In an effort to entice brides and grooms from the roaringly popular SL temple, they have spruced up the temple grounds and allowed a new exit strategy for brides and grooms since Mike and I were married there almost seven years ago. It really is beautiful there.

No cake smearing. Just nice full mouths.


Who started this garter tradition? Is this a Mormon thing?
Happy Wedding! We love you guys. All of you.