Wedding Day

Congratulations to my youngest sister who got married this past Saturday in Nevada. It was a wonderful, wild, whirlwind of a weekend!

We drove out Friday and arrived in Sparks in the late afternoon...just in time to offer our help in wedding set-up and to find out it was already all set up. Timing has always been a point of pride for me.

So instead, we checked into our hotel and then headed over to wedding planning epicenter...my parent's house. It was chalk full of extended family members..including uncles and cousins I haven't seen in 7 years. Anyone acquainted with the Frey family will tell you that we're not a quiet, observant bunch so it was happy, noisy reuniting all around. A very loud and rejoicing pandemonium.

I got to meet my newest niece for the very first time...Danielle...who was almost born on my birthday. I'll never forgive her for that 2 hour lapse in judgment. Okay, she's very cute so I guess I can forgive her after all.

I chatted with my cousin Jessie who is significantly younger than I am. And now she is a college graduate and oh so chic. I am so old!

We had a rehearsal dinner scheduled for 6:00 and since we had well more than an hour to get ready to go, we were of course late.

The groom was out barbecuing at the church, and that's where I met him for the first time. It's a surreal experience to have your sister marry a complete stranger. I got married when my older sister was on her mission, so I guess my experience can't really compare to hers, but it's still weird. However, Brian seems like a very kind, good, hardworking person. I look forward to getting to know him better in the future. He understandably did not have a lot of spare time to spend chatting with me, so I moved on and continued catching up with other family. And began meeting the extensive family of the groom. We ate steak and chicken and salad and baked beans and conversation.

On Saturday we ran some last-minute errands until our "help" became too much. So we took all the kids out for ice cream to get them out of the way.

The wedding was at 4:30 and was simple and lovely. The sweetest moment was when Lenaya's 2-year-old daughter walked down the aisle in her "princess" dress and saw Brian and yelled out, "hi, Daddy!"

What followed would be described as "a million pictures" by my husband and children, but I think we were only actually in about 5 of them. Then the reception followed.

Now was my chance to see old friends from my home stake. Many of these people have been lost to me since I graduated from high school in 1994. They would say things to me like, "You haven't changed at all." And I would respond, "I know...can I introduce you to my nearly 13-year-old son?" Still, it made me feel young to see so many faces from my past. And Cory said only about 5 people confused him for my sister's husband. When they said to him, "Your new baby is so cute...you're sure taking good care of Larissa," he would respond, "Actually, I sent Larissa away to Colorado so I could live with her sister, Cami."

It was a late night. We all boogied. And ate...a lot...my mom made her now traditional wedding cheescake tarts. I personally had three of them. Along with what was the most delicious wedding cake I have ever tasted.

On Sunday, we got up and dragged our children to church, then went back to the now demolished wedding zone aka my mom's great room. We chatted with now dwindling numbers of family as one by one they headed out in various modes of travel. Finally, we pulled our own children away from Grandpa's pool table and headed out at the very practical hour of 1:45 (that's 2:45 Draper time). After a long drive home, we went straight to bed, knowing that school and work would wait for no wedding. Cory got up early Monday to go the airport for business that will have him in San Francisco until Thursday. And I began damage control...and unpacking.

I am so happy for my sister. I am so grateful for the chance to see so many people that I love in one weekend. But mostly, I am so exhausted.