Only Mormons Get Married in December

That is not entirely true. There are a lot of people who get married in December. Of course they usually choose locations like Hawaii, Mexico, or at least Arizona for the main event. More accurately, only Mormons choose to get married in the snowy depths of a Utah December.

The kids got to spend Christmas day and half of the next playing with their new toys. Just enough time for them to be completely sick of them. So we hopped in the car, threw on a show, and made our way to the snowy frozen north.

We spent our first day there with Jon's family (Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen and Ben, Cara, & children). They scored some seriously sweet Christmas gear this year. My little niece spent the day showing me new videos on her ipod nano. Every time she flashed her latest download, I kept thinking, 'I'm pretty sure I got the latest crimp n' curl cabbage patch doll for Christmas when I was nine.' I thought about saying it out loud once or twice but I knew it would only illicit one of two reactions from my niece.

1) Eww, Auntie Kacey, you were still playing with dolls when you were nine?

or, even worse,

2) Cabbage Patch dolls? What is that? Auntie Kacey must be REALLY old!


I wisely kept my mouth shut.

My parents came in the next day, which was Sunday. We spent our first evening exchanging Christmas presents all of us were too lazy/poor to ship. I am not sure who was in charge of the sibling draw this year, but it did not go in our favor. Jon had Kendall who is not the easiest Earl girl to shop for. I had Trevor, the boy who, barring a major change of plans, was going to be my in-law in a matter of days. And, to really make the game fun, Trevor had me. Kristy got more than one anxious phone call from both sides of that trade off hoping for some good ideas. Trevor followed well Kristy's good hints. I got two beautiful necklaces and one very warm and cozy scarf, which ended up being the only warm item I had all week. The rest of me was an icicle, but my neck was consistantly toasty warm!

The next few days were filled with shopping, last minute wedding plans, and more shopping. On Tuesday morning, the endowed members of the Earl clan got to fit in a session at the Salt Lake temple. We showed up for the so-early-its-almost-unholy 6:30 a.m. session. Kristy and Brad met us there and it took me a second to remember that Brad got to come in too! I had never been in the temple with my brother before.

Shortly after, we headed over to Heber to take a ride on the Heber Creeper. Trevor's dad directs the Heber Creeper, and well you know how awesome it is to know people in high places. Our two families had a car to ourselves as we chugged through the Utah winter wonderland.

The whole Earl/Lacey crew.

The thrill of being on a real train for the first time in her life last about ten minutes for Scarlet. Luckily she had Kendall's DS to keep her distracted for the other 50 minutes.
In her defense, Jon only lasted about fifteen before he insisted on attempting this picture.

And before I could wrap my head around the whole idea, my little sister went and got married. We sat in the temple waiting for Kristy and Trevor, and it was just hard for me to even believe that my sweet little Kristy was the one that was going to walk through the door. Can I even begin to tell you how beautiful she looked? Their wedding ceremony was one to remember. It was touching, interesting, inspirational, and just so fantastic. And then suddenly my sister had a husband. She was a married woman.

Isn't she still like 10 years old with a mushroom haircut, thick glasses, and an odd obsession with a sailor hat?

Who gave her permission to get all old and beautiful? It was so not me.

I must also mention Kristy was the smartest bride of the day. I cannot even tell you how many girls were braving the day in very pretty little short sleeved wedding dresses. They looked lovely, but also slightly blue.
Not only did Kristy so gracefully sport the winter bolero but hiding beneath that skirt are several layers of warm tights and some seriously awesome furry white knee high boots. Beautiful and brilliant.
We made the mistake of taking the kids outside to wait for Kristy to emerge a little too early. They were loving playing in the snow, looking at the temple, and getting their picture taken by dad.

But by the time she emerged, they were cold. Rhode could be found crying because nobody would let him touch the snow. Then, once said person gave in to his request, he could be found crying because his hand was really cold. Then the process would begin again. Fun, right?

By the time we were taking group pictures, my kids were DONE.

Happy looking group right? Let's close up on my bunch.

Thankfully for all involved, Kendall had a candy stash in her purse.

That sugar disc worked miracles.

The rest of the day involved a beautiful luncheon and a reception in Heber that evening. And, minutes, it seemed, after we arrived in Utah, we were ditching Jon and heading to Washington. I can't really explain the logic behind it, but somehow it was arranged that the family and Scarlet would drive the suburban back to Washington while mom, grandma Earl, Rhode, and I flew back. Don't get me wrong, I am SO not complaining about the arrangement. Any travel method that did not involve the babes and I in a car for 11 hours was ok in my book.

We got to spend three very fast moving days at home and were back on a plane home before I could bat an eyelash. The reception could not have been better. The house and the bride looked stunning, the food was delicious, and at one point the crowd broke out into dance just like a musical. What more could anyone ask for? I'll leave the details to my mom but I will add two very classic Nielsen children stories for those of you who have somehow made it to the end of this post.

Scarlet was very excited about the whole reception scene and, understandably but annoyingly, had a little pee pee accident. I had about five million things to do at that moment and she had a long dress on so I sent her back downstairs sans panties and tights while I located another pair. Not five minutes later, Kylie brings her to me, whispering "Umm, Kacey? Scarlet isn't wearing panties!" I tried to look shocked as to not reveal I was aware of her commando style. No one was fooled. "How did you know?" I foolishly asked.

The story goes that Scarlet immediately joined the reception line after her little trip upstairs and managed to find a chair located in between two of her aunts. She proceeded to climb up and sit in a lady like fashion. Hmm, maybe less ladylike and more gynocologicial visit style. Yup, right as half the population of Moses Lake walked through the door. Classy.

Just a mere 15 minutes later, after our wedding dance which I'm sure will be featured on my mom's blog shortly, I was upstairs preparing the munchkins for bed. I had Rhode down to nothing when I realized I had not grabbed a fresh diaper. I shut the door behind me and dashed down the stairs, grabbed the diaper, and took the steps two at a time back to my room. In that amount of time, Rhode was able to open the bedroom door, toddle down the hallway and climb halfway down the main staircase before someone thought the Earl version of 'nude descending a staircase should be sent back in the direction he came. I reached the top of the stairs about the same time he did and he penguin walked giddily toward me, pleased with his flashing pursuits.

To summarize, Kristy, if you didn't want nude exhibitions at your reception, you shouldn't have invited us. It's your own fault. And, um, congratulations.