Grant + Stephanie = Marriage

That's right folks. On July 31, 2010, my little brother married Stephanie Wright in the Rexburg, Idaho temple.

Darren and I met up with my family Friday night, as previously mentioned, and then spent the night in Pocatello at the same hotel as my family. We all got up bright and early Saturday, got ready and drove up to Rexburg for the sealing. I visited Rexburg for a few days last summer when Darren and I got engaged and never wanted to go back, but it was actually very pretty right around the temple grounds. The inside of the temple was just gorgeous, and it was a nice surprise to have two of my cousins meet us inside for Grant's sealing. Their ceremony was simple and sweet, and it was a great experience to be reminded of our sealing just 7 months before.

After they primped and exited the temple we took a slew of pictures:

And then piled back into the air-conditioned car (it was quite toasty) and tried to find something to occupy the next hour and a half before the luncheon. My dad decided he wanted to try and find the house where my grandfather grew up, in nearby Teton.

We were successful!

My grandfather's sister lives here now, but we didn't stop to say hi. Ha. I found out later that night that my grandfather was actually born in the room on the right. Crazy. My dad spent a summer here living with his grandparents, so it was fun to see.

The luncheon was at The Olive Garden, and was absolutely delicious! I could live off of their salad and breadsticks. There were probably about 40 people with our family and hers, so it was quite loud, but we had a lot of fun. The bride and groom decided to be fashionably late and showed up 30 minutes after their luncheon was supposed to start. Turns out they went home and changed! They showed up in jeans and t-shirts while we were all still in our clothes from the temple. Crazy kids :)

After the luncheon we had quite a bit of time before the reception so we all headed back to the hotel to take naps. Darren and I were only able to lay down for a bit. His grandparents live just 15 minutes south of where Grant's reception was going to be, and they were having their  50th anniversary party that day so we decided to stop by for a little bit. It was fun to see more of Darren's family and spend a little bit of  time with them.

Grant and Stephanie's reception was beautiful, and although it threatened to rain on us, I don't think it did more than sprinkle for a few minutes.

David and Jared with Justin

My absolute favorite part of the reception, besides celebrating Grant and Stephanie, was orchestrated by my cousins David and Jared. They rode up from Provo together and had some interesting conversations on the way up. At one point David asked Jared what he was going to say if someone asked him "Why aren't you married yet?". Jared told him what he'd say, so David, in an attempt to see if Jared would actually do it, put him on the spot. He had me ask Jared, and he in fact did just as he said he would. David figured Jared would give me his response, but he decided to take it one step farther. When Jared got up to go get more food David leaned over to Grandma and said, "Grandma, would you do me a favor?" Her response, "Depends on what it is." David said, "Ask Jared why he's not married yet." She wasn't quite sure what to do, or how to even bring it up in conversation, but she is a wizard and did just that. Here is how the conversation went:

Grandma: "So Jared, you know your mom is going to ask me how  you're doing when I talk to her in a few days. What should I tell her about why you're not married?"

Jared: Smiling, "Well, Grandma. There's no need. Nobody's gotten pregnant."

It was stinkin' hilarious! My grandma gasped and David and Jared took off running. It looked like she was going to clobber them with her umbrella and everyone else at the table was just rolling. David wasn't sure Jared would say that to Grandma (even though it was a joke), but he sure lived up to his word. It's times like this that make me wish our reunions were more frequent. When everyone's together crazy things happen :)

The rest of the reception was filled with funny stories about all of our parents, from the memory of Grandma and Grandpa, and just catching up. It was sad to say goodbye at the end of the night, but we have a Rackham reunion coming up next summer, so that is something to look forward to.

Sunday morning my family all got up and went to church in Inkom with Stephanie's family. We only stayed for Sacrament meeting, since Darren and I needed to get on the road back to California since he had to work Monday night. We said a quick goodbye to my family in the parking lot and then headed on our way. It wasn't sad though, since they'd be flying out to California the next day to spend a week with us!

We made pretty good time on our drive back and had minimal car problems. We learned that if we stopped for gas and let the car cool off for about a half-hour we could pour the coolant from the reservoir back into the radiator and everything would be fine and dandy until our next gas stop. Worked like a charm.

On our way out of Idaho we drove a good portion of the Oregon Trail, and I couldn't resist texting my family when we crossed the Snake River saying, "I just lost two oxen crossing the Snake River." Oh, to be back in elementary school in the computer lab. Good times.

We came across this lovely buisness when we stopped for gas in Lovelock, Nevada. Hey, at least they put a smile on my face. It was a loooonnng day.

We made it back to Hughson late Sunday night, and were so glad to be back in our comfy bed. And so excited to have my family flying in the next day!

Coming up next: Rackham family visits