A few glipses of Amanda and Brendon's wedding Updated

We had a fantastic trip to Seattle last week. We got to play with Amanda and meet Bendon and his wonderful family. It was firmly decided that all the members of Brendon's family are kindred spirits.

On Thursday we checked out the wedding chapel with adjacent chocolate factory. We picked up Amanda and drove as close to Mt. Rainier as we could get. We had a picnic at Crystal Mountain Ski Resort which has peaks around it that look like the Matterhorn. Mt. Rainier was covered in clouds but the drive was lovely. It took a good chunk of the day. We stopped at a park/campground with access to the waterfront where Amanda and I waded out up to our knees. In the evening Kaylene helped Amanda hem the best man's suit pants and we enjoyed the piano that Amanda got off Craig's List for free.

Phillips Family at waterfront

I told Amanda that this was her wedding rainbow.

Waterfall near Mt. Rainier

Fish hatchery park adjacent to reception center

Fountain next to wedding chapel

Boehm's Chocolate Factory

Ceiling of chapel

Chapel and Jon

Chapel sans Jon

Wedding rehersal: front two are Brendon's two siblings, next best man Uriah- who is stationed a Guantanamo Bay and maid of honor Brandi from Salt Lake, next is Brendon's mom Gayle and a niece acting as flower girl.

Bridal shot after the wedding. I was using the bride's camera for the main event and the pictures afterward. That is why I have very few here. I was so happy that Brendon's family is full of picture takers and Brendon and Amanda will have plenty of photos to choose from.

Happy couple

We had BBQ ribs and chicken, corn on the cob, rolls, and salad.


We had half an hour to set up the tables and decorate before the reception. Everyone helped.

Head wedding table: David, Kaylene, Amanda, Brendon, Gayle, and Bjorn
with some of Gayle's sisters in the background.

Wedding cake with friend who stayed up until 6am to finish the cake. Top two layers were chocolate, next cherry cordial, and finally carrot on the bottom.

After the reception Jon, Diana, Troy, and I drove through downtown Seattle. Jon found a wonderful overlook where we could see the skyline. What a view!!!

Caption contest!

On Saturday, Kaylene, David, Diana, Troy, Jon, and I visited Downtown Seattle again. We saw the waterfront, Pike's Place Market, the Space Needle, a singing fountain, and the music project building. Then we had a picnic on a park bench by the waterfront.

Coming home the pilot tilted the plane so we could see Mt. Rainier really well. Jonathan was finally happy because he had wanted to see it the whole trip. :)

We're on our way...

To Seattle for Amanda and Brendon's wedding! Jonathan won $20 in a radio call-in contest this morning. I have a lucky man.

Happy General Conference

After Conference, Jon and I took a scenic drive to the south end of Cache Valley. We started up the road to Liberty, but the road was still closed for the winter.
There was a nice view of the Nome King's Mountain (AKA Gunsight Peak) which is just north of Fielding and also Oxford Peak in the Portneuf Range.
Then we drove to Porcupine Reservoir. If you look closely at this photo, you can see the water coming out of the bottom of the dam at high velocity.
Porcupine Reservoir was still frozen. There was a teenager there throwing rocks at the ice. I wanted to throw rocks at the ice too.

Grandma Martineau's Candied Easter Eggs

Mandy suggested that I post this Easter recipe for all to enjoy. It is the real recipe.

Grandma Martineau's Candied Easter Eggs
2 Cups coconut
2 Cups powdered sugar
1/2 stick margerin, melted
3 Cups chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 can Eagle Brand Milk
Maraschino cherries drained and diced

Mix all together. Chill at least 3 hours. Form into egg shapes. Dip in:
1 large pkg chocolate chips
1 large Hershey bar
1 cake paraffin wax

One of my favorite memories was that every time we visited Grandma and Grandpa Martineau, my mom would sneak down to the freezer in the basement and eat some of these.

Jonathan's adventures

Something I did not know about Jonathan before we were married was that he likes to climb things... (He says "What? you know I like to climb mountains!)




Between snow storms Jonathan and I had a picnic at the pumpkin walk park (next to a climbing wall) and Jonathan pruned the apple tree in the backyard. We played basketball outside yesterday. Today it snowed a ton.

Supporting American car companies that didn't get a bail out

Monday after work Jon and I drove our cars down to American Fork where we traded them in for a new Ford car. Jon's parents met us there and we all went to test drive the new car to the Timpanogos Temple. We had cherry cordial fat boys in the parking lot (not in the car). We drove the new car home and got to Logan at midnight tire but very happy.

News from Logan

Jon and I enjoyed going to see Alysa and Ray's sealing in the Monticello Temple at the end of February. We are so happy for them. On the way there we got to see Kloe, Jessica and Micah's 2 hour old baby. Then we drove through Arches National Park from the hidden back road. I highly recommend it. There is a wonderful view of the LaSal mountains all the way down the road. The way isn't marked so be sure to ask Jonathan which dirt road to take.
The next weekend we went to Idaho Falls to celebrate Colin's thesis defense/birthday. We saw 3 moose on a drive along the Snake River.
This week we bought our plane tickets to Seattle for Amanda and Brenden's wedding in April. Happily, my ticket was free because I had so many sky miles from flying for work.