The Wedding

Our photographer was one of my YW leaders at the time McKenzie Hansen. She did a great job and we have tons of pictures from the wedding so I tried to pick out some of them. My bridals were taken at Memory Grove. Here are a couple of the pictures.

My dress was from Alyssa's Bridal in the University Mall in Orem. Since wedding stuff was done on the weekends when we came to Salt Lake Matt went shopping with us so he saw my dress when I bought it. I thought I would want a big poofy dress but I didn't like them when I tried them on. I loved the lace-up back on this dress and the square neckline. Jennifer styled my hair for me for bridals and on the wedding day.

We were married at 10:30am on May 16, 2003 in the Salt Lake temple. My mom was sick in the hospital and they wouldn't release her that morning so she wasn't able to go to the temple ceremony but they released her a couple of hours later so she was there for the reception. It was a windy day but no rain so I didn't mind the wind.

Matt had trouble keeping his eyes open during pictures that day, not sure why but so many of them had his eyes closed.

Matt and I with my dad.

Matt's parents.

You can see Amber Gillespie in the background trying to hold my veil down.

This is one of my favorite pictures.

The reception was at Friendship Park which is located at the Stake Center by the old Cottonwood Hospital. It was outside but had a roof in case there was any rain and I think it was $25 to rent the space for the day which was an added bonus.

My siblings (Logan, Daniel, and Amber) and both sets of parents.

My bridesmaids, Amber G., Amber and Angela.
(I'm an "A" name too...funny.)

My siblings, crazy to think Daniel is married now and Logan is getting married in June. He looks so little in this picture.

My dad's parents.

I think I have some pictures someone else took of the reception area and how it was decorated but this is all I have for right now. We had the kitchen area separated with dividers and in front of the dividers were lots of trees with lights on them and a fountain. Each column had trees with lights in front of them and then there was a present table, sign-in table and a table with pictures of Matt and I. The tables had candles and a vase with gerbera daisy's and silver goldfish swimming around.

We bought the fish the night before but we put them in a container that must have had soap residue or something because they all died that night. So after the ceremony Matt and I ran over to the pet shop to buy more fish.

The refreshments were punch (I think sprite with raspberry sherbet, not sure?) and cheesecake (plain or cherry topping) and a chocolate mint.

Before the reception we took some pictures on the swings, slide and merry-go-round.

My friend's parents owned Granite Bakery and so we ordered the cake through them. The flowers were done by a lady in our ward and I told her I wanted gerbera daisy's on the tables, white roses in my bouquet and everything else she could pick. I told her bright colors and wildflower types of flowers. She did a great job.

My car ('81 or '82 bronco) was trashed. This picture is when they were still decorating the car. The had put tons of glitter confetti all over inside the car and the outside had everything all over the windows, cookies, paint and even dead goldfish. When we got to the hotel (The Inn at Temple Square) I felt bad for the guy that had to valet park for us because I'm sure he was covered in the confetti.

It was a great day and so many friends and family helped get everything ready and helped with the food and clean-up. We spent a night at the Inn and Temple Square and then spent 2 nights in Park City. We didn't have a honeymoon other than the first night planned because we were going to be driving to St. Louis but since that didn't work out we went up to Park City.

Our time at BYU-Idaho

Matt and I met at BYU-Idaho the first weekend I was there before school started. Some of my roommates (there were 18 of us in 1 house) had invited Matt's apartment to come over and watch movies. Matt and Jason (Matt's roommate) showed up that night. I didn't talk to him at all that night. A couple of nights later we were on campus playing hide-and-seek with a huge group of people (50+) and as we spread out over the campus I ended up walking around with Matt. He called me the next day and asked me to go on a date country dancing. BYU-Idaho had country dancing every week where they would teach you dances and then they played music the rest of the time and we would all practice the dances we had just learned. We ended up going quite a few times and by the end of the school year we knew a couple of different country dances.

This is a picture of a service project we did at the sand dunes cleaning up garbage.

This is one of the dances that they had at BYU-Idaho. I think it was in September sometime so right at the beginning of the school year. I almost didn't scan this picture in because I can't stand how my hair looks, I had never had an updo before and this is why.

Matt and I spent most of our time together when we weren't in class. (Usually at his apartment since there were only 6 guys living there instead of 18 girls at my house.) He would always cook dinner for me and then his roommates would finish off anything that was left. I remember how surprised I was at all of the cooking equipment, spices, etc. he had brought up to school with him. He never followed a recipe either, he would just throw things together and it always tasted really good.

Before one of the dances later in the year one of my roommates (who went with one of Matt's roommates to the dance) and I put together a whole scavenger hunt throughout Idaho Fall's for them to go on while we set up a dinner by the falls. We had finger painting too which ended up in a paint fight.


We came down to Salt Lake on the weekends quite often since there was more to do down here and we were planning the wedding and trying to get things done for that. One weekend we decided to hike up to Ensign Peak.

We were engaged on October 6th, 2002 after watching the Saturday afternoon session of conference downtown with a bunch of our roommates. They all took trax back and Matt and I went on a walk around City Creek park where he proposed.

This is another weekend we were in Salt Lake and we went to a place by Provo that had a bunch of the blowup toys and a ropes/obstacle course.

This was at the end of the obstacle course you climbed into a hanging canoe.


Another picture taken at the house I was living. We were borrowing movies to go and watch at Matt's apartment. With 18 people and 1 t.v. I don't think I ever got to watch anything on it that I wanted to so it was easier to go to Matt's apartment.


This was another dance they had at the school. These pictures remind me of high school dance photo's with all the cheesy props and backgrounds.

We occasionally would go and workout on campus. You had to wear clothes they provided for you which I always thought was weird but they had really strict dress codes. Even more strict than BYU. You couldn't wear shorts or capri's on campus, only pants unless you were going to the gym and had on their shorts.

We both had a great time at BYU-Idaho and we were planning on going there the next year for school since I had a scholarship but things didn't work out that way. We had put a deposit down on a small 1 bedroom house to rent the next year for $350/month. Matt was a technician for an alarm company for the summer and so when school ended he went to Denver to work until the wedding in May. Then after that we were heading to St. Louis where we would live and work for the summer. The day before the wedding we were out picking up the tuxedos and the company called Matt and said they didn't have enough work out in St. Louis and told him he could be a salesman if he wanted but they didn't need any more technicians. The sales positions were commission based only whereas the technicians had a base salary. Matt didn't want to sell alarms systems so he ended up telling them no and things changed from there.

Two doors down from my parents there was an older couple that lived there and they had an apartment in their basement. They weren't able to do much on their own anymore and we talked with them about living there and we would help them clean, cook dinner, do yardwork, etc. So we found a place to live pretty quick. Then after the reception in Colorado the next weekend after our wedding we moved in to their house and began looking for jobs.

Looking back now we're very grateful all of that happened because it brought many other opportunities we wouldn't have had if we had moved back up to Idaho after the summer.

Well, that's a very condensed version of our first year together up at school. Next up will be the wedding! I'm glad I'm documenting some of these memories while I still remember them because as time passes everything blends together and there are so many things I don't want to forget.

My Turn

I was born in Murray, Utah at the Cottonwood Hospital. We lived at couple of places I don't remember anything about before my parents build a house in Kearns. And then we lived in Kearns until I was in 1st grade when we then moved to Murray. After graduation I moved to Rexburg to meet Matt attend BYU-Idaho.

Unlike Matt's pictures I don't have my school pictures, except one because my parents still have most of my pictures. But I have a binder with some childhood pictures and then plenty of pictures from high school. I only picked pictures from when I was little because that's when I looked the cutest I didn't want to spend all night scanning but maybe I'll periodically do a "blast from the past" post with past pictures.


Getting a bath at the cabin in Heber.

My grandparents house.

At the cabin again talking on the "phone."

Me, Daniel and Amber.

See the necklace I'm wearing, they actually sell those at a store in Gardner Village. I guess they're popular again.

Not sure where this is but think it's in Coronado, CA.

I think this is Disneyland, apparently I thought it wasn't the happiest place on Earth that day.
(I love how the stranger in the back is smiling and looking right at the camera.)

I have many memories of Disneyland, Sea World and Knott's Berry Farm growing up.

Eating fresh cookies on the counter at our Kearn's house.

Bad picture but I loved this cake that year. Cookie Monster had 3 chocolate chip cookies sticking out of his mouth.

Me and my sister, Amber.

Christmas morning. Our church nursery still has that same kitchen and Ashton loves cooking on it.

Double layered picture (you can see me sideways too) but my sister and I took dance for a couple of years.

My dad built a snow cave against the fence one winter.

My fifth grade picture. The only one I have in the book I have. I remember this picture day more than any other because while my mom was curling my hair I passed out and woke up and was scared. It was the first time I passed out but certainly not the last. I'm good at passing out.

Looking through old pictures makes me want to go to my parents and look at all of them. I love how a picture makes you remember that exact moment that I probably wouldn't remember if there wasn't a visual reminder.

Next up, Matt and I at college!