After spending a great few days in Enoch we drove up to Provo to see Tim's family. The three hour ride was a complete breeze compared to the 22 hours we had spent traveling to Utah. We drove right to a chapel where most of the family had already gathered. There were a few members still coming, so all the wives went and got pedicures. It was the first time that I had one. I think overall I enjoyed catching up with all the wives. The Zimmerman clan single handedly kept the shop in business that day and we also crowded out any other customers, because there were so many of us.
After we finished there we went and had lunch with all the families. There was lots of chatting and catching up among the spouses. It was the first time that all the family was together since 2003, because one brother or another was a on a mission.
That evening we drove up to Tim's sisters apartment and helped her pack and move her things. They couldn't get into their apartment until the day before their wedding, so it was a little crazy. After finishing there we drove back down to Provo and crashed at my best friend's apartment, minus the best friend. She and her husband let us stay at their apartment while they were away for the holiday. We found a gift for us and Tim was really excited. It's really hard to see, but on set of the pajamas says, "I love daddy." On a couple of occasions Tim has mentioned that he is getting pretty excited to meet the little guy...which makes two of us. We have four months left to go!
Tuesday was wedding day. Her sealing wasn't until 2 pm, so we ran some errands. I found some maternity clothes, which was really nice. Finding clothes in Houston has been a challenge and I have come to the conclusion there are no pregnant people in Houston. They have a token shirt or stretchy pants just to say they have a maternity section at their store. We were most excited to visit Winco. It is a bulk foods store that has good produce, a great variety, and awesome prices. Tim ran out of peanuts, so we went in a bought a 10 pound bag for about 10 dollars. I was sad to leave and took a picture to commemorate the reunion!
The sealing was very nice. All of his siblings were there. We were a little worried about the youngest two. They had left and one of them realized they had forgotten their recommend, so they turned around to get it. They made it just in time! I enjoyed being back in the Draper temple. It was fun to remember our experience two years ago...as we just celebrated our second anniversary. Thinking about what we were stressed about the day we got married and thinking about the covenants we made and taking stock of how far we have some as a couple.
After the reception we went to a not so small gathering of family for luncheon/dinner. There are nine kids in Tim's family and his father has a large family as well. The grooms side had ten kids in the family, mixed in with all the kids made for hopping meal.
I decided after everything was all said and done that no wedding is stress free or easy, even if you try to keep it that way. There will always be things that fall through, and unexpected turns and twists. The most important thing is the temple and to have your family close. Everything else doesn't really matter.
Wednesday we took a walk down memory lane to see the Provo City Center Temple. We used to go for a Sunday walk around it to check out the progress. Everything has come together beautifully and I am excited for it to officially open. They already had tents put up for the open house. Hopefully one day we will be able to go inside!
1. We had to turn around due to tolls for traveling through a National Park. And yes dad we were following a map. We just didn't put two and two together when you said be careful and don't miss your turn, with you don't want to pay $30 for a shortcut.
2. Spending New Years Eve in a car and ringing in the new year by driving into Texas.
3. Being stopped by six state troopers! We didn't do anything wrong, but Tim was minding his own business and a car passed us flashing his lights and Tim commented that there was probably a cop ahead...understatement. They were doing safety checks... a.k.a looking for alcohol. They asked for a license and checked the back our our car...which was stuffed with a suitcases. The picture below is hard to see, but there was a lot of cops checking people.
4. Passing over a really big river. I am sure we both have driven over big rivers, but it was pretty and really deep. It's not a very good picture, but just imagine looking over the edge really far down to fast, scary moving water.
5. Tim not being able to use the bathroom at a gas station because a drunk man decided to use it for nap time. Seriously! There was line of guys waiting to use the restroom and finally someone picked the lock and found a drunk man taking a nap. We decided we just wanted to keep going and I would most likely need to stop in an hour or two and Tim could hold it.
We finally made it back to Houston Friday night. I am really glad we came back because I love seeing family, but there is something about your own bed and we had lots of laundry to do!
Church this year will be staying at 9 am, which I am happy about. We had a chance to talk about goals and creating a personal mission statement. I had the chance to share I guess what you would call a mission statement. But, it is just my list of who I want to be. It was also good to take it out and look at it to be reminded of things that I have worked very hard on, what I have accomplished so far and what I still need to work on.
I am grateful for our time in Utah being able to see some many family and friends that have impacted my life in ways they don't realize. I realized just how much I am the person I am today because of the influence of those around me throughout my whole life. Here's to another year of changing, improving, and becoming more of who my Father in Heaven would have me be!
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