The love of a mother.

Every 7 years, my mom shares her special day with another, more recognized, special day - Mother's Day. Growing up I always thought this was so fitting. She is everything a mother should be - kind, compassionate, patient, and loving. She was meant to be a mother to her three babies, and especially to her little Colton, who needs her love more than anyone else. Somehow she finds a way to share herself. I guess that's what being a mother is all about. 

Even though I was never able to spend these days with her, I always tried to give back some of the love she showed me throughout the year. Someday I'll be able to see her, hug her, and spoil her rotten on her special days. But for now, dedicating a special post just to her will have to do.

So Happy Mother's/Birth Day Mom! I love you with my whole heart.

You are my sunshine.

...part 2.

The ceremony.

We were so lucky to get married on the most beautiful day of May I've ever seen in Arizona. It was breezy, cool, and completely perfect. It was located in a large, 1/4 acre field in our neighborhood that our ward friends kindly prepared for us (thanks, Palmers!) The sun was setting on our ceremony, and it was everything that I had dreamed and hoped it would be.

We had a civil ceremony instead of the typical "Mormon ring ceremony" that you'll see between split families like ours. Typically, Mormons get "married" in the temple, and if one of the couple is a convert, they'll sometimes have a ring ceremony to appease their family that couldn't attend the temple ceremony. Unfortunately, I was not yet eligible to enter the temple (you have to have been baptized for a year), so we had a civil ceremony that both our families were able to be a part of -- and it was exactly how Heavenly Father wanted us to be married.

My favorite part of our ceremony was where we read each other journal entries that we had written the night before our wedding. In civil ceremonies, we aren't supposed to technically make "vows" to each other, but this was a sweet touch that made our ceremony more personal and meaningful to each other.

And then we were off to get our party on!

That one time we got married and forgot to post about it, pt. 1.

I KNOW.

I've been promising these pictures for like, 7 years. I've also been promising to get better about journaling, and we all know how that always turns out. Better late than never, right?

But seriously. I just barely put these beautiful pictures on my computer. I'm so unbelievably in love with them, I can't even choose which ones I want to put in frames around our house. I want them all. Everywhere I look. Enough words, more pictures.

I'm prepping you with us wedding prepping, since I have 3 CDs with 300 pictures each. Before the wedding, me and my girls got ready at my sweet sister-in-laws vintage-y house. It definitely calmed my nerves to know that so many people were there for me and helping me to have the perfect day.

Maybe this isn't what typical brides do, but my advise for the wedding day would be to RELAX. If your family is telling you not to stress, then don't. I spent my morning having breakfast with Kendall, lunch with our friends, and then moseyed on over to my SIL's house to get ready well before the ceremony. My family told me they'd take care of everything, and I let them. My wedding day was perfect because I let it be.

More wedding awesome to come.