Month: August 2010

The sign in table, look at my mom’s beautiful yard.

The amazing candy buffet…sooo much candy.
Beautiful.
Even the drinks were green and pink.
The green cupcakes were the best, the frosting was lime. Check out the cupcake stand; my creative mother glued some vases and plates together…everything was glass, so pretty.
Some guests enjoying the food. Yes they are all wearing sweaters, and no it’s not just because they are old. It was actually REALLY cold that night, sadly.
The kids’ party. Aren’t they cute?
And of course the happy, freezing, couple. ( I believe she has three jackets on…) They look so happy here because after four days of wedding and traveling, they are now officially free to go on their honeymoon!
The amazing hands that created the beautiful reception. (With of course the muscles of some awesome men to help put up lights, carry food in and out, put up trellis’, and take it all down again.) But seriously…I watched these hands plant and care for flowers all summer long, tie many many bows of pink and green, arrange everything just so and so much more. She is amazing.

Tyson and Olivia were married in the Rexburg Idaho temple. They hired a photographer for their reception in Helena, and asked me if I would take some photos as the temple. I have been attempting to learn how to use Nick’s camera, but taking photos that actually really matter to someone was a whole different ballgame.

Weddings are tough, I have so much respect for you wedding photographers. I’m sure it gets easier…but man it was hard. Let me tell you about some of my challenges: first off the Rexburg temple is very difficult to photograph. It is super tall and the grounds are very small. To get any good amount of the temple in your photo, you have to go across the street to the wheat field or in the parking lot. Which it took me awhile to figure out, first I got really frustrated. Then there are the people….organizing them, getting them to listen and trying to meet everyone’s needs while working the camera at the same time.

Here are a few of my better photos… (with editing help from my dear Nick)(oh and don’t judge my group photo, I wasn’t even the one taking the photo plus groups are super hard…)

Nick and I got some time to reconnect during our week long road trip across the country. I surprised him with a little detour to Mount Rushmore.

Meanwhile Jonah had tons of fun in Utah…Thanks Grandma Julie for babysitting!

Nick and I drove the car back to Maryland this past week. We left Jonah with Grandma (that part was really hard for me…I’ve never really been apart from him) and hit the road.

The first night we made it to Mount Rushmore, SD. This was a surprise for Nick…it was a few hours out of the way but I knew he really wanted to go, so we made it work. Our first stop was at the Crazy Horse memorial, which let’s military in for free. (Mount Rushmore doesn’t even give a military discount!) Crazy Horse is insanely huge and is a work in progress. There hasn’t been much progress because they are refusing to accept any government aid in the project, which I admire. Next we headed for the President’s heads. We went to the evening program and then stayed at a log cabin in the woods. Just lovely.

Nick sustained a terrible sunburn on the tops of his feet while at Bear Lake (he didn’t think the put sunscreen on there…) and therefore we didn’t do the little walk around at Mount Rushmore…we didn’t do much walking around at all on our trip as Nick’s feet needed time to heal.

The next day we drove. and drove. and drove. We even considered driving through the night, but my back started to hurt and we stopped…somewhere.

The next day we decided to stop in Cincinnati Ohio to see Nick’s Aunt & Uncle. Nick had never been to their house and even though it was a little bit out of the way we figured why not. They were the best hosts ever! Kathleen made one of Nick’s favorite meals (which I’m sure she spent her afternoon shopping for and making) after which Steve took us bowling (another of Nick’s favorites) after which the whole family took us out for Graeters Ice Cream, the black raspberry chip is truly amazing. Thanks for a wonderful evening Pearsons!

The next day we made it to our destination: Fort Meade, Md! We got the house that we wanted (a really cute old brick one with a big unfinished basement, right across from the commissary) And the movers came the following Monday, only breaking a few items.

After reuniting with Nick on Tuesday, we headed up to Bear Lake Wednesday through Friday for the Johnson family reunion. As we pulled up the road to the cabin where we would be staying we noticed a huge group of people out on the deck of one of the houses. They were waving their arms and shouting at us. When we realized it was the Johnsons we stopped the car and Nick got out blowing kisses to his fans. It was a great welcome home for Nick. Sadly I don’t think I got a picture.

Thursday we went for a little hike to a little lake. When we first arrived it was raining so we all sat in the car for a little bit, but it cleared up. Nick and I swam out to a log to try to stand on it. The water was FREEZING!

That evening we went to the Pickleville playhouse for some dinner and slapstick comedy. Jonah sat through the whole thing, mesmerized.


Friday we spent at the beach. Playing in the sand and water. The family rented a boat and jet skis, Nick and I went out once on a jet ski, it was super fun.

My awesome friend Lindsay came to visit me at Bear Lake. This girl drove several hours to see me so that I could meet her new little man, Donovan. She came to see me right after I had Jonah because she happened to be in town….so I wanted to go see her, but she came to see me again. Next time it really is my turn girl! What a handsome fellow little Van is.

Tuesday August 10th. It has been 218 days since the last time I saw my husband. 218 long days…but it is finally over. This is the first family picture, not the best, but the first.

Jonah and his Daddy seem to be doing great adjusting to each other. Jonah has even kissed Nick a few times. (Although he doesn’t like it too much when Daddy kisses me…)

Everyone says that the reunion can be hard. And I’m sure it will be, but right now it’s just wonderful.

Natalie (Nick’s little sis) got married to David in the Provo temple. Congrats you two!
Jonah really wanted to take a dip in this fountain. It was kind of a problem. I’m pretty sure that in every photo that the photographer took is he screaming and reaching for the fountain.
Nick was there too…sort of. It really was sad that he missed it by four days.
It was hot outside. Check out Jonah’s awesome bow tie Julie whipped up.
After the ceremony we all went to lunch, which was delicious. Then that evening we headed over to a neighbors beautiful backyard for the reception…as you can tell from this picture Jonah and I had a rough night. (Which had partially to do with the fact that there was a stream in this back yard…the boy loves water.)
Hanging out.
The wedding party. Julie made all those dresses, wow.
The following night there was a reception a few hours away in Richfield UT, where David is from. Jonah had an easier time…there was no water. And he met a girl. Who punched him in the face and walked away…darn those girls. He didn’t even cry.

Jonah and I made the two day journey from Moscow to Provo by ourselves once again. And despite my crazy one handed driving while trying to hand him treats and toys, we made it. We stopped near McCall and boy was it pretty. Also, I love this falling down barn, it’s been falling down for years now and looks really cool in the snow.