Temple Sealing, Celebratory Dinner, and Ring Exchange Ceremony

Whew - what a whirlwind the last week and a half has been for us!  I'll start with Thursday, October 21st - the day Sean and I were sealed in the temple and the celebratory dinner that followed...

Thursday morning my bridesmaids, mom, and my aunt all met me at a local nail salon for manicures and pedicures.  There aren't too many things that are better than getting together with your best friends and closest (female) family members to get your nails done!  It was so much fun and so great to see Aunt Lora again (she lives in Ohio, so we don't get to see each other very often). 

After our nails were done, we all went our separate ways... Mom and Aunt Lora joined me at the Red Door Spa to get my makeup done and we had a quick lunch before they dropped me off at my car and I headed home to get ready to leave for the temple.  It was really hard saying bye to them - it was the last time that I would see them single!  My mom started crying and it took all that I had not to start, too.  Sister McQuivey came at exactly 3PM to pick me up.  I was very nervous but she was great - we had a really nice drive to the temple and even had enough time to stop off at the LDS bookstore . When we got to the temple, Sean and his parents were already waiting for us. 

The sealing was beautiful, Brother McQuivey did a really nice job.  It was really hard without my family being able to be there, but it was comforting that the McQuivey's were there for me.  When we were walking out of the temple, my dad and Paula were there waiting for us!  I was so happy that my eyes immediately filled up with tears.  (My dad had said he was going to try and be there when we got out, but he wasn't sure, because traffic can be really bad).  But I was so grateful that they were able to make it - it really meant a lot to me.  After a couple of quick pictures, we headed to Mrs. K's Restaurant for the Celebratory Dinner.

Mrs. K's Restaurant is so cute!  It reminds me of a cottage - we had an entire room reserved and it was perfect!  Sean's mom, Joni, did a fantastic job with everything:)  All of the people who were at the sealing and our out-of-town guests were already there waiting for us to arrive.  Sean's dad gave a wonderful toast, we were able to give each person in the bridal shower their gifts, enjoy everyone's company, and eat the fantastic food!  What a great night:)

Friday, October 22 - Ring Exchange Ceremony and Reception
Friday morning Sean left at 8AM - right when Vicky, the hair stylist, showed up.  Mom, Meg, and Aunt Lora arrived minutes later - and the girls a couple minutes after them.  The fun immediately began!  A couple of hours later, Amy, the makeup artist, came.  She asked if there was a barstool in the room - there wasn't, so I called the front desk to see if they could bring one up.  The receptionist was completely caught off guard with our request and asked me to repeat it a couple of times.  A man came bearing a barstool within 5 minutes, though - and he was quite surprised by our request for a barstool - until he came into the room and saw that it was clearly a bridal party getting ready:)

We all piled into Amanda's parents' mini-van - with the guys in Bobby's car (Sean and his family met us at the temple) and we went to the temple for pictures.  (Side note - thank you Mr. and Mrs. R. for letting us borrow the rockin' mini van! haha!!). 

We wanted the first time Sean saw me in the dress to be special, so the photographer had him stand with his back to me and had me walk up to him - I'm curious to see the pictures, but at least I remember his expression and look in his eyes when he turned around.

It was really cold and windy while we were getting our pictures taken (I prayed for no rain - I totally forgot to ask for it to be warmer!), but everyone was great and toughed it out, even little Madeline!  We haven't seen our photographers pictures yet, but the few that my dad snapped turned out good and you can't tell that we were literally covered in goosebumps and shaking!! (except for the candid ones of us huddled in the few jackets that were brought along)

After pictures, we all headed back to the hotel and waited for the ceremony to start.  Sean and I snuck into where the ceremony and reception were held to see how it was all coming along.  It looked absolutely fantastic!!  The navy blue and pink looked perfect together-just how I envisioned it in my head!  (Afterward, even those who were quite vocal through the whole planning process about their thoughts on how the colors were going to look were pleasantly surprised at how nice it looked and apologized for being negative about it).  We then snuck back out and waited with everyone for the the time to start. 

Before I knew it, Lily, the Event Manager, came in and told us that it was time.  I suddenly got super nervous!  I was so proud to watch my closest and best friends go before me down the aisle and then was so honored to have my dad and step-dad walk me down the aisle.  It was an overwhelming feeling.  Brother McQuivey did another great job at explaining what being sealed in the temple means and entertwining everything together. 

The ceremony was followed by a cocktail hour and then the reception dinner.  Berwick, my finance director at work, was our MC - he did a phenomenal job!!  I had a jam-packed timeline written out and hoped that we would have time to squeeze everything in, and he did!  He was able to include everything into the dinner that I had hoped, without the guests feeling rushed or bombarded with stuff.  We did the slideshow (which I hope that Sean can figure out how to convert into a format so I can upload it onto my blog), four speeches, toast, cake cutting, bouquet toss, garter toss, and farwell send-off.

For the cake-cutting, Ethan joined us on the "cake platform" and I put a piece in his mouth before Sean and I exchanged cake.  It was really special that he was able to participate with us.  Sean was so kind and gave me a small peice, but I cut a huge peice for him - and he was a great sport and was able to eat it all in one bite! 

Sean surprised me and had rented a limo that picked us up from the dinner and took us to the JW Marriott on Pennsylvania Avenue (right next to the Willard) in DC. 

Overall, they were probably the two busiest days of my life so far, but it was all completely worth it!  Everything was just perfect!!! :)

Pictures coming soon!

Wedding and House Update!

Wedding Update
I can't believe it's next week!  The time has gone by so fast!  We have all of the vendors lined up, wedding dress is done (5 fittings later it successfully has capped sleeves and a modest back), place card settings done...  Now all we need to do is to make the programs, slideshow, finalize timeline and send out to bridal party and vendors, make table numbers, and I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.  Considering we have done all of this in three and a half months, I think we've done a good job!

We decided to have the sealing on Thursday, followed by a dinner with the sealing attendees, and then the ring exchange ceremony and reception dinner on Friday. 

House Update
A couple of weeks ago, we put an offer on a house - we low-balled it, and they didn't accept our offer... they accepted the other couple's.  We were bummed, but continued our search for a place to call ours.  Last week (Wednesday) a house dropped in price into our price range - I saw it, called Sean (who is back in North Carolina) and emailed our realtor, Jason.  Jason immediately contacted the realtor of this house and was told that there was already an offer on it, but they would consider ours if we quickly put one together.  The following day, Mom and I met Jason at the house after a dress fitting, and we loved it!  I called Sean on our way home and told him that I was in love with it.  As soon as we hung up, Jason called me and said that he just got off of the phone with the other realtor and was told that another offer was put on the house, so if we wanted to put our offer on it, we needed to do it the next day (Friday).  That night, Sean and I talked about it and we decided to put an offer on it, too.

Friday morning we found out that the other two offers were rejected, but there was another couple that lived out of town that were getting their paperwork together to put an offer on it.  We put our offer together and submitted it.  Yup, Sean put an offer on a house he never saw in person-just through the seven pictures that are online!  He must really love me;)  That evening, Jason called to tell us that the offer was submitted, and as he was telling Sean this, he said that he just received an email from the realtor of the first house that we put an offer on, stating that the other offer fell through and that we were at the top of the list for the house!  So essentially, we had to decide which house we wanted more.  We couldn't believe it!  Although the first house had a fourth bedroom in the basement that could have been made into the office/scrapbook room, we decided on the second one that we found.  I love the neighborhood and it is completely move-in ready (and already has all of the wooden blinds, corian counter tops, hardwood floors, it even has pillars in front that Sean said he wanted to have when we first started house-hunting!).

Saturday morning I was getting ready to meet Amanda and Jill at Meg's house for our spa day (since I don't drink, they took me to a spa for the afternoon as my bachelorette party!), I quickly looked online to see if the house was still listed as available.  I noticed that it said that it was off of the market, effective Saturday's date.  I texted Sean asking him if he had heard from Jason and if our offer was accepted.  When I got to Meg's Sean called and told me the fantastic news that they accepted our offer!  Yahoo!

Our only concern was the financing, as the bank is one that Sean's company audits, so we weren't sure if there were going to be any implications with that... we found out yesterday that there aren't, so we are good to go!  We are so excited to have our very own "Prince Palace" and a fantastic home in a great neighborhood! :)

Ethan's Camping Trip

Dad took Ethan to the semi-annual camping trip at Nick's.... it was Ethan's first time staying Friday - Sunday (in the past I have picked him up on Saturday afternoon).  He had such a great time and I am so glad that Ethan and my dad are able to spend quality time together in the great outdoors!

Picture coming soon... having technical issues

Ethan Lost His First Tooth!

Over the weekend Dad took Ethan to the semi-annual camping trip to Nick's...  When he got home, he immediately went in the shower...  All of a sudden he called me into the bathroom (which is unusual because he is at the age where he wants his privacy).  So I went in to find him soaking wet, completely naked, with a tooth in one hand and a wad of toilet paper in his mouth.  He told me that he was twisting his tooth and it came out.  Once I told him that it was ok and was excited for him, he got very excited!  (I think the blood freaked him out). 

He called my parents, Poppa John, and my uncle (who also went camping and told him that if he lost his tooth on Saturday, he would give him $100).  We got the tooth fairy bag that I made a couple of months ago, carefully put his tooth in it, and put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy.

The next morning he woke up and found that the tooth fairy left him a silver dollar!  He was VERY happy about this:)

He lost his first tooth on 10/10/10 - that's very easy to remember!

My Bridal Shower!

On Saturday, September 25th, my sister and bridesmaids hosted a bridal shower for me - it was absolutely amazing!!!  Family and friends joined us at Meg's house - it was so great to see everyone!!  Beforehand, Jill picked me up and we went to Rockville (Maryland) and got our makeup done (trial for the wedding day).  It took us an hour to get there and an hour and a half to get back, but it was so great to catch up with her!  She's in nursing school full-time and so we don't get a chance to talk as much as we used to, so it was extra awesome to chat, catch up, and laugh without interruptions:)

Meg, Amanda, Jill, and Annie did such a great job with the shower - it was fantastic - there were so many little details that made it extra special.  Some are: love quotes from princess movies (since Sean's last name is Prince), personalized lollipops, pink cups, etc.

The games that they had us play were so fun and had everyone laughing!!  One game was where Meg asked me a question that she had already asked Sean, and if I didn't answer it the same as he did, I had to put a big marshmellow in my mouth (luckily, Sean and I know each other pretty well so I only missed a couple).  They also included cute and funny poems with two of the things that they did: one with our "firsts" - each with advice on our "firsts" and a bottle of sparkling cider, and then they gave me a gift bag for each day that we are on our honeymoon and a cute little poem for each of them and the gift inside. 

At the end of the shower, they surprised me and presented a special book to me that they had made...  They had each written me a letter and asked muliple other women in my life to write me a letter and also included pictures of me with each person that had been taken throughout the years.  This book is so special-I will always cherish it forever!

I am so incredibly happy and blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!!  My bridal shower was definitely a day that I will always remember:)

I don't have time to make a mini-collage and blogger isn't really coroperating with me, so these pictures aren't in order, but nonetheless, here are some of the pictures from this fantastic "fairy tale" bridal shower!

 Looking through the book that everyone made for me

 My bestest friends and me!

 Family Time! My cousin, Page, Aunt Deb, and step-mom, Paula

 Work Friends!  Katelyn, me, Holly, and Mariah

 My beautiful bouquet!

 Meg, me, and Mom

Since my new last name will be Prince, they gave me a princess tiara to wear:) 

 One of the games was where they asked Sean before the shower to answer a bunch of questions... If I didn't give the same answers he did, I had to put a jumbo marshmellow in my mouth! 

All in the details!

The Love Basket... filled with cute poems of advice for some of our "firsts"

Wedding Night: 

The night you have dreamed of is finally here

The future surrounds you with hope and yet fear

You've wanted so long to find your perfect mate

sip this wine (apple cidar) and toast this perfect date

The night is meant for you to share

Enjoy each other - the perfect pair!

First Dinner Party:

Open your hope to entertain and eat

Catch up with old friends and new ones to meet.

When the night is over share this bottle of wine (apple cidar)

But don't sit down yet - it's clean up time!

Christmas Eve:

A wise man said wine (apple cidar) is better than beer (water)

and now is the season for lots of holiday cheer

So pop the cork and relax a bit

and when the night is through,

kiss goodnight, close your eyes,

and Santa will be good to you!

First Fight:

When fights occur and tempers get hot

Pour a glass and be thankful for what you've got

if you always agreed it would certainly be a bore.

And by asking for Brenna's hand, Sean is certainly in for more!

First Anniversary:

Been married a year, where did the time go?

No longer newlyweds, now you are pros.

Hope hte days found you in good health and good spirit.

Keep saying I love you-one always needs to hear it!

Now tast this first date, it's certainly not the last.

And as you build your future-don't ever forget the past!

They also made 7 bags with things to wear on the honeymoon and included cute poems for each of those.. but I won't post any of those! ;)

Ethan's Soccer Team

Fall 2010 Soccer Team

You wouldn't believe the chaos it took to get 12 seven year old boys to stand still for 5 seconds to get this picture taken!  (and took look over and see 12 girls standing nice and quietly waiting patiently...)  These boys were quite entertaining, though, while they waited for their picture to be taken!  From silly jokes, funny faces, putting grass on each other, poking one another... boys will be boys!!

"Mom, I have a Loose Tooth!"

This is what I woke up to this morning - Ethan standing next to my bed in the dark...  I asked which one it was and reached over and gave it a wiggle - it actually moved!  (Ethan has been wanting to lose a tooth for so long that he would occasionally announce to me that one was loose, but it never really budged when I tried to wiggle it, so the fact that this tooth moved - and that it moved a lot - was a really big deal!).  I told him he was right and to go get dressed for school while I tried to drag myself out of bed.  He walked out and then walked right back in, telling me that it was 3:08AM!  (why is it that lately I am woken up at 3AM?!)  So he crawled into bed with me and we fell back asleep until it was time to get up for real:)

He is SO excited about this loose tooth - he is constantly wiggling it and checking it out in the mirror...  It won't be long until the Tooth Fairy comes!! (And thankfully I know exactly where the Tooth Fairy bag is that I made a couple of months ago).  Just in time for the wedding, too, as he will most likely be one tooth short in all of the pictures, but at least we will always remember when he lost his first tooth!