So, the real reason we made the quick trip up to Utah was for these two love birds. They met last year at Disneyworld and the rest as they say is history. We got to spend some time with them at Rachel's parent's house the day before their wedding and it was so fun.
They are so sweet together, absolutely made for each other!
Brad, Breanna, Rachel and Rachel's cute niece, Libby.
Luke and Libby liked hanging out in her castle.
Let me tell you, these guys know how to party. They planned a flash mob dance for their reception and Bree jumped right in showing off her moves.
And even though I don't have a picture of the real thing, it turned out AMAZING at the reception.
Rachel's 93 year-old grandpa sealed them in the Salt Lake Temple. It was such as sweet sealing.
(I might have tripped going down the temple stairs in front of Rachel's dad TWICE.
Good thing Jer was there to back me up with is infamous laugh:)
Their cake was unbelievable. My favorite wedding cake ever.
I gotta say I do love it when it gets messy.
And they did not hold back!
And that's Breanna right after, going up to Rachel to congratulate her on getting Brad all caked-up:)
Did someone say cake?
Talk about romantic! Before they danced, they sang to each other. They both have unbelievable voices. They sounded so beautiful together. It was magical. And Rachel's brother sang a song that Rachel had chosen for Brad and he did an incredible job. They are all so talented!
After Rachel danced with her dad, the DJ told him to go find another partner and so he asked me to dance with him! It was the sweetest thing ever. But Luke did not like it one bit. He cried so hard that Kelly had to ultimately find himself another partner...I think it's fair to say this girl was tickled pink to take my spot!
(And that's Rachel's mom, Debbi in the pink dress). 
And as for these two love birds? There is more than one reason for the smiles on our faces. While Brad and Rachel were greeting the hundreds of guest that were pouring into the reception hall, something big was going down outside. Let me back up...
We got to the reception about an hour after it had gotten underway. Luke had just woken up from a deep sleep, so Jer carried him in and took him downstairs to go to the bathroom. Jake, Breanna and I went upstairs to wait in line to see Rachel and Brad. We were admiring the gorgeous pictures of Rachel and the table of gifts, especially the cute bird cage that held the wedding cards, when a lady walked out of the ballroom and stood behind me in line. We exchanged friendly smiles, then Jake and I noticed a man walk out of the ballroom with a card in hand. We watched as he put his card in the bird cage, and then to our surprise, he took all of the other cards out of the bird cage and proceeded to casually walk away. We were sort of in shock, wondering who he was and why he took the cards. Jake and I were talking it over as we realized he was walking out the door. When the woman behind me turned and followed the man out the door we knew we had been scammed! So I told Bree to stay put and Jake and I bolted for the door.
Just then Jer came up the stairs from taking Luke to the bathroom. I told him a man had taken the wedding cards and to follow me. When we got outside, I saw the man sitting in the passenger's seat of a little silver civic that had been pulled in backward for an easy get-away. I immediately began shaking my head "NO" at him and headed across the lawn towards the parking lot. The lady who had stood behind me in line, had gotten in the driver's seat. She was pulling forward as I reached the car. I slammed both hands on the hood and demanded that the man give us the cards back. He just shook his head, "no" and motioned for the lady driver to go. All the while I still had my hands glued to the hood, and was yelling at him to give the cards back and yelling to Jer to get his license plate number and call 911. At the same time Jer was yelling at me to get away from the car that was now moving forward to run me over. So I stepped aside and tried to open the man's door as the car pulled forward, but it was locked (darn!). And needless to say, they got away.
Well, Jer did not waste any time and dialed 911 immediately and reported what happened and gave them the number on the plates. The operator told him to wait outside and a cop would be there so we could file a report. So I went back inside and found Rachel's brother, Dave, and told him the bad news and warned him that the cops might be crashing the party. I checked on Breanna who was happily making friends in line and went back outside to check on Jer. Just then, the police pulled up. I was all prepared to tell him all the gritty details when he popped out of the car and said, "We got him." Apparently Jer's quick response saved the day because as they put the license plate number out over the APB, another police officer just happened to be right behind the card napper's car. They were pulled over immediately and the cop recovered all of the Wedding Cards! Hooray!!
When these guys (I think they're Brad's family) heard what happened, they were so bummed that they weren't there to chase the guy down and tackle him. So they decided to stand watch and protect the bird cage from any other crooks. I think they meant biz. They didn't actually stick around too long after this pic was taken, so Jake took up the post and stood watch for a good part of the night.
(Now why didn't I get a picture of that???)
(And believe it or not, those yellow heels that took me down the stairs earlier in the day were the same ones that had me chasing down the crooks later that night.)
I think Jer and I might have missed our calling in life.
But if you have an upcoming wedding, we are available for hire.
And so is he.
Rachel, we love you so much! You have brought unspeakable happiness to our family and we can't tell you how much it meant for us to see that kind of happiness be yours and Brad's today.
Thanks to both of you for letting us be there!
We love you!!!
