Thursday, June 30, 2011
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Really. This past May and June, we had back-to-back weddings in our family. (And that's enough to try the patience of several saints, let me tell you!) Not that I don't enjoy weddings . . .I do. I'm all for love and romance and happily ever after, trust me. But man, they're a lot of work and stress! Especially when you back your car into the Maid of Honor's car, smash a vase, and break a toe all on the selfsame blessed day . . .but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's begin at the beginning.
Bride #1: Annie Lyman, James' beautiful and lovely little sister. You know, people need to be careful before mocking an Anita Stansfield book plot. (No offense, Anita. Many people love your books.) But you see, Annie is not what you'd call a fan of Ms. Stansfield's book First Love and Forever. In fact, I clearly recall Annie going on and on a couple of years ago about how that book is totally cheesy. Anyway, it's been many years since I read that book but as I recall, it's about a woman who falls in love with a handsome Australian man. The handsome Australian man isn't a member of the Church, but through a series of events, he ends up gaining at testimony and he gets baptized. Then they get married and live blissfully ever after.
So about a year ago, Annie meets this handsome Australian man(Robert):
(Note: I've always been a fan of Rob's dimples. Cute, huh? Deeper than the Grand Canyon!)
Annie falls in love with Handsome Australian Man Robert, who isn't a member of the Church. Through a series of events, he ends up gaining a testimony and getting baptized:
(Note: James got to baptize him last December--a very great honor!)
Then they get married and live blissfully ever after. Which goes to show that you should be careful of the literature you mock. "Ms. Annie, you'd best believe in cheesy Mormon love stories--'cause you're in one!" But back to the actual wedding. The wedding date was set for Saturday, May 21st, 2011, so everyone began planning, planning, planning . . .I'll spare you the boring details of who called what venue and ordered what, blah blah blah. Let's just skip ahead to the actual day.
The ceremony was at Von Baer Park in Providence. (Rob has to be a Church member for a year before going to the temple so I'll look forward to blogging about the sealing in a few months.) It was a lovely park with a river and trees and was just the right amount of space. Our four teenage nieces were bridesmaids and Bethany and Lexie (the little cousins) were flower girls. Here are some pictures from that beautiful day!
The bridesmaid nieces hanging ribbons in the trees:
While Lucy and Patrick supervise:
Bethany and I were excited for the show to get started:
Bethany practiced her flower girl march with her little basket:
The bridesmaids and flower girls strike a pose before the ceremony:
Aren't they pretty? And here they are in action during the actual procession. Get a load of Bethany's face--she looked very scowly as she forcefully chucked her flower petals to the ground as she walked solemnly along:
And this is the moment! 
Mr. and Mrs. Burdzy!
And here's the whole wedding party!
After the ceremony, there was a great luncheon and then later that night, a reception with karaoke--which was WAY fun! Then it was cleanup, cleanup, cleanup, cleanup until midnight. Exhausting, but all in all, a very successful wedding day! The weather cooperated (which we had worried about) and everything came off without a hitch. Except for when I smashed into the Maid of Honor's car. And then was responsible for the tall vase smashing to smithereens. And then broke my pinky toe by dropping a can of Nalley's chili upon it . . .
Yeah, other than those things, the day came off without a hitch. What's a toe, or a car, or a vase in the face of happily ever after? And here are some shots from the open house in Blanding, held two weeks later at this really cool historic bank:
It was small, but seriously pretty!
Anyway, that brings us to the happy conclusion of the tale of Bride #1.
Bride #2: Grandma Marjorie Johnson. 
Isn't she pretty? It's no wonder Jay Call snatched her up. The woman is an 80-year-old babe. But again, let me start over. My Grandpa Johnson passed away two years ago (June 14, 2009). Grandma was very lonely after he died--they had been married for 58 years and were very, very happy together. So it was hard when he left her behind. Anyway, around the time my Grandpa died, Jay Call's wife died. Jay and his wife were Grandpa and Grandma's next-door neighbors for many, many years. So Jay and Grandma start hanging out as just "two friends" with absolutely NO intention of ever remarrying.
Which goes to show you should never say "never." (Honestly, the morals I'm learning through the telling of these two love stories! Be careful what books you mock . . .never say never . . .you should all be taking notes at this wisdom!)
So the gist of the story is that Grandma and Jay were married on June 18, 2011, in the Walnut Room at Utah State University. It was all very lovely and I didn't take pictures! SO sorry! I think that Annie's wedding fried me out and I was still having post-traumatic (er, wedding) stress. So just use your imaginations please! Grandma looked lovely and Jay looked handsome and the ceremony was very tasteful and nice. And after they greeted their guests at the reception, they took off for a honeymoon in Park City . . .followed up by a three-week cruise in Europe . . .followed up by several trips to St. George and Island Park . . .
In other words, they're not rocking in chairs and watching soap operas. And now they've bought a winter home in St. George, where they're living for half the year now. I suppose the moral of this story could be "It's never too late to live and love." And although admittedly it's been a bit of an adjustment to have Grandma remarry, it's very nice to see her so happy and not alone anymore.
This is the conclusion of "A Tale of Two Weddings." Just reliving it all makes me want to go to bed, so that's exactly what I'm going to do! :0)
