The Nolden Family » Cody

Cody & Whitney’s Wedding: The Bridal Shower

Shayne — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:10:32 +0000

I was lucky to get into town just in time for Whitney’s Briday Shower, put on by her mom, Kathy. It was held at a relative’s home in Provo, and I took my sister Samantha with me and two of her daughters, Tristan and Ashton.

Whitney and her mom, Kathy

Whitney playing around with her nieces before the shower

Whitney and her niece

Quail outside the Provo home where the Bridal Shower was held...

Kathy and her granddaughter

Me with my sister Samantha and her daughter Ashton

My sister, Samantha, with two of her daughters, Ashton and Tristan

Whitney with her nieces

There a reason Whitney was blowing bubbles. One of the games was for Whitney to guess how Cody answered certain questions, like "What is Cody's favorite Shirt," or "What is 'your' song?" Every time she got an answer wrong she had to add another stick of gum to the amount already in her mouth. So, this is her trying to blow a bubble after all of the questions. :-)

Whitney with one of her gifts from the night...it was a Kitchen Theme...

Whitney and more gifts...

Cody & Whitney’s Wedding: Aunt Sam’s House

Shayne — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:09:57 +0000

One of the cool things about the wedding is that I got to spend time with family (the “mini” family reunion). My whole family lives in Utah and I live in Georgia…so it’s not always easy to do that. We stayed at my sister’s house and the kids got to see their cousins. I also got to spend time just hanging out with Cody, which was awesome.

This is my FAVORITE Sister, Samantha!! She is one of those awesome people that you just love to be around.

Tristan (Sam's daughter)

That's my beautiful Mother! She had just had her gall bladder removed the week before and still wasn't feeling that hot...but she was determined to be there no matter what.

Cody hanging out with Miley (the dog)

Miley...she's such a cute dog.

Grandpa Slade...gotta love him!

Everyone enjoyed laying on the "Utah Grass." You don't have to worry about ticks, chiggers and other weird crawly things...so they took advantage. It's weird how lawns are so much more lush in the desert.

Megan and Liz enjoying the grass...

Bronson (Sam's son) showing his moves on his bike...

Grandma and Cody

Cody with Grandma and Grandpa Slade

Cody & Liz with Grandma and Grandpa Slade

That's Grandpa causing trouble...

Cody, Shayne, Grandpa & Grandma Slade

Lizzie loves her Grandma

Ashley hanging out after a busy day of playing...

We dipped 20 lbs. of strawberries for the Reception! I've never done that before...I learned a new skill. These are all of the helpers that got it done (LtoR): Sam, Shayne, Tristan (front, Sam's daughter), Megan, Grandma, Liz, Heather (Sam's Daughter), and Steve (Heather's boyfriend).

Many, many STRAWBERRIES!! They were VERY yummy!

...and more strawberries...

Cody & Whitney’s Wedding: The Salt Lake Temple

Shayne — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:09:21 +0000

Cody and Whitney were married at 9am on a beautiful Saturday morning in the Salt Lake Temple.

The beautiful Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Salt Lake Temple

This is Cody and Whitney when they first came out of the Temple after the wedding/sealing ceremony. We were all outside waiting for their exit.

Cody and Whitney Nolden!

Whitney giving Ashley a hug...

Cody and Whitney headed to the back of the Temple so we could take family group photos.

This is Whitney's Cousin...she took a bunch of professional photos for us...which hopefully I will be able to share soon. I didn't take as many photos because I knew we would be getting good ones from her afterward.

The Wedding Party...we are all looking at the photographer, this was taken by someone off to the side (obviously ;-). I don't have any of just our family with them...I should've had someone use my camera while we were up there getting them taken.

Whitney and her family that was able to be there. Her brother and his family was there. She has another brother that was in the MTC getting ready to go on a mission for the church and another brother that is in the military. Besides her parents, she also had two grandpas and a grandma there.

Whitney's maternal grandfather

Whitney's paternal grandparents. Grandpa Richards was the "Sealer" or officiator for the wedding ceremony. We found out that day that he actually spent some time as the Salt Lake Temple President in the past...how cool is that?

Cody & Whitney’s Wedding: The Salt Lake Temple 2

Shayne — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:09:01 +0000

Here are more photos from the morning of the wedding. The kids couldn’t go into the temple for the ceremony, so they waited outside on Temple Square for a little while.

The kids taking off to explore while we were in the temple...I guess they spent the first 20 minutes trying to find a bathroom for Donovan. We were there by 8:30 and nothing opened up until 9:00.

Ashley, Mikayla and Megan in front of the reflecting pool by the temple...

PJ, Donovan, Ashley and Mikayla

Megan (15)

Ashley (11)

Mikayla (14)

I guess there was discussion as to whether or not the "Salt" Lake Temple tasted like salt...so Megan tested the theory...I guess not.

Mikayla and Megan occupied themselves for a while with a very interesting lady bug.

Donovan and Ashley contemplating the cosmos.

Some of the kids with Grandpa Searles

Liz (and Frank in the background) while we were waiting for Cody and Whitney to come out of the temple

Grandpa and Grandma Slade

Grandpa Slade having a chat with Grandpa Searles

Grandpa Slade and Grandpa Searles

Don Searles with Don Searles (10). Donovan was named after his Grandpa Don.

Megan (15)

The girls in the colors of the wedding (bright pink, bright orange, and bright green).

All of the kids together looking very sharp (LtoR): Donovan (10), Liz (17), Ashley (11), Cody (24), PJ (12), Megan (15) and Mikayla (14).

Grandma Slade and Grandma Searles

Shayne with Grandma Slade and Grandma Searles

Liz (17)

This was near the end of the photographs on the Temple steps...

The "Jump for Joy" ?

Cody & Whitney’s Wedding: Provo Reception

Shayne — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:08:32 +0000

The reception was GORGEOUS!!! Whitney’s family had a friend with a beautiful home that sat right on the banks of the Provo River in North Provo. The backyard was lush and fantastic. I wish I had gotten a lot of pictures…I am waiting to see the ones from the photographer. I was so busy talking to family and friends that were there (some that we hadn’t seen in quite a while) that I didn’t get any pictures of them (unusual for me). There are so many of you that I hope the photographer got on film. But THANK YOU to all of you that came and shared in Cody and Whitney’s big day…I know many of you came from far and wide! The whole day was WONDERFUL!!!

Earlier in the day, before the reception, we had a luncheon for immediate family. This is the family waiting for the luncheon to start.

Frank with Whitney's Grandma and Grandpa Richards at the luncheon. Grandpa Richards performed the sealing in the temple.

Cody and Whitney taking a short break when no guests were going through the line.

Shayne and Frank with good friends the Lysles, who were in our ward in Las Vegas, but had moved to Idaho. They drove down from Idaho to be at the reception.

Kyle let PJ think for a second that he could take him down...yeah, right ;-).

Liz, members of the Browne family (Kyle and Amy here), and Cody's old roommates helped decorate Cody and Whitney's car.

Cody & Whitney’s Wedding: Getting Home

Shayne — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:07:59 +0000

We had to leave for home early the morning after the wedding to get kids back to Georgia for school. We drove the whole 31 hours and only stopped for food and potty breaks. It’s 31 hours if you don’t stop. I drove from 3am to 9am, while Frank slept…and he drove the rest. It wasn’t that bad, at the time…but it took me several days to get back to a “normal” state…not that I was normal before.

Did you have any idea these road-side signs were so BIG?? We didn't. That's PJ (12).

We made a short pit stop in Frisco, Colorado. It was a really pretty town.

We had a small, portable DVD player in the very back seat. The middle seat had this TV and the Playstation to keep them busy. It helped on the way there, but on the way back no one was really interested in playing. The younger kids did watch a lot of videos though.

This is the HUGE (3 miles?) tunnel at the top of the mountain in Colorado before you start descending into Denver. On the other side of the tunnel we got caught up in all of the traffic going back to Denver after spending the weekend in the mountains. We drove 20-30 MPH for about two hours until we got to Denver...it is just like the traffic heading back to LA after a weekend in Vegas...never take that trip on a Sunday night. It kind of set us back a bit.

Liz and I got really bored and started doing the "Wave" with our feet out the window...check out the video below.

Liz, PJ and Megan making the best of the trip.

The famous St. Louis (Missouri) arch.

Frank grew up as an Army Child...so he moved around a lot. He spent most of his high school years in Clarksville, Tennessee, near Fort Campbell. He hadn't been back there in 30 years, but he was able to take a drive around town when we drove by on this trip and find his old home and high school...that's always a fun thing to do.

I had never been to Nashville, Tennessee...but I can't say that anymore. Of course, I only caught a glimpse from the freeway...one day we will have to go back and see the sites.

Cody & Whitney’s Wedding: Houston Reception

Shayne — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:07:55 +0000

Whitney’s family is from Sugar Land, Texas, which is just Southwest of Houston. Two weeks after they got married, we made a trip down to Texas for the second and last Reception for them.

After we left the Atlanta Metro Area…we were in totally un-discovered territory for all of us, except Frank…who has been everywhere. That was exciting for me since I love to explore new places. We left after school on a Friday (couldn’t miss anymore school) and made it as far as Mobile, Alabama, the first night (about 6 hours). The next day it took us about 9 hours to drive through Mississippi, Louisianna, and part of Texas before we got to Sugar Land. We took a slight detour and went through the heart of New Orleans. We didn’t get to stop, but it was still cool to be there.

I didn't get an Alabama or Mississippi signs (drat!)...but here is a Louisiana sign. This was actually on our way back out of Texas when we left...I wasn't quick enough on the way there...but let's pretend it is on the way to Texas for continuity sake :-).

New Orleans! Since I had never been there it was very cool. Even from the freeway you can tell the area is depressed though...many empty buildings. We drove on a LOT of bridges (some VERY long) in Louisiana.

Frank had told me that the water table is so high in New Orleans that in the cemetaries everyone is buried ABOVE ground. We just happened to drive by one of these cemeteries on the freeway. Freaky!

We left New Orleans and we were on our way to Baton Rouge...where we had lunch.

Yeah...the great state of Texas. I had only been in the panhandle before...so it was cool to be down in the green and pretty part of the large state. Someone asked me at the reception if Texas was "greener" than Georgia and had to say that it was not. It is definitely pretty though.

Driving into Houston....I bet the freeways aren't that clear very often. It was a late Saturday afternoon.

...closer to Houston...

Downtown Houston

PJ was mesmerized by all of the bridges in the Gulf States. Here is an example of bridges OVER the freeway...but mostly WE were over water on the bridge.

PJ: "I LOVE Bridges!"

PJ at the Reception: "Still Lovin' Bridges!" Just kidding...it's just his newest pose.

And PJ being "normal"....

The "recently visited the Bahamas" Bride and Groom.

Here is the whole family...we didn't get one picture where everyone was looking and/or smiling...so this is the best we could do. LtoR: Liz (17), Mikayla (14), Frank, Ashley (11), Cody, Whitney, Donovan (10), Shayne, PJ (12) and Megan (15). The colors were obviously bright pink, bright green & bright orange.

Cody and Whitney with Whitney's brother, Eric, who surprised them by flying in from Tennessee where he is serving in the Army and getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan soon.

Cody and Whitney with, Amy, who is a long-time friend of Whitney's family. She is the daughter of one of their past Stake Presidents. We had fun getting to know Amy and she had a lot of fun at the reception.

Whitney with just a few of her friends that came to wish her "Congrats!"

The food at the reception was incredibly yummy! Kathy, Whitney's mom, had worked feverishly on making all kinds of delicacies. The kids more than enjoyed them :-).

...some of the goodies...

...Whitney with some very cute guests...

Cody with Amy and Whitney's Dad, Gary

Cody and Whitney getting ready to cut the cake...

...after the cake cutting...

...pretending to feed each other cake...I didn't get a picture because I was video-taping (see below)

...let's eat cake...

The cake was beautiful AND yummy! That is Joy in the middle...she is a friend of Whitney's family. She made the cake and was a HUGE help with all of the decorations and other preparations.

LtoR: Mikayla, PJ, Donovan, Ashley & Megan

Megan

PJ always feels so tall, around the house at least...so we had to get a picture of him next to a family friend of the Richards. He is 6' 8".

Our handsome Cody

Ashley caught the bouquet! (see video below)...she'll be waiting a LOOOONNNGGG time to cash it in though!

My niece, Lesley, lives just North of Houston and drove an hour to be at the reception. That's her with one of cute little boys, Ian. We were soooo excited to see her! We hadn't seen her in a couple of years.

This was taken at the end of the reception...about 10:30 Georgia time. So we are all looking a little haggard and Don and Ashley were not into doing pictures. But we got the whole crew, plus cousins Lesley and Ian.

The "Wedding Trips" have been fun for Frank (except that he has driven for about 108 hours in a two week period). He got to see his childhood home in Tennessee when we drove through there...and when we returned to Georgia we drove through Columbus, GA, where he spent his Senior Year in High School and where his parents lived for about 15 years. There were a lot of memories for him there. This is where he lived.

Above: This is the “cutting of the cake.” They were very polite… There was nice “mood” lighting, which wasn’t good for videoing…so it is a little dark.

Above: This is Whitney throwing the bouquet. Ashley caught it! Again…a little dark.

Cody is AMAZING!

Shayne — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:42:21 +0000

Cody is so amazing! During the school year he takes full-time graduate classes and still manages to have his own business, have fun, be engaged and plan a wedding all at the same time…during the summer he didn’t have classes, but he did have a full-time internship (at LDS church headquarters)…plus all the other stuff.

So, we were pleased, but not surprised, when he hit the online and print version of the BYU School Newspaper because of his entrepreneurial ventures. Check out the article:

CODY IN THE BYU NEWSPAPER!!

Cody & Whitney Engagement Photos

Shayne — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:02:31 +0000

There were sooooo many cute ones, and I couldn’t put them all on here…so I had to pick a few of my favorites.

You can click on ANY photo to see a larger version and look at them in a slideshow format…

Cody & Whitney are ENGAGED!!!

Shayne — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:54:28 +0000

We saw it coming, but we didn’t know exactly when it would happen . Cody and Whitney are now OFFICIALLY engaged!! Wooohooo. We absolutely LOVE Whitney and can see that the two of them are perfect for one another. What a great start to an eternity together. They are going to be married in the Salt Lake Temple in August…ROAD TRIP!

The Cute Couple

Cody and Whitney recently went hiking up in the mountains by Provo, Utah. The next several photos are of them on their hike.

The Canyon

Whitney

Cody

Cody and Whitney recently took a trip to the Houston area where Whitney's parents live. The next several pictures are of their trip.

Houston Astros Game

Cody, Whitney and Whitney's brother

Trip to a museum....