Cody & Whitney’s Wedding: Getting There

We are sooo happy that Cody found a perfect match for him in Whitney.  They are both amazingly strong, kind, intelligent, spiritual individuals…it will be exciting to see what great things they can accomplish together in this life and in the eternities!

We recently returned from a fabulous trip to Utah where they sealed for “Time and All Eternity” in the Salt Lake Temple of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Everything turned out beautifully and we got to have a mini famiy reunion at the same time (bonus!). 

I (Shayne) got to fly out a few days early to help Whitney’s mom with some of the Reception food and also to spend some time with Cody and my Sister, Samantha, and her family before the big day.  I felt guilty having Frank drive the other 6 kids 31 hours across the country by himself…but…luckily, he is amazingly good at anything he does (and patient), and I had a FABULOUS rest and got rejuvenated! 

Frank drove through the night to get to Utah…they stopped at a Rest Area for 4 hours to sleep and then he drove on.  The other six kids were missing several (“unexcused absence”) days at school, so, unfortunately, the rest of them didn’t get to hang out too long in Utah and enjoy the vacation like I did.  But it was still a great time for everyone.  They were able to stop over in Monticello for a short day before they came on up to Spanish Fork, where my sister lives…then we stayed with her for a couple of nights.

Check out the pictures I got from the trip and the wedding.  I didn’t get as many as I would normally have because we knew we would be getting a disk of photos from a professional photographer (part of Whitney’s family) afterward…so, hopefully we will be able to share those with you soon.

On the road....Kansas

Playing cards with Grandpa in Monticello...always a treat!

Donovan (9) has just recently become old enough to play with the adults during our favorite game: Zion Check. He went out on the last hand (it only went around twice...if you play the game, you know that's good)...and won the whole thing!

Grandpa Slade

Ashley cuddled up in one of Grandma's beds.

PJ lounging in front of the TV...

PJ

Megan...what are you doing??

This was taken going north out of Monticello (coming off Peter's Hill)...headed toward Canyonlands and Moab.

...look at the low clouds hovering over the valley below Peter's Hill..

...it is so beautiful there!

One of the favorite things for the kids to do in Utah is climb Wilson Arch...it is a natural arch that is right along-side the highway between Monticello and Moab. If you climb up you get a spectacular view!

...climbing up...

...more climbing...

...and at the top...

Cody & Whitney’s Wedding: The Bridal Shower

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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.

PJ

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: The Reception

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

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.

 

2010 Trip to Washington DC – 1

On July 5th we left for a whirlwind trip to Washington D.C.   We saw all the “BIG STUFF” in two full days of running from one site to another.  That wouldn’t have been quite as difficult if the East Coast hadn’t been experiencing a significant HEAT WAVE at the time and most of the “running” was done outside. 

It was 103 degrees our first day there (and 100 the 2nd day).  Our friends in Las Vegas will scoff at that seemingly “low” temp.  However…the humidity was also around 100% at the time.  This makes for  a most UNBEARABLE experience.  I’ll never forget walking from the Lincoln Memorial over to the White House in those conditions.  Uggghhhh!  We actually left a tour of the Capitol building midway through in order to make it to the other end of the Washington Mall for our elevator ride up the Washington Memorial (we got our tickets early in the morning for a 4:30 tour)…we did that in 15 minutes, riding Metro part of the way…and running in the heat (can you see all 8 of us running like maniacs?)…crazy, but worth it!

But, despite that one large challenge…we had a most excellent adventure in the country’s capital.  We made a lot of memories.

I don’t want to be negative, but I will mention two big observations we made while we were there:

1.  The Washington Mall is in horrible shape.  The grass is brown and unkempt, and everything looks very undesirable.  I know all that upkeep costs, but it doesn’t present a very “shiny” image for our country.

2.  People in Washington D.C. aren’t very nice.  We have lived in “The South” for the past two years now…and I think we have already started to take “Southern Hospitality” for granted.  I remember when we first moved to Georgia from Las Vegas…we were in awe at how truly nice everyone was…like the cashier at the grocery store, or a person on the street that you needed to get directions from, or the people that wave at you in your car even though they have no clue who you are.  We realized, after we stepped out of our “Southern Bubble” that we have let that become something that we expect instead of appreciate.  We will try to do better now .

Yeah...the 12 hours of torture was over...we had arrived!

We stayed in Arlington, Virginia...

We stayed at the Hilton near the airport in Arlington.

We got all day Metro (subway) Tickets and rode the train from the hotel into the city and also used it to get to different places in the city. That in and of itself was an adventure.

Mikayla, Frank and Megan on the Metro.

Our very first stop was at the Arlington National Cemetery. Here is a quote from the official website for the cemetery: "Arlington Mansion and 200 acres of ground immediately surrounding it were designated officially as a military cemetery June 15, 1864, by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. More than 300,000 people are buried at Arlington Cemetery. Veterans from all the nation's wars are buried in the cemetery, from the American Revolution through the Iraq and Afghanistan. Pre-Civil War dead were reinterred after 1900."

It was a very humbling experience to be there. To find out more about the cemetery you can go to: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/

 

 

We were privileged to watch the "Changing of the Guards" at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. See our VIDEOs below.

 

The senior officer was checking the gun of the replacement soldier in the official ceremony.

 

 

I don't know if they do this every time, but the wreath that was in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was changed out after the changing of the guards. This particular one was contributed by the Daughters of the Revolution. They had a few older ladies there to be a part of that ceremony.

After we watched the changing of the guards we got in line (luckily in the shade) for the next Shuttle to take us back to the Visitor's Center. We had quite a wait as a funeral procession was keeping the shuttle from getting to us (remember it was 103 degrees at this point). While we were waiting an ambulance and a fire truck arrived with lights flashing. We never heard for sure, but we assumed someone had collapsed from the heat.

 

After we were done at the Cemetery, we got on the Metro and headed right into the heart of DC. One of the first things we did was find 1111 Constitution Way. What, you say you haven't heard of that address??!! That would be the official IRS headquarters. ;-)

Our next stop was the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

I thought my Utah friends would like this...a piece of Sandstone from Moab sits in the Smithsonian...how cool is that?

Does this look familiar to you? Remember the movie "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian"?

AND...for my Arizona friends. Did you know that right in front of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, they have a couple of pieces of Petrified Wood from none other than HOLBROOK, Arizona? That's where I spent my first 9 years of life. Another "cool thing" on the trip!

And...it's the family "on the Mall"...Washington Mall, that is. That's the Capitol Building in the background.

And agin...this time with Shayne...hey, I want to be in the pictures sometimes too ;-).

This is the family standing in front of a museum on our way to the National Air and Space Museum. We kind of hoped we would get some respite from the heat by the water. You wouldn't believe how many bottles of water we went through in those two days.

ABOVE:  Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 1 – Initial Announcement

ABOVE:  Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 2 – Checking the Gun

ABOVE:  Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 3 – New Soldier Takes Over

2010 Trip to Washington DC – 2

More photos of our Trip to Washington, D.C., in the early part of July 2010.

Here I took a picture of PJ taking a picture inside the National Air and Space Museum.

Can you see that Liz is blushing?? She wanted to take a picture with the fire hose because she has a thing for firefighters. So, she looks at me and raises her eyebrows twice but a boy passing by thought she was "making eyes" at him...and I caught the ensuing embarrassment ;-).

Donovan with his head in the clouds...

...touring a partial airplane. The kids were very thirsty and tired at this point. Don't let their smiles fool you ;-).

Frank

Ashley with Amelia Earhart

On the Metro again: Ashley, PJ, Frank and Megan

Sitting in the Metro station...waiting for a train.

We were back in the heat hiking from the National Air and Space Museum down to the Lincoln Memorial (a very long distance...even when it's not 103 degrees).

The Washington Monument. We thought it was ironic that they were advertising and getting ready for a big Mexico celebration on the Washington Mall.

 

The Washington Monument

And the family at the Washington Monument!

We got past the Washington Monument and still had quite a ways to go to get to the Lincoln Memorial (in the background).

PJ and a squirrel...they were NOT afraid of people. This was taken on our very long walk from the National Air and Space Museum down to the Lincoln Memorial. Again...103 degrees + humidity...some of us weren't sure we were going to make it.

Hahahahahaha....

Frank and Shayne in front of the Reflecting Pond with the Washington Monument in the background.

Getting ready to visit the Lincoln Memorial...

Walking up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial...

This is Donovan "Posing" in front of the Lincoln Memorial looking back at the Washington Monument (reflecting pond in between).

This was taken from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking back at the Washington Monument.

And, finally, we got our turn to take a picture in front of Lincoln (he didn't say anything).

The Lincoln Memorial

After our visit to the Lincoln Memorial...getting ready to see the Vietnam Memorial and then hike over to The White House.

ABOVE:  Trip to Washington DC – Motorcade

While we were getting tickets to go up in the Washington Monument, we witnessed this Motorcade. Liz swears she saw Obama sitting in one of the SUVs with the window down…but I’m pretty sure she was mistaken .

The part that I didn’t get on tape was something that happened right before the cars started coming down the road. One of the police officers that was supposed to get the road blocked off so the motorcade could go through started going balastic.

We didn’t know what he was doing at first…but it turns out there was a taxi sitting on the side of the road right in front of us that shouldn’t have been there…they were probably waiting for someone that was running up to get their free tickets to the Washington Monument. The police officer started yelling at them to move their vehicle. They were not hearing him or not paying attention. So he ran over and started banging on the trunk of the taxi yelling, “MOVE THIS VEHICLE!!!!”

I can see why he was being so intense because the motorcade was on it’s way and he hadn’t done his job securing the area…but it was pretty intense. I wish I had gotten THAT on video . Lucky for him the taxi drove off just in time for the motorcade to arrive.

ABOVE:  Washington DC Trip: Playing “Ninja” while waiting for the Metro

I know this video is a little dark…but I love it. During our trip to Washington DC we rode the Metro from our Hotel in Arlington over into DC and then getting from place to place in the city.

This video shows the kids playing the game “Ninja” in the underground Metro station while we were waiting for our train.

I guess Ninja has been around for a while, but I have just become acquainted with it. It seems to be a big crazy right now. It’s a weird game…but the kids love it.

2010 Trip to Washington DC – 3

And even more photos of our Trip to Washington, D.C., in the early part of July 2010….

We were so hot and we took advantage of the few sprinklers that we found.

This was our visit to the Vietnam Memorial. Frank's dad is a Vietnam Vet.

More Vietnam Memorial...

Donovan was really hot and was trying to shade his head and face...so he used this pamphlet to make a "hat."

Liz helping Donovan with his hat on the way to the White House.

Yeah...we survived the VERY HOT walk from the Lincoln Memorial over to the White House.

Liz (17) in front of the White House...

Megan (15) in front of the White House...

Frank and Shayne in front of the White House...

And...the WHITE HOUSE!! I didn't realize we would be so far away from it. You always see shots from right there on TV, but it's very different standing out there than I had imagined.

Can you see the security guy on the top of the White House?

That's us riding the escalator up out of the Metro (subway). This picture isn't a good representation of this...but we learned very quickly that when you are on an escalator in DC, you "GET OVER TO THE RIGHT!!!" People are on the move and want to get wherever the heck they are going. You had better get out of their way. So, you leave the left side open for people that don't have time to wait and we learned to be single-file on the Right-hand side of the escalator.

Yeah! We made it to the grounds of the Capitol Building!!!

My only regret about our visit to the Capitol building is that we never made it around to the front of the building to look out over the mall and stand where the little bill sang, "I'm just a bill on Capitol Hill..." :-)

LtoR: Megan (15), Frank, Shayne, Donovan (9), Ashley (11), Liz (17), PJ (12), Mikayla (14).

Did you know Philo T. Farnsworth, the Father of Television, was a Mormon?? His statue is in the Capitol Building where you line up for the tours.

The Rotunda of the Capitol

Our tour guide was kind of on the boring side. She was also not very friendly. Right before we got started, I tapped her on the shoulder to ask her a question and she jumped and turned around and looked at me like I had just violated her somehow. I'm thinking she has issues. This was take right before we ditched the tour to make it back to the Washington Monument for our tour up the elevator.

COOL! This was taken from atop the Washington Monument. Can you see the White House?

Another picture taken from atop the Washington Monument. This is looking down upon Constitution Avenue. The second building up on the right-hand-side is the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Right across the street from that (to the left) is 1111 Constitution Way -- the Ultimate IRS building!!! ;-)

This was taken from atop the Washington Monument looking toward the Capitol Building. Doesn't the Washington Mall look in bad repair? If you were looking in the opposite direction you would see the Lincoln Memorial and the reflecting pond.

This is a little stage off to the side of the Washington Monument...I'm not sure why it is there. That's Donovan posing on the stage.

One more picture in front of 1111 Constitution Way...the IRS Building...

The last night we were there we were able to drive to the north area of the DC Metro area...up into Maryland...where the Washington DC Temple is located. It is absolutely gorgeous and the grounds are beautiful. Here are the kids in front of the temple before we went into the Visitor's Center.

And the family in front of the temple by the Visitor's Center.

We were there later in the evening and it got dark before we left. Check out the video of the temple as seen from the freeway below.

The LDS Washington DC Temple – - at Night

I have always heard stories of how magnificent the Washington DC Temple looks as you drive up on it on the freeway at night.

I video-taped it as we were driving up on it on the 495 freeway…and I was very excited to witness it for myself.  It was just as amazing as they said it would be!

ABOVE:  David Williams – Washington DC Temple Video Display

Soon after we entered the Visitor’s Center at the temple, Megan called me over to a Video Display that she had been looking at. There on the video was David Williams, a friend in our ward back in Georgia. He was talking about the Book of Mormon.

He told us later that it had been done several years earlier and he didn’t realize they were still using it there. It was such a cool thing to see him on there!