Madeleine's High School Graduation
So we now have another high school graduate in our family. Madeleine graduated from Waterford School on June 4th at Abravanel Hall in downtown Salt Lake City. It was a great day to celebrate as a family. The ceremony was in the morning and then after taking some pictures, we all drove back to the school for a reception on the lawn. It was fun to remember back with Madeleine and her friends to when they were all little girls in their jumpers. I know it sounds dumb, but I can't believe the time has gone by so fast! Alan's parents had us all over for a yummy salmon dinner and then Madeleine headed off for a Senior class party. She will miss her friends from school as they all head off different directions, but she is excited to head to BYU in the fall!
This year we didn't have Alan's dad with us as he was traveling with Pat in Europe. So it was just our own little family (Anne and Loren were with her family). I fixed dinner (he usually does on Sundays) and then we had some good game time and watched one of his new movies that night. Sunday afternoons are so nice and relaxing — hopefully he got to rest a little more than he usually does on Sundays. Oh, and the lucky boy did get breakfast in bed — what a nice wife....
As the wedding approached we started getting more and more excited. My sweet friends gave Loren and Anne a neighborhood shower where they got more nice things to set up house with. The week before the wedding the families got together at Draper Park to have wedding pictures taken so that we wouldn't have to do that the day of the reception. It was a little touch and go with the weather (afternoon wind and rain storms), but we hope the photographers got some good pictures.
The Waterford concert hall worked great for the reception — a little tricky for people to find, but we put out signs and balloons. Our family went over to the school in the afternoon to help the Bogues set up and then we all went home to get ready. I was glad we had taken the family photos ahead of time, because we just barely had time to see to final details when the guests started arriving. So many friends and family came to support us and to congratulate Loren and Anne. It was really fun to be the celebrating family after all the years of being the guests at wedding receptions. The food was great, especially the chocolate wedding cake made by Anne's father. It turned out to be a really nice evening and all the thanks goes to the Bogues for making it so successful. They are a very talented and hard working family.
The day of the wedding was pleasant, a little overcast that changed into a really nice summer day. We all met at the Draper Temple and enjoyed visiting in the marriage waiting room until the it was time for the wedding. The ceremony was so beautiful and Loren and Anne looked (or at least acted) so calm. Everything went smoothly and in no time at all they were finally married — sealed for time and all eternity.
We celebrated afterwards with a luncheon in the Rose Room at Thanksgiving Point. It was a nice relaxing way to be together. The food was delicious and everyone seemed to enjoy visiting with those at their table. Loren stood and thanked everyone of behalf of himself and Anne for all that they had done in helping them become who they are and for supporting their decision to be married. He also read a wonderful poem that Phillip had sent (as a surprise through his friend Nichole). Phillip had written his poem about an experience Loren and Anne had shared and it so captured the spirit of their relationship. It helped us all feel like Phillip was with us in spirit.
So the happy couple headed off to Paris France for a two week honeymoon — maybe we'll have some photos from them to show next month. Speaking of photos, I apologize, but as you will see in the slide shows, I don't really have any wedding pictures of the bride and groom. That is the interesting detail about being part of the wedding party — I couldn't really take all the photos to tell the story like I usually do. So I had to rely on the professional photographers to get all the pictures I want. Hopefully we will get the photos soon, and when we do, we will share them with you.
This month Phillip sent us some more photos! I think he looks great and he seems to be happy in his new area, Pinto/Parla. He says he is getting along really well with his new companion Elder Karren from Holladay, Utah. I think the heat is a bit of challenge as they are out in it themselves, but also because everything shuts down all afternoon while everyone goes home for Mediodía and apparently the hotter the days, the longer they all stay in. The missionaries often feel they are in a ghost town with a lone dog here or there. I know he is thinking of home more than usual with Loren's wedding, so it will be good to have the festivities over with so that he can stay focused on the work he can still do in the time he has left to serve.