My Best Friend's Wedding

It was a short flight from California to Las Vegas. We landed at the Las Vegas airport around the afternoon on New Years Day. I couldn't believe that my best friend Chelsea was getting married the following day! We have been through so much together. We met in Rexburg through my friend Stephanie when I was going to school at BYU Idaho. We became instant friends. We were also roommates for a couple of semesters. She became my maid of honor for my wedding day. We have had such good times together and I was ecstatic to see her get sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. I was so honored to be her matron of honor on her big day.

On the night before Chelsea's wedding, I stayed the night at her place along with her sister and sister-in-law. I got to meet her soon-to-be husband, Elliot and some of his family members. I also had to try on my bridesmaid dress. I had not seen or tried on my dress until that night, so I was nervous for a few reasons... But luckily, it fit like a glove and I was ready to go. 

January 2nd, 2016 came before we knew it! We got up early that morning to get ready for the wedding. We had to be at the Las Vegas Temple by 9 for the sealing at 9:30. The Las Vegas Temple is absolutely gorgeous inside and out. Collin said it's one of his favorite temples. The sealing for Elliot and Chelsea was so sweet and touching. It brought back great memories of when Collin and I were sealed together two and a half years ago. She is now known as Chelsea Postma, which will take a while to sink in... I cried tears of joy in the temple seeing how amazing Chelsea looked in her wedding dress. After helping Chelsea get ready to take photos, the bride and groom made their temple exit. Chelsea was so radiant that day. She was just glowing and so happy to be with her eternal companion. 

After taking temple pictures, we went to a church building in Henderson for the luncheon. They had Costa Vida cater for lunch. Funny thing is that the night before, we ate at Costa Vida, but I didn't mind. More for us! It was a very nice luncheon with wonderful speeches from their fathers. We also watched a fun video put together by the Postma family. 

At around 6pm, we went back to the church building for the reception. Everything looked so incredible! The cake, the table tops, the desert table; it all just blew my mind!! The cultural hall was dark so that you could see the lights on the ceiling and around the tables. The theme was winter wonderland so it was perfect for around the holidays. They did such a great job in decorating the reception. They did the cake cutting first, followed by the bouquet/garter toss. Lastly, there was dancing. The bride and groom danced to the song "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran. It is the perfect choice for a wedding song. The father/daughter dance featured the song "Butterfly Kisses." Chelsea had always wanted that to be her father/daughter song so I was way excited for this moment. Pretty soon, everyone came on the dance floor to do line dancing. Chelsea has always loved dancing so there was plenty of that at her wedding. Elliot's mom led the line dances. She is just so much fun! I love her so much! I also love to dance, so I was getting really into the line dances. The time came soon for Chelsea, aka Cinderella, to leave the ball. I went back to help her get ready for her honeymoon. She and her husband were very smart to leave in their casual jeans. :) We said our goodbyes before watching them run to their car. Everything went wonderfully for the wedding. I was so glad that we could make it to Las Vegas to see my best friend get married. It was definitely worth the trip. I still hasn't registered to me that my Chels Chels is now married. I couldn't have been happier for her. She chose a great man that I know will give her a great life.

After helping take down the reception decorations, we immediately crashed in our hotel after a fun vacation. The following day, we flew back home to Austin with new hope for the new year and lots of great memories from the winter break. 

 I loved the look that Chelsea picked out for the bridesmaids! Her colors were royal blue, silver, and gray. We wore the same royal blue dress with pearls and silver heels. The heels were cute, but painful. I was glad we wore our more comfortable shoes during the reception. The hair was curled at one side. She has great taste!

 Mr. and Mrs. Postma, ladies and gentlemen.

 Kissing shot.

      Stunning bride! I loved the beading on her dress and her bouquet was beautiful purple, blue, and white flowers. She looked just like Cinderella!

We took a few pictures of our own. ;)

 Bridal Party. You may notice that there is a red head, blonde, and brunette amoungst the bridesmaids. :)

 We love this cute couple. :)

Chelsea's sister, Ariana and I

 Walking down during the photo shoot.

Besties together again.

We are both married now! Aw yeah!

Guest Book Table.

 Dessert Table.

 The centerpiece arrangement was beautiful with purple and blue orchids, candles, diamonds, ornaments, and pine cones.

 Silver ribbons on the chairs.

 Such a cute picture wall!

They used tool on the ceiling with blue, white, and yellow lights. So pretty!

 The cake table with beautiful, lit up trees.

I loved the details on the cake!

The bride and groom cut the cake.

Bride and Groom Dance.

Father/Daughter Dance.

Welcoming 2016 with Open Arms

Christmas was over and it was time to get ready to start a new year. We couldn't believe that 2015 was coming to a close and it was time to ring in the year 2016. Let's just say it took a while to really sink in.

December 26th: On the day after Christmas, we took family pictures with the Wheelers. It took a while to find a good location with good lighting, but we managed to find a good spot right by a park in Rocklin. The pictures turned out great! I love just how happy we all look. In the afternoon, we got together with Collin's extended family for some annual Wheeler games. The Wheelers are always such a fun bunch. :)

 A great picture with great people! 

 Couple pictures. This is one of my favorites. :)

 He deserves a million kisses. 

December 27th: We went to church at my mom's ward. I loved coming to the Loomis 1st Ward when I was a new member of the church. It was good to see several familiar faces and old friends. During third hour, we helped my mom out in her primary class. We had a fun talking about biblical stories with the kids. I love how my mom and I are both primary teachers. :) My best friend Stephanie paid me a visit after church. We have been so close since we were freshmen in college, so I loved just catching up with her. My Uncle Frank and Aunt Diana came over for dinner. We have always been close to both of them growing up. It was great just catching up and spending time together. I also got to play some Christmas songs on the ukulele with my uncle. :)

December 28th: We went out to eat sushi for lunch. My brother-in-law Jordan's birthday is on December 30th, so we decided to celebrate it early. I hadn't had sushi in SO LONG, so it all tasted amazing! My sushi craving was satisfied. It was also Jordan and Kelsey's wedding anniversary! I still can't believe they have been married for five years. I remember their wedding day like it was yesterday. They are such a sweet and happy couple. :)

December 29th: Early that morning, we traveled for a day trip to San Francisco with Collin's family. I love San Francisco! I remember going there a lot when I was growing up. It maybe one of my favorite places in California. We met all together at the San Francisco City Hall. They decorate it so beautiful around the holidays. It was great to just explore it and play with cute Lila at the nearby park. For lunch, we ate clam chowder in bread bowls. I feel like San Francisco always makes the best bread bowls. It hit the spot for the big day ahead of us. We went to this place where you can rent roller blades and bicycles. I'll admit, I was nervous, because I hadn't gone rollerblading since I was a kid. So we decided that biking would best, and boy did we get a bike! Not just an ordinary bike, a tandem bike! We had never ridden in a bike where it can fit two people, so it was quite an experience. At first, we had no idea what we were doing, but eventually got the hang of it. We rode it down Golden Gate Park to do a little exploring. It was an awesome feeling to ride a tandem bike around the park. I'm so glad that Collin was the front seat driver. All I had to do was paddle since I was in the back. We met the rest of the family at a nearby carousel. There, Lila was having the time of her life with her parents. There was also a playground and cement sliding close by. It was close to the evening so we decided to watch the sunset on the San Francisco beach. It was a breathtaking sunset! You can imagine that we took a lot of pictures. It was freezing that night, but that didn't stop us from a beautiful sunset. Such a great day!

 The Christmas tree in the center of the San Francisco City Hall. It was decorated with paper cranes that had Christmas wishes from different people in foreign languages. It was so special and sweet!

 Such a neat hall with Collin and his siblings walking down it.

 I loved the architecture in the city hall building.

 Cool lion statues/pillars

     

 You can see down the city hall from up there.

 We thought that the building up ahead looked like to Tower of Terror in California Adventure.

 Lila girl! She has such an angelic look! I love this candid photo.

 About to ride the tandem bike around Golden Gate Park.

 Aboard the carousel! My sister-in-law and niece are such cute girls!

 Joce decided she wanted a lift to the car. ;)

 Beautiful mother/daughter shot.

 I got a few sweet smiles from this fun-loving girl!

 Kissing in the sunset.

 Uncle Justin and Lila looking at the sunset.

 Joce and Lila walk towards the beach.

 What a daredevil! He decides to jump to the other side of the wall. He made it of course. ;)

Just little ol' me.

Matching red coats. Great minds really do think alike. ;)

 Look at that gorgeous sight! I love the orange sun rays on top of a dark blue ocean. 

 Looking to the horizon with no worries on my mind...

 Whoohoo!!!

I think Collin was talking to me at this point, but still a sweet picture. :)

December 30th: On the eve of new years eve, I went to see another one of best friends, April while Collin played games with his cousins. She had just recently had her first baby. We have been friends for years. She was a bridesmaid for my wedding and now she is a mom. So crazy!!! My friend Stephanie came too to meet April's new baby girl, Evelyn Amelia. Such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. As I was holding her, I couldn't help but notice how calm and sweet she was. I consider her my niece and already fell in love with her. April and her husband Jordan are very lucky parents. I hope I will get to see Evelyn again in the future. Stephanie and I drove back to my mom's to enjoy a late Loomis Chinese dinner. She was so kind to get dinner for us. After dinner, my mom and I went to Kelsey and Jordan's place to watch The Fast and the Furious 7. Since it was Jordan's birthday, we sang happy birthday to him, complete with Divine Desserts cake.

I love this tiny human. :)

 Gangsta! :)

 Stephanie holding Evelyn.

Wide awake meeting Stephanie.

I love her eyes!

She's too young to not want mommy's kisses. ;)

 Bestie selfie.

My amazing mother and I.

Singing happy birthday to JJ!!

December 31st: It was less than 24 hours until the year 2016! To start off, we went to Grandpa Cummings' grave sight in Newcastle. Grandma Cummings and Uncle Gordon came with the rest of the Wheeler family. We sang a few hymns and put flowers on his grave. It was really nice and the weather was perfect. Since my grandpa Carter is also buried at the Newcastle Cemetery, we decided to go look for his grave sight. It took a while, but we finally found it. He is buried not too far from Grandpa Cummings. I said a few words to him and left him some yellow flowers. I got kind of teary-eyed. I felt at peace knowing that he is always there. Ironically, it was his birthday when we found his grave sight. He would've been 87 if he were still alive. Soon after, we went to see my grandma Carter at a care facility in Roseville. She has had Alzheimer's for years, but is still the same sweet person she's always been. She loved seeing everyone, especially her great granddaughter Abbey. My grandma has always loved babies, so she was very excited when she held Abbey. Even though she can't really express it, I felt her love while being there. When 2016 was only a few hours away, we went with my family to Old Town Sacramento to see a Christmas show and fireworks. It was all so well done! The firework show was at nine, so despite heavy traffic, we were able to come back to Rocklin in time for the new years countdown. It was great to spend the last moments of 2015 with Collin's family. By New Years Day, it was time for us to leave California and head to Las Vegas for my best friend's wedding. We instantly missed our families and all the good times we had during winter break.

Year in Review: We had a very eventful and fun 2015. Collin accepted a job at General Motors as a software developer which lead us to our new home in Austin, Texas. He graduated from BYU with his Information Technology degree. Sadly, Collin's grandpa passed away in the late spring; this led us to travel from Virginia to California during the summer. We will always miss him. Collin's parents moved back to California right before the fall. I guess we will have to see what new adventures await us in 2016.

Here are the pictures from New Years Eve:

 My Grandpa Carter's grave sight. I took this picture and sent it to my dad. My grandpa left behind a great legacy.

 Visiting Grandma Carter. I love this sweet photo of the family.

 The Christmas performance was really good. If you look closely, you can see Santa Claus. :)

A nice picture of everyone that was there.

Happy New Year!