Whataday. Wednesday was so happy and bitterweet, and bittersweet and so happy, I hardly knew what to do with myself! Kylie and Shyler have been a long time coming (they went on their first date to the Sadie Hawkins Dance the same night Max and I did!) and boy has it has been fun to watch the story of these two develop from the sidelines.

Dating back to our Algebra class Kylie, Shyler and I had together our Junior year of high school, all the way up to the beautiful temple ceremony seven years later made me feel so many things all at once. So I mostly just cried. They're reception that night was perfect - twinkle lights, chandeliers in tall trees, diet coke (of course!) -- I think of the hundreds of times Kylie and I have talked about what we envisioned on our wedding day, and everything about the night was out of the ball park amazing. But the best part of all was seeing how happy they are, and how much they still love each other even after all these years.

So now as another chapter closes I can't help but think back to all the ups and downs Kylie and I got to share together as we grew up together these last 10 years... too many to possibly even count. So when we finally hit the dance floor with both of our husbands in sight, it was a memory I know I will keep forever.

Congrats to Mr. & Mrs. Shyler Bischoff. You guys have an exciting and wonderful life ahead of you, and I'm so glad I get to see the first part of it begin :) Now onto wedding number two tomorrow!

#tbt

I'll spare you the disposable camera photos of me with braces in 1999 and instead (in honor of throwback thursday of course) share pictures of where we've been the last little while: the greatest place to spend in the summertime. Wallowa Lake.

 

We realized that next year will mark 20 years (!!!) of taking family trips up to the Lake. That means I was five years old when I started going... no wonder it feels like a home away from home! I will forever love the old cabins, the smell of pine trees, stretches of farmland, and overall the Americana feeling you get in this little town up North (which has the best ice cream ever ... not kidding!) These trips will never get old. And neither will our music videos :)

This place is just the cherry on top to summertime.

fathers day.

If I had to narrow down and count all of my best blessings on only one hand, I'd have to say four out of five of them would be some pretty special people (max, mother dearest, kenken you know) and of course, one of them would be my dad (he's the handsome tall one in the picture, hanging out with elder holland and justice clarence thomas. we often use this as our small claim to fame!)

Oh the lessons I have learned and continue to learn because of his love and his example; he'll never quite know how lucky I consider myself to be when I tell people that he's my dad and I'm his daughter.

Happy Fathers Day Dad! I love you.

--this video is really, really great. and yes, it basically made me cry.