Raycelan's Bridal Shower/Derek's Bachelor Party:
The kids couldn't have been more excited for these events! They love being involved with anything already, but to host?!? Wow! Derek and Raycelan love red velvet cake, so we made my friend's family recipe, but tried it as cupcakes. It did the trick!
Jenna snagged the edge of this one...
Oh and the frosting was my other friend's cream cheese frosting recipe. Yum!
Natalie really wanted to decorate them with a cherry on top like she saw in this one cupcake book, and since she was "in-charge" of the cupcakes I let it be her call.
She was so proud of her hard work! And they really did taste great if I do say so myself.
Natalie also picked out the flowers for the center pieces.
There was a lot of good food actually! Natalie even dutifully picked out every single pink and green candy that we had in the pantry. She was so sweet about every detail.
Rebecca and Melissa both got to come! I was glad not only to have them there to welcome Raycelan but also to help me! They are both much more decorative than I am.
When it came down to crunch time however, it was Kent who really saved the day! Rebecca, Melissa, and I were frantically getting all the food ready and trying to corral the children and Kent totally picked up the slack and even spearheaded several projects like a pro! I was so grateful for his tireless efforts!
And when the guests started to arrive he took all the kids downstairs to play until it was time to leave for the bachelor party.
Here they are buckling in to head out! Jenna opted to go with the boys lol!
Caleb had so been looking forward to this part of the event because Natalie was talking about the shower so much he felt left out, so I was grateful Derek humored us and went along! =o]
Natalie and my little cousin Elizabeth ended up being the only girls there because Katelyn and Whitney were in Japan on a special spring break trip with Eric!
We played this super fun game that Rebecca took care of. It was the same one we did for Katrina and Phillip. Derek was hilarious in the video interview and I learned a lot about them so that was cool.
She got such cool gifts- like this photo book of temples. I made them an FHE kit like I did for Donny and Christine- hopefully they don't think it is too cheesy!
By the time the boys got back the shower was winding down and Derek and Raycelan had a great time looking over the game answers and hearing each other's reactions.
They are so zoned in on each other, it was adorable!
After they left we realized we hadn't taken a picture with Raycelan!! I was so sad!
But we were also super happy because we got to hear all about Melissa's friend turned boyfriend that very weekend, Karl! I found out later that Melissa and Karl met each other on the same day that Derek and Raycelan met last year. Melissa being up in Rexburg significantly prolonged the advancement of their relationship obviously, but in the few times they did get to see each other since the end of last summer they both fanned the flame in their own cute little ways that you can read all about on her blog. =o] It was super cute to see her so filled with JOY!! You know that giddy, smiling to yourself, walking on cloud nine feeling? Totally her, like the whole night!
Derek thinks he is an awesome guy (they are in the same ward and he became the Elder's Quorum President when Derek was released,) and Raycelan and Derek both said he was super sweet to Melissa so I felt even more happy for her.
Raycelan's Endowment Session:
We were blessed to have a now young adult friend of ours from PA who was just a beehive when we knew her come and babysit the kids so we could go to the temple. She is such a sweetheart and the kids had a great time with her!
Isn't the Oquirrh Mountain Temple stunning!
It was such a sweet experience! Miraculously, everyone made it there just in the nick of time and got to be in the session. Derek looked so excited that Raycelan was taking this important step!
I got to have a sweet moment in the Celestial room with Raycelan's mom and give her a big hug. I am so grateful for the peace and promises of the temple covenants!
With the siblings afterwards!
Raycelan and Derek! They were so incredibly happy!
Raycelan and Tracy! They are so close! It was sweet to see them together.
Kent and I got to go out with the happy couple and her family afterwards for dinner. It took FOREVER it seemed like to get the food and eat, but it was fun too. I need to learn to let my children go, I know, but that wasn't it. I just felt bad because we were so late for the babysitter and she still had to drive back to Provo.
SO HAPPY =o]
The next day while it was still fresh in my mind I called my mom and told her all about it so she could share the memories even if she couldn't be there herself. It was great!
Clothes for the Wedding:
At the last family wedding I missed the color boat completely with my dress and I didn't want to do that to another sister-in-law! So this time when I ordered a dress and it came and just was not the right color green, I went to Plan B. I had this light pink dress already and it was the perfect color so I decided to redo the bottom and make it a tea-length instead of a full formal length dress.
Natalie helped me do the inside layers and I did the outside. I was super intimidated because look at how tight and tiny that hem is!!!! I knew there was no way my machine and I could do that. But I had to try!
Rebecca went to all the effort to make these beautiful matching dresses for the three older girls without a pattern or anything!! Surely I could redo a hem!
She also made these adorable flower head wreaths for all the girls, and it turned out that Raycelan had a fresh flower head wreath so they got to match her and felt SO special! Especially Jenna. She was just enamored with the whole thing.
Yes it still had the tags, even though I have worn it a few times. I didn't like the face I was making in the front view one lol!
Any real seamstress would have been appalled I'm sure, but whatever. It was good enough!
Preparing for the Wedding Spiritually:
The week before the wedding we talked about it a lot! We told them stories from our wedding and their other aunt's and uncle's weddings. We had a whole Family Home Evening about temple marriage and weddings in general the Monday before we left for California. Jenna was in charge of the lesson, and trust me it was so adorable to hear her little voice explain all about "the special day at the temple" when Derek and Raycelan would be sealed.
We got out my wedding dress and Kent's MacKay Plaid tie and let the kids try them on. It was so sweet and fun!!
They "played wedding" =o]
I didn't take the time to do all the lacing though!
Jenna's turn! She was in heaven!
We also looked through our wedding album and told them stories behind the pictures.
I also prepared for the sealing by studying all the talks about marriage I would get my hands and ears on! I probably embarrassed Derek by sharing some heartfelt lessons that were important to me, but I pulled the big sister card and sent him little messages anyway. =o]
There are SO MANY awesome talks from General Conference about marriage and family. I am so grateful for the gospel!!
The Trip to Oakland:
Finally the day arrived and we piled the kids in the car and headed out! We made an Oakland or Bust trip CD before we left of course, and even though they don't look too sure here, we rocked out and had a pretty smooth first leg of the journey.
We stopped to eat in Elko, Nevada. It was cool to see and show the kids the town where over 60 years ago now my Hansen grandparents met and fell in love.
We lost an hour, so it was still breakfast time! Win! We LOVE breakfast. And since my kids won't eat burgers or fries, this was a double win!
Thanks to the play place, this was the perfect pit stop!
We also got to drive through Lovelock, NV. My dad was born here so I snapped a picture of the sign and sent it to my mom. She immediately called me, worried as to why we were already driving ha ha! I guess she hadn't known that Kent was coupling this trip with a business trip so we went a day early. She sounded SUPER stressed. My poor mom. She works SO hard so that everything will be just right for her kids, but perfect is just impossible!
We did a ton of school in a the car, and had other activities, so the time passed by pretty well.
Once we made it to Reno where we were staying the night, we looked up a pizza place and ended up here:
Yelp said it was the best rated in town. It was great food! The family was just exhausted and too restless to sit in a booth waiting for dinner. We finally just asked for boxes and headed to the hotel.
The kids let their wiggles out, that's for sure! And it was a rough time getting them to bed. Once we were all asleep we slept well though!
The next day we did school and just hung out while Kent worked. The kids loved all the options for breakfast and we had fun exploring the hotel and grounds.
Finally it was time to pack up and start the second leg of the journey to Oakland. We stopped at Lake Tahoe so we could feel the wind in our hair and water on our fingertips! =o]
It was sad to see that the water line had receded. There were tons of docks coming from people's houses that were 20 yards out or more from the water's edge.
Still an awesome sight though!
Finally the wind got the best of us and we piled back in the car.
Then we hit snow for a bit! But it cleared up before too long.
The kids really wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge and we wanted to take them there because we got to take our 5 year anniversary trip to San Francisco. In my opinion, this is the only part of the trip that we rode the struggle bus instead of the happy wagon. ;o]
It was just super stressful because we didn't know where we were going and we had a time schedule because we were meeting up with my friend Jenn who lives in Oakland (I will write about that in a different post) and several of us had to go to the bathroom and we ended up paying two tolls and crossing the bridge three times all said and done! It is funny, now.
We finally got off at the right exit and got to a park with this view.
It was SUPER windy and we were trying and failing to take a family picture when a kind woman offered to help.
Caleb was still on the struggle bus. So was my hair. =o]
Then our navigation system took us back over the bridge and...
into San Francisco! We had to take this picture that no one else will understand, but it says "Bobo's Steakhouse". Caleb used to say "bobo" (pronounced like bow and arrow) when he was mad about something. He would call people a boboface or whatever and now it is a family joke. So to see a Bobo restaurant made us all laugh hysterically and it was much needed!
After a short while though, we realized we were in major trouble and that it would have been better to just go back around instead of trying to get through stop and wait and move an inch traffic in downtown. It took FOREVER!
Seth screamed at the top of his little lungs for literally 30 minutes before finally crying himself to sleep. It was so sad! =o[
I am usually what Kent calls "a vegetable Nazi". Also a screen-time Nazi! But I also feel that while on vacation is not the time to take a stand. Survival mode, people! The other kids snacked and played their ipads to their hearts content and we made it through.
We finally reached the Bay Bridge and the traffic cleared up a bit.
I didn't realize they were rebuilding it until we were driving across the new section and saw them dismantling the old one.
After a fun but cut short visit with my friend, we headed to Hayward. We got to see the temple out the window on the way there!
We stopped at the grocery store to pick up some dinner and honestly, it was so sad to me. I feel like the people there must just honestly not know how bad it is because they are so used to it. It was just so ghetto and grungy and heartbreaking. We are SO BLESSED!!!!
We were all relieved to get out of the car and see some familiar faces, even if the hotel room got super crowded real quick!
This was the pool. FALSE ADVERTISING! Lydia was in tears she was so disappointed.
As more and more family continued to arrive it got more and more exciting! The first ones there after us and the Cravens were Jonathan and Melissa's boyfriend Karl. They ate dinner in our room and the kids climbed all over them and hounded them with questions and stories. Karl handled it all like a champ- I was super impressed! I also must have apologized a dozen times lol! It was super sweet to see Melissa and Karl greet each other with such huge smiles and happy kisses- even with everyone standing there! They left to go on a date before bedtime, and there were many a joke about coming back before 5 a.m., as they had done before and set a new family record. Natalie and Whitney got to sleep in the same room as Melissa and Jenae so they felt super special. I was glad to get the chance to talk with Derek for a few minutes after the kids were in bed and give him our card with some gift cards for their honeymoon. He said it felt so unreal that it was finally here, and he looked it too. It was fun too, to talk with the Cravens. They were such troopers with a newborn and everything to drive all that way and be so helpful and cheerful! We didn't stay up too late talking though, so we would be ready for the big day!
The Wedding Day:
At the Hotel- That morning we all ate breakfast at the hotel. The anticipation was high!
We all went to our rooms to get ready before meeting at my parent's room to sing and pray together before heading to the temple. See the concerned look on Caleb's face? It's because Natalie was so sad that her hair "didn't look pretty" like her cousins. I felt really bad because I'm not good at doing hair and so even after twenty minutes she still didn't feel confident and happy with it.
Finally I told her that doing hair isn't something that is important to me, so I haven't taken the time to develop that talent, but if she wants to take the time in her life to do her hair lots of pretty ways she is welcome to. (Having the right tool for the right job also helps a ton= no hair spray!!) One final attempt and we called it good.
We all crammed into one room (even Derek's friend Justin =o]) and had time for two songs and a prayer. It was so warm and wonderful to be with my whole family, singing the songs of Zion! Here is what I said on fb:
One of my favorite traditions for Hansen weddings is singing as a family before we leave for the temple! It is such a fulfilling feeling to be all together and raise our voices in praise and gratitude and love!!
My kids wanted to do I Love to See the Temple and had been practicing so we all sang that. And then we let Derek pick his favorite, and he chose How Firm A Foundation verses 1-3 and 7 We would have done more but were out of time. My dad really wanted to sing this song we call the dinosaur song, I'm actually not sure of the real title lol but is a meaningful family favorite that we sang at my aunt Shawna's wedding when we were super little.
The Spirit was so strong as my dad said a prayer, thanking God for the blessings of the temple and eternal families. We all gave Derek big hugs afterward and I hope he felt how much we love him and support his decision. Then it was a big rush to finish getting ready and check out before going to the temple!
At the Temple-
As we got in the car our trip cd turned on, and Caleb said, "Mom, do you think THIS is going to help us get ready for the temple? No." So cute! So we put in our temple cd and enjoyed a peaceful ride. It was cloudy and cool but we were all so excited it didn't matter!
The grounds were beautiful as always and the kids enjoyed getting to see the fountains and flowers. Once all of us got there and gave instructions to the babysitters (Melissa, Karl, Jenae, Uncle Rodney and Derek's friend Justin) we corralled all the kids in front of the Christ statue in the Visitor's Center and they were so in awe no one even cried as we hurried out!
The sealing was so wonderful! I wrote about it in my journal because I feel it is just too sacred an experience to put details online. But they were so happy and the Spirit was so strong! I loved getting to witness it with Kent and the rest of my family who were there.
This is a picture Kent took with his phone as we came out of the temple. Even though it was overcast, it wasn't foggy and it didn't rain!
After several minutes of trying to find the kids and everyone being reunited, I took videos of everyone waiting outside for the bride and groom to make their entrance into the world!
There is just so much JOY at temple weddings!!!!
I gave in and asked Kent for his coat =o]
After the initial celebration right outside the door, we went around to the front to take pictures.
All the nieces/nephews were placed, last of all Seth as you can see from my foot exiting the scene!
Still a cute picture though!
I got to have a cool little chat with Justin and I thanked him for being there. I'm glad someone caught it on camera!
Raycelan's family graciously let us go first with the picture taking so that we could get the kids out of the cold.
I LOVE laughing with my siblings!!
One of my favorites from the day! =o]
Me and my beautiful sisters! I love these wonderful women!!
The happily MARRIED couple!
I always want to be with my own family, and the Lord has shown me how I can!
At the Groom's Dinner-
Once we got back to the church, I personally didn't feel stressed out, but I felt bad that so many people that I love were feeling stressed. Especially the people stuck in traffic on the way back! I am so sad I didn't get a picture of the decorations! Maybe someone else did? Natalie and Katelyn and the other kids helped so much with getting everything on the tables and it looked super cute!
Here is Grandmom hard at work- Caleb as fascinated!
Once again, Kent was a hero! He worked tirelessly, including TWO trips to the store for needed items. Lettuce that had gone bad was one.
And this hydrangea plant on the insistence of Jenae the plant master was another. =o]
While Rebecca coordinated everything inside bless her, Christine fought the good fight for the actual reception outside. She is a good woman for a crisis!! I am a good follower when it comes to decorations and parties, I can do the job, but I lack the confidence to lead! They both did great under the pressure!!
Our cousin Alyssa stepped in for the last few finishing touches on the cake. She and Grandmom did such an awesome job!!
As soon as the bride and groom arrived we started the dinner! The food was delicious and the company was even better!
Then came another one of my favorite traditions at our family weddings: we had the chance to tell a story or share some thoughts with the bride and groom. Maybe it is kind of like giving a toast? I don't know lol! But Derek's friend Justin got up right after my Dad and said some cool things to them. I got up and talked about taking care of Derek as a baby and what a privilege it has been to watch him grow into such a good man and fall in love with such a sweet girl like Raycelan! Jonathan's speech was especially memorable as well. I wish there had been more of a chance for others to go up (maybe a dozen did), but before long, it was time for the reception! We cleaned up a bit but mostly my awesome cousins and other close family friends stepped in and told us they would do it. SO sweet!!
At the Reception-
The older kids had been given the job of manning the sign-in table. They took their job a bit to seriously and had to be reminded to not assign seats or be otherwise bossy lol!
I took a turn first at manning the grand kids play room, but really Kent took the brunt of this one too.
The decorations really did turn out cute!
Natalie was so glad to get to introduce her favorite cousins to her favorite friend!
Once the traditional parts of the reception started all the kids came out of the room to participate. Derek and Raycelan were super sweet cutting the cake and feeding it to each other.
For the "First Dance" they played a song for her parents and then my parents to dance to before they did, as a way to thank and honor them. It was a nice touch.
And their first dance wasn't slow, it was a lively reel! You guys, their feet didn't touch the ground =o]
Then we all joined in and had a great time!
Karl proved himself perfect for Melissa in yet another way- dancing! He was right out there with her the whole time and looked so into it too!
Seth was especially cute. He was dancing like there was no tomorrow!
A sister picture at the photo booth! (I think this was the only time all night Melissa and Karl were apart =o])
Finally it was getting late and time for the bride and groom to leave on their honeymoon. We didn't decorate their car or anything, which tradition we were all more than fine with skipping!
Just look at them! Could they be any happier??
Everyone with littles left back to the hotel and home. Once the kids were all down I went back to help, but they were mostly done by the time I got there.
I did get to see Virat officially ask Jenae to prom while I was there, which is cool! He seems like a great kid and I have so many emotions watching my little sister also grapple with the "no single dating until you are 18 or out of high school whichever one comes last" Hansen family rule. He is not of our faith, and they are going to different colleges this fall. Heartbreaking!
The Rest of the Stay in Madera:
"Sleeping in one hotel room with six people is so much fun!" Said no one ever.
Especially when your neighbors blast loud crazy music for hours in the middle of the night and when the staff finally gets them to stop it is actually worse because then you can hear all the nasty stories they are telling, countless cuss words included. They were not only totally drunk, but also got high on who knows what. When one of them accidentally banged on our door instead of their own at 5:30 am I went down to the front desk and asked for a refund. We ended up with a gift certificate for two free nights. Rebecca and Eric and their kids were right across the hall and couldn't hear a thing, so it really must have been because it was one of those shared rooms with just a door separating us and no insulation. Good to know for future reference!
Luckily we had tons of fun times during the day to make up for it. Like Melissa and Karl organizing a picnic for the kids over at the school. Awesome!
Just look at them! So cute and in their own little world!
Karl surprised the kids with an awesome talent: balloon tying! It was endearing to say the least. Seriously, all the uncles are going to get a run for their money with this guy!
And what is a trip to the school without a stop at "Grammy's library" as everyone calls it. We are so blessed to have a librarian as a grandma! Sometimes I forget what bookworms we all are until I talk with other moms and hear about their days. I am so grateful that we all love books!!
Caleb was in heaven with so many different people to play games with!
We were eating dinner when Virat came to pick up Jenae. She was cutely nervous and I hope we didn't tease them too much. =o]
At first Jenae was wearing heels but as they started taking pictures she said it just felt too weird to be the same height and she changed into flats! I feel ya sister!
They really did look so happy! He asked where my dad was, who was still at the farm, so he could say hello before leaving, which was definitely cool. They went out to dinner with Melissa and Karl and were even home before curfew because they had barn duty for the fair the next morning. Good times! FFA for the win! =o]
And Melissa had me take this picture of her and Karl, after which they discovered they looked like they were going to a Sadie Hawkins dance! Look at the sunshine on their shoulders guys. Heaven is smiling down on them as big as they are!
The rest of the evening was spent just hanging out with the cousins and talking with the family. Bliss!
The next morning at church (after a bitter fiasco because we didn't all sit in the front row lol) we realized we hadn't taken a picture of Grammy and Grandpa Jamie with all the grand kids. So we did!
And then we began the LONG drive home. We went the Northern route and I was reminded why we always went the Southern way even though it is almost exactly the same distance to Provo. The weather! There was this ominous sign "Unsettled Weather Ahead" and trust me, we saw just about every kind of bad weather over the next 90 minutes! Look at those huge slushy snowflakes come down!!
Here is a rest stop in Nevada. We laughed about it on the way there because it is so lame out in the middle of no where and again on the way back, but you know what? I really like Nevada. We stopped at a gas station and as I ran in with the first kid to use the restroom and change them into their pajamas I noticed a woman standing by her car with a sign asking for help. There were two kids in the back seat. When I came out and started back in with the next kid, someone was pumping gas into her car and talking with her. On the next trip a guy followed me out of the shop with a bag of drinks and snacks and handed them to her. And on my final trip I saw her in her car handing out the food to her family and wiping her eyes before driving away. Talk about a Sabbath day sermon.
The Reception in Utah:
The next Thursday Kent picked up Melissa from the airport late (he was on his way home from a business trip anyway) and the kids were thrilled to see her Friday morning. They wanted to play with her but I was super selfish and wanted to hear all about Karl! As I listened to her talk about him and their relationship I could see how deep her feelings were and how very real the possibility of them getting married was. She was just so confident and grateful and excited about it all. It is hard to find the words to explain it, but I knew that my little sister was in love! And the best part was that I had seen him look at her and interact with her in such genuine ways and so I knew the feeling was mutual. I couldn't have been more happy for her as she told me story after story.
Karl "finally" arrived and they literally ran out the door. Natalie was like "What the heck? Karl just got here, and now they are leaving?? What about giving him a tour?" LOL They laughed and I told Natalie Karl was just picking Melissa up and off they went!
Saturday we got to the open house early to help set up. It was fun to see Raycelan and Derek again, and joke around for a bit now that they were married and carefree! It's not like they were ever stressed out with us around previously, but there was just an easiness between them I hadn't seen before and it was cool to watch. Melissa and Karl arrived and she saved the day by helping Raycelan's mom with putting flowers on the cake. She has such a good eye and Karl had nothing but praise for her of course. I saw them signing together a couple times that night and it made me wonder if they are going to have a little secret language like Phillip and Katrina do with Russian. Did I mention his parents are deaf? They are. So he is fluent in ASL! Crazy how Melissa has always since I can remember been drawn to ASL...intuition??
Jenae made it!! The poor thing has so much senior stuff to do she almost couldn't come!
The little dears.
More cousin time with tons of sugar? Yes please!
Kent took these pictures while I was helping to set up and he dutifully took care of the kids. (This might have also been during the time I had to race down the mountain for cell phone reception to look up my friend Carly's bishop's phone number, but that is a different story!)
They played this adorable game where they had to answer questions like "who is going to do the cooking?" and "who is most likely to get lost while driving?" by raising either their own shoe or their spouse's. It was hilarious! My favorite part was the last question. Tracy said "who do you love more than anyone else in the world?" Derek raised Raycelan's shoe as high as he could into the air... and so did Raycelan! And it even took her a second to realize why everyone was laughing and switch shoes! It was so funny!! They laugh kissed after and it was cute.
They cut the cake and sweetly fed each other again.
About this time Karl and my dad mysteriously disappeared. We had tried before this to allow a meet up but to no avail. We had called to them asking for Melissa's help with the kids but not Karl, to which he gave us a thumbs up and ran inside to find my dad but he was talking with long time friends he hadn't seen in years. I also slipped up behind my dad and told him he needed to make himself available to Karl sometime but then they started the game. Look at her. She is having to physically hold in her excitement!
They did a parents dance and then lots of others joined in.
But the kids went back outside to play and eat cake. Just what they needed right? Jenna and Owen are best friends and it is adorable!! Right as I took this picture she stuffed a fork in her shoe and he started laughing hysterically. So cute and funny!
The weather held out! It was cloudy and cool but didn't rain on us!
Melissa and Karl again took off, grinning from ear to ear amid jokes of getting home before 5 am. Jenae rode in the car with us back home and it was fun to actually get to talk with her for a minute! Seth was having an exhausted laughing time so that was fun too.
The kids begged to get to give Jenae a tour of the house before bed and we caved. It's not like they were going to go to sleep anyway- too much sugar running through their veins!! Jenae loved it and asked so many questions and was appropriately complimentary of all the features they pointed out to her. =o] When we were almost done getting the kids down my phone buzzed. It was a group text message from Melissa that said "This just happened!" accompanied by this adorable picture.
I showed Jenna since I was in her room just finishing her song and after seeing the picture she exclaimed "Oh. My. Goodneeeesssss!" I then ran down to show Kent and Jenae who were outside discussing landscaping options. They were shocked and thrilled! The next 30 minutes were a flurry of texts from all of us congratulating them and us three talking through everything only to rehash it all again when my mom and dad arrived. We then got to show my mom and dad most of the house before Melissa and Karl got there and we got to hear a short version of the proposal story before heading off to bed. (The ring belonged to his grandmother- it is gorgeous and so special!) Everyone was exhausted! Our prayers were answered and the kids slept in until almost 7:30, which is late for them. Then it was breakfast (delicious!!) and baths and before long time for church. After packing a lunch and praying together, they went to a ward at 11, and then started the long drive home.
Melissa and Karl posted this classic picture to announce their engagement on fb after she wrote the story on her blog:
So I guess this post to chronicle Derek and Raycelan's wedding, is actually also the beginning to the story of Melissa and Karl's wedding! I'm so happy that both (all four?!?) of my siblings have found someone to love! Here's to all things wedding and beyond!!
