Wedding Celebrations

 We helped Vanessa Easton celebrate her marriage to Travis Scott. I did the wedding cake, and the Relief Society in the ward turned into Vanessa's wedding planners. It was a unique wedding in every sense of the word, but I think the couple had a nice time with their very own flair. I did the cake with the theme of "forget-me-nots."

Pardon the dark and blurry pics--we were in a dark gym with just dim lights for dancing. Alina wasted no time and found the beat. Yes, this girl has rhythm. She loves music and dancing, similar to the way David has always loved it.

This is Mylinda, the mother of the bride. She has been either my visiting teacher, visiting teachee, or visiting teaching companion since I moved to Alaska seven years ago. She is special needs, but high functioning enough to raise 2 children to adult hood. Mylinda has a beautiful heart, and as one person put it, "Mylinda is not in our midst to learn how to be more Christ like. She continues to remain with us to teach the rest of us how to be more Christ like." Mylinda has a heart that should have stopped beating years ago by medical standards, but she still lives a full life. For this particular song, she and David had been sitting together near the DJ when I heard the DJ announce that the next dance was dedicated to Mylinda and David. Clearly they're happy with each other as dance partners!

There he goes again--finding a partner more suitable for his size. David tried to spin Evelyn all around the dance floor, just like he saw others doing. Evelyn landed on her toosh several times. Unphased, David would go over, pick her up off the ground, and swing her some more. Evelyn was a good sport about her dancing partner's mishaps until it just became too much and she broke into tears. The parents were watching and laughing as long as the pair seemed to be having fun. We're working with the 5 year old on social cues.

Other than the dancing and music, Alina's highlight was finding balloons all over the floor. Thankfully, none of them popped in her face.

KateLee is 8 months older than Alina, but somehow the two of them hit it off and crawled around together for some time. Kuddos to Kate's social skills for meeting her playmate at her level!

We had a grand time. Like I said, it was a wedding to remember. The moment that tickled my funny bone the most was when the bride came out of the temple by herself. Without her groom, who was waiting for her in the coat room. Vanessa walked out of the temple, and stood there feeling beeeuuuuutiful while photos were snapped. I finally realized that nothing was going to change without someone prompting her, so after she got a few "bridals" I went up to her and said, "Vanessa, you'll want some pictures of you and Travis coming out of the temple together. So let's go back in and you can come out again!" She happily went along.

My other favorite part was that Mylinda, in all of her purity of heart and intention, did not want to miss practice for her Special Olympics bowling team. So between the wedding and the reception, she snuck away with her bowling friends. Like I said, it was the ward that was putting on this wedding. I think I will forever smile when I think of this wedding. I wish Vanessa and Travis bliss and happiness in their marriage.