The joining of 2 of my best friends in marriage

These 2 fell in love and decided to get married in Eagle, Colorado (where Jay is from) in August 2012. This was a double-exciting wedding for me because they are both such good friends of mine.

I was responsible for getting the cake from Meadow, UT to Eagle, CO which is about 385 miles through lots of winding canyon roads. I was a little stressed to have such a huge responsibility, but was happy to do it for these two. I arrived to a huge rain storm the day before the wedding. The ceremony and reception were held at Jay's dad's property which is about 9 miles up the mountain. Since there is no cell phone service up there, I had to meet Jay in town and follow him to his dad's to deliver the cake. After that was done, I went to my room in town which just so happened to be the Honeymoon Suite at the Eagle Lodge. There are 2 main hotels in town and both offered Jay and Jana the Honeymoon Suite so the one they weren't using, they let me use for the weekend :)

Joe and Mikey arrived in town along with my parents. We formed a caravan up the mountain for the dinner following the rehearsal. It was good food, some beers and lots of time to visit since the next day was going to be a busy one with the wedding.

That night, we went to the Brush Creek Saloon. Tyler and Brad joined Mikey, Joe and myself and along with the barfly, we shut the bar down. I'm not used to staying up until after 2:00 a.m. but this was the Brush Creek so it was a special occasion.

The next day, I had lunch with my parents and then we again made a caravan up the mountain for the wedding. Ashley (Headman) had driven in from Denver that morning so I drove the boys up the mountain. It rained for most of the day and I thought Jana would be upset, but she was very calm and the ceremony went beautifully.

After the ceremony, many many many pictures were taken and dinner was served

Jenn and Jill enjoying a margarita at the dinner

After dinner, Jay and Jana cut the cake and Jennifer (matron of honor) and Beau (best man) gave their speeches. Jenn's made me cry (I did that a lot that day)



Since we've all been friends for a long time, we had to have a picture with all of us together

There was a band so there was hours of dancing after the dinner.

My mom managed to capture me having a good cry while Jana was dancing with her dad.

Jana in her after-party dress



The wedding was a huge success. I love both of them and am happy they found each other. We partied until very late into the night and then drove the 8+ hours back to Salt Lake on Sunday.



Jana's Bridal Shower

Jana and I go way back. I've known her since she was born (she's my second cousin) and she came back into my life when I needed a change of scenery and didn't even realize it. She needed to move out of her apartment in 3 weeks and contacted me to see if I wanted to move with her. We found an apartment in North Salt Lake and then lived together for the next 3(ish) years. We became very close so when she started dating and became engaged to a very good friend of mine from college, I couldn't have been more thrilled for them. I was the obvious person to throw a bridal shower for her :)

 

We had the shower at a friend's condo clubhouse. It was a huge success - lots of friends and family showed up to show their support for Jana. Below are some pictures from the day.

 

 

Warner Family Reunion 2012

Every year, my dad's family has a reunion. It's fun to get to visit with the extended family and the kids have a blast playing with each other. This year, Leslie found some "Olympic games" for us to play that pitted each family against each other.

 

 

The kids got gold medals and Emery and Rylee wore theirs with pride.

 

The kids had a "picnic" with the fruit bowl away from the adults so we couldn't steal their fruit.

 

Grandpa Jerry wanted a 4 generations picture. Grandpa Jerry, my dad, Steven and Jesse

 



 

Then, grandpa was backing his truck up and backed right into Ben & Shea's car. Not many people can say that the cops had to be called to their family reunion, but we can :)

 

 

California Love

One of my best friends that I met while living in St. George turned the big 3-0 this past June. Her husband had told me he wanted to plan something big to celebrate and said he would let me know when he decided what the plans were. I got a call a few weeks before Roxanne's birthday from her husband telling me that the plan was to spend a week at a beach house. Was I in? OF COURSE! Unfortunately, I couldn't stay the whole week because of work, but I was able to stay the whole time we spent at the beach. I drove to St. George and then rode with Karl, Roxanne and their 2 boys to Carlsbad, CA. I had never been to Carlsbad but I was in love at first sight when I saw the view from our beach-front condo.

The weather was fabulous but perhaps I took my "water-proof" sunscreen's promise too seriously. The first full day we spent at the beach, I managed to get severe sunburn on my legs (which were slathered in sunscreen but I did a little wading in the ocean and did not reapply - lesson learned). I don't have any pictures of the sunburn, but trust me, it was not a good experience. We spent most days on the beach. Karl's brother, his wife and daughter joined us and we had a blast all together.



We went to the pier for dinner one night. It was so pretty and a truly unique experience to be eating in the middle of the ocean.

Someone on the beach built a little sand penguin and left it on the beach.

We took in some AMAZING sunsets while there. Is there anything better than an ocean sunset?

We had some glow stick glasses that we enjoyed after sunset one night.

Our home away from home is the upper right balcony. Such a beautiful place and a beautiful view.

I flew from LAX to St. George at the end of our beach week. Karl, Rox and the boys spent a few days in Disneyland. I would have loved to join them but with work being crazy, I had to get back home. Plus with my new sunburn, I wouldn't have lasted long walking in Disneyland and I think they frown upon not wearing pants in the park ;)