Our Arizona Reception

It's a little overdue, but I decided to finally post the pictures of the reception we had in Arizona 3 weeks after we got married.  It was quite the whirlwind of a weekend- remember Joe had just had his appendix removed 2 weeks earlier and it was infected at this time- Grossty! He had the 3 feet of gauze shoved in his incision, poor guy had a miserable time on the flight. I was ready to fight any TSA guy who stopped Joe because of his insanely wrapped bandage around his abdomen.  It looked a lot more sketchy than it actually was...

We had this reception at my Dad's house in Scottsdale and it was absolutely beautiful.  Growing up in this house I had always envisioned having some sort of reception here when I got married. The last big party we had here was when I graduated high school. It seriously seems like it was just yesterday. 

It's always nice to go home to my house.Thinking I spent so much of my young life in this house reminds me of all the good times I had; making good decisions along with bad decisions, sneaking out on the weekends {sorry mom and dad...but can you blame me? This house was the easiest to sneak out of}, learning who I was as a person, deciding what college to go to, bringing my now husband home to meet the fam. Most of my major young adult decisions happened here.  Every hallway has a memory, every room was filled with laughter. And there was a candy drawer that was fully stocked all the time. {the real reason I'm homesick} 


 I miss it a lot.  It's hard now that I'm married and in school because the chances of going home anytime soon are slim.   
So many good, happy memories are in that house, along with some sad ones, of course.  I think it's a combination of all those that makes a house a home. I loved being able to have such a special moment in my life take place in the home where, in my mind, my family will always {still} be a family.

Some of the beautiful centerpieces 

Back patio 

Oh, how I love you Arizona 

Beautiful 

Giving Joe his medicine. He was so drugged up for the reception haha poor thing

So glamorous 

All the delicious food being prepped. We actually got to eat at this reception!!!

We had over 200 candles all around the house, backyard, and driveway. It was magical

Oh, heyyy!

So romantical 

Candid

Gorgeous evening 

The rest of the pictures were taken by the lovely Jennifer Bluth with, The Paper Bag Co. 

Love this picture of the courtyard 

Candle lit courtyard that leads up to the front door

Candles everywhere! 

Did I mention that Joe forgot his suit in Rexburg? We were in Salt Lake and he asks, "did you grab my suit?" Uhhh...no! 

Dad and McKenna 

So yummy 

I think Joe forgot his suit on purpose so he could get a brand new one

This picture is actually really funny because Joe couldn't sit {normally} with his incision. He was too nice to say anything about it haha.  

Joe's parent's came all the way from Coeur d' Alene to attend the reception. So nice! 

These are what Heaven tastes like

Those were to die for

Mini red velvet and pumpkin cupcakes. Divine 

So yummy

McKenna's Visit

 I love being able to spend anytime I can with my sister, so I was extremely excited when she was able to come and spend the weekend with Joe and I! McKenna is so super busy with school so getting her to leave her homework and books behind was a huge sacrifice for her. {THANK YOU!} I had so much fun being able to cook for her, and do her laundry. I'm like domestic or something now, it's weird. 

Friday night McKenna got into town around 7:30. I made baked ziti, garlic bread, and ceasar salad. Yum, yum, yum. Domestic, right? And of course, we had to go to G's Dairy to get ice cream after :) We stayed up late talking, laughing, and catching up. It was so fun and much needed.

Joe and I woke up early on Saturday to go get our first Bountiful Basket! Those things are seriously so cool; thanks, Pax for convincing me to get one! 

We then hung around the house and waited for Joe to get done with his group meeting and then we were off for our adventures! We thought it would be fun to go to Mesa Falls for the day.  I decided to drive because I thought I knew where we were going...We definitely took the longest way and went through Island Park instead, which made our drive like an hour longer haha. 

McKenna! 

Cheese Balls 

Husband (:

Joe was walking like a raptor down the stairs...McKenna thought it was hilarious

Winner! 

Cuuuuute!

Love him

Always leaving me out

What's wrong, Kenny? 

Shoesssss

Workin' it

So much fun!

I found a chipmunk friend 

Well, that's typical 

Joe got McKenna to shoot his airsoft gun...out the front door.

She loved it

Later that night we decided it'd be fun to go have a bonfire and make s'mores .  We brought along Joe's friend, Skyler and we had a blast.

The boys... gathering firewood 

The girls...doing nothing

Thanks to our friends Patrick and Lauren who showed us this little gem to go have a bonfire

Buildin' the fire 

Perfection

Freakin' huge fire. McKenna swears she doesn't have eyebrows now

Love of my life 

McKenna won't admit it, but she's a pyro 

Well hello, Skyler 

S'mores!

It's a camel! And I named him Humpty 

I'm obsessed with this guy

Okay, little back story on this camel dude. My friend, Alyssa, from work told me of a new, shorter way to drive to work, since we both live in Rexburg, and she said the best part about taking this way is the camel! I thought, a camel? You're kidding, right? Camel's don't exist is south east Idaho.  But sure enough they do!! {Or, I'm just dumb and think it's a camel?} I drive this way to work every time and each time I about swerve off the road because I can't get enough of him!  My mom was not convinced that there was such a camel, so hopefully this proves it to her! One of these days I'm going to knock on the door of the house that owns the camel and ask if I can pet him.  Apparently, camels are mean and tend to spit, but I don't care I want to meet my new camel friend up close and in person!

Such a great weekend! Thanks McKenna for driving all the way from Provo to come visit us! You're always welcome whenever, so how about you come up next weekend? (:  

This video is pretty funny, at least I thought it was...