A final montage of photos

The wedding day

It was a great day. We are sooo tired but I suspect Jon and Courtney are even more so. I will try to give you an idea of the day. The first happening was when I met Ruth in the hall of the motel and she told me one of the bridesmaid's dresses was missing. They finally figured out where it might be and sure enough it was found (an hour away) and the bridesmaid had it on time. That was the only problem I was aware of all day. The ceremony started close to on time and went smoothly. The bride was beautiful--Jon got a big smile when she started down the aisle. All the bridesmaids and groomsmen looked great, even Laura who was on crutches. It was amazing to see her go up the small set of stairs so gracefully on crutches. While Jon and Courtney lit the unity candle and took communion together, we saw a slideshow of photos from their childhoods. Cute. Then they exchanged rings and vows. And finally the moment they were waiting for...the minister introduced them as Jon and Courtney Layton and said they could kiss. Then came all the picture taking and then the party moved to the reception hall. Food, dancing, greeting friends (two couples were there from Livermore!), pictures, toasts (good job Nick!!), fun, family, friends! When it was nearly time for them to depart Courtney told me she couldn't believe it had gone by so quickly. Finally they ran through an arch of waving fingers and into the get-away car. Well not really...the car had been filled with balloons and they had to pop them to even get into the car. Then they were off.

They are married!

It is official, Jonathan and Courtney are married and off on their honeymoon.

The Day Before

Well the motel here is full tonight and our whole corridor is full of Laytons, Cozadds, and our friends. Therefore the Internet is really slow so I am not sure I will be able to upload photos tonight. But before I try I will tell you about some of the events of today. First we awoke to an inch of fresh snow on the ground. Gorgeous!
We had breakfast with my brother, Bill, and Dave's brother, Calvin and his wife, Lynn. Then the guys took us women across town to where Courtney and a bunch of her friends and her mom were meeting to get our nails done. Both Lynn and I had our first "professional" manicures and we separately picked almost the same color polish.
Then we stopped by to help Jon by proofreading the programs for tomorrow's ceremony. He was a bit frazzled as Courtney had left him alone to finish that job. She had ordered a bunch of loose sunflowers from Costco and they are sitting in vases on her counter top. Someone will be making them into table decorations for the reception.
Then we picked up Nick at the motel and headed for lunch. By the time we got back from that Anna and Adam had arrived. Molly had tried to get in early but got wait listed out of Denver so she will be in late tonight.
The young people headed over to see Jon and Courtney. But soon it was time for most of us to head for the church and the rehearsal. It took a while to get organized but we were entertained by Courtney's 1 1/2 year old nephew, who is fascinated with steps and who just kept going up and down them throughout the rehearsal . After that was over we headed to dinner. Jon had said on the street parking would be free, but when we pulled up (and we were the first to arrive) there was nothing close by (it was Friday night after all) so we pulled into a pay lot.
The rehearsal dinner turned out wonderful. The food was very good, there was plenty of it, Dave MC'd a nice program afterwards, both fathers prayed over the couple, both moms spoke, and them several of their friends got up and told how great they thought Jon or Courtney are and how lucky the other is to be marrying them. We brought the table decorations home from that and put them in our mini-refrigerators in several of the motel rooms. Tomorrow someone will take them to the reception site to add to the decorations there. So it has pretty much all come together and tomorrow morning Jonathan and Courtney will get married!!

Starting to snow!

Today the sky is gray and just after breakfast we noticed it was starting to snow. Actually it is only just "spitting" right now but for those of us who rarely get to see it snow this qualifies as "snow". It is supposed to be snowing all day--we are hoping it will stay light. A number of the guests and people in the wedding fly in today and the bachelor party is being held in Denver tonight so the guys will be doing alot of driving back and forth late this afternoon and then late tonight.

I must say both Jon and Courtney seem really calm to me. Also they are being very laid back about everything and not fretting over details (or so it appears) so that helps. Jon did tell us though, that he has the marriage license and the rings and should a blizzard blow into town he will just walk over to Courtney's, they will sign the license and be married(self witnessing is allowed in CO I've been told). So they are calm but very ready and determined to finish all this planning and be married!!

I took my dress to a local dry cleaners to be pressed yesterday. I will pick it up in another hour before it really gets snowing I hope. I will be relieved to see that it is okay and have it in my possession again. Certainly don't want to have to go dress shopping at this late date!

Three days before the wedding

Below are some pictures from Wednesday. We spent several hours helping Jon pack for the honeymoon and then pack up the rest to move to their future home. In the one picture you see us packing. The only problem is Courtney already lives there and she is storing all the decorations for the reception, so finding room was a challenge. In the picture with Dave on the couch you can see the decorations, as well as a few of Jon's boxes.
After that Jon and Courtney met with their friend David, who will be marrying them, to discuss the final details of the ceremony. Then a quick stop at the church to see where people will stand and also where the girls will dress. Then more errands to run.
Finally, Courtney's parents came into town and we all went out to dinner. The two sets of parents had only met once before so this was a great chance to get acquainted as well as tell stories on the kids (aka the happy couple). Then the parents got to go home but Jon and Courtney still had lists to make and check and recheck.
Tomorrow more out of town guests will be arriving.

Cold Colorado

We are here and for Arizonans it is COLD. It was beautiful flying in over the snow covered mountains. Had dinner last night with Jon and Courtney. They seem to have things under control and Courtney struck us as very relaxed. Today we will be helping Jon pack up his bedroom and get stuff moved over to Courtney's. Her place is full of the wedding decorations, so I'm not sure where we will be putting stuff. Oh well, we can at least get things into boxes. Taking the camera today....

Weddings coming!

The desert is beginning to bloom. We have had alot of rain this new year of 2010 and the desert plants are loving it! The brittlebush has begun to bloom, the first penstemons started blooming this week, and the ocotillas are green...we know spring is on the way.

The big news from our house though, is that two of our children are getting married this year. Anna is getting married at the end of July in San Diego. Jonathan is getting married THIS WEEK!! He is marrying Courtney in Colorado Springs on this coming Saturday. For those who want to see pictures or hear how things are going but who can't be there I hope to be able to keep you up to date via this blog. So stay tuned....