Levi and Daymia's Wedding

June 24, 2017

The day was so perfect in every way!

My very handsome son gave the most touching vows and had us all in tears.

His gorgeous bride's smile lit up every moment of the day and we welcome her with open arms and the same love we have for all of our children.

Individually they are special.
Together they are spectacular.

Each member of our family, as well as Daymia's, contributed in some way to the joy of the day.

Top: Levi & Tami, LeRoy & Kimber, Hyrum & Jordyn, Nathan and Erica
Bottom: Justin & McKell, Derek & Cara, Brett & Erika with Kailee, Daymia and Jon


We not only gained a daughter today, but also her amazing family as our extended relatives.
It is so easy and fun to be with them.

The Sanders family: Katie & Shane, Jon, Daymia, Tami, Cara, Erica, Jordyn


Korben was a perfectly responsible, and might I add, dashing, ring bearer.

Lane, Daymia's uncle, was a wonderful officiant who prepared a very heartfelt ceremony.

Did I mention tears?

Top Photo: Justin and Nathan with cry face and Hyrum leaving his emotions on my waist while Levi and I share a tearful hug.

Every one of my boys had a red cry nose and free-falling tears as they watched their brother and new sister-in-law. Hyrum wouldn't look towards them during the ceremony because he doesn't like anyone to see him crying but LeRoy still caught him with his cellphone (bottom right photo).


Speaking of Edwards Boys . . . and a handsome dose of Hellbusch.

These men stood tall in their parts and had my heart overflowing with admiration.

Our patriarchal Papa Edwards doesn't show his true grin often but he could not resist when welcoming Daymia to our family. He's so cute!

The stunning girls of our family. I love these three more than I ever thought possible!

I hope Daymia knows that she didn't just marry Levi, she gained a whole troop of protectors who love her as well.

It is an honor to call these two our children!

An eternity of hope and love stands here to support Levi and Daymia.

Papa & Nanny Edwards, Dad and Mom, Daymia & Levi, Grandma & Grandpa Fullmer

First Dance with the Bride and Groom, followed by the father/daughter and mother/son dances.

Levi searched and searched for the perfect song for us to dance to. After going through memories and lyrics we immediately settled on Shape of My Heart by Backstreet Boys. We used to dance around the kitchen at the blue house singing at the top of our lungs to the Backstreet Boys. As Levi pointed out the line "you can save me from the man that I've become" we looked at each other with knowing and teared up just a little. It ended up being the perfect song for us to do the middle school slow dance for the verse and then break out into our blue house moves to top off our moment.

From the moment that I held my minutes old Levi close to my heart I have had a vision for his life, hopes for his future and a protective love to go with him wherever he goes. Though his vision for life has not been the same as mine, standing next to him on his wedding day gave me a new vision with all the same hopes for happiness, joy, and laughter. My protective love continues in a much less visible way as I step aside and with tuggings of a momma's heart, I reverently and respectfully give him to Daymia with full confidence that he is in better hands than any vision I had imagined up for him.

The first time I saw this photo it caught my breath. I saw them standing before their unknown future: sickness and health, lack and abundance, conflict and peace, sorrow and joy. As they look off into the not so distant Light, holding hands and supporting each other, all will be well.

As they forge forward into the lone and dreary world of jobs, bills, stress and whatever else life throws at them, I have no doubt that their life together will also be glorious and beautiful; full of laughter, love, and joy.

Their wedding video makes me laugh, cry, ooh, and ahh, every single time I watch it. This kind of perfect never gets old.

Wedding video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgTIgGlo7d8
Engagement video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_GnyPTnH90&feature=share

Watch them together and it's the perfect 10 minute chick flick!
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The day was so perfect, beautiful and wonderful in every way that even our broken septic pump couldn't damper the day, though it did add a touch of odor.

The night before the wedding we had 15 people staying in our house. My biggest concern was that the air conditioner would freeze up on us. Never did I imagine that we would lose showers and toilets! Gratefully, we were informed with enough advance that the downstairs toilets weren't flushing right and the tub drains were plugged. Upon further inspection and a call to our good friend who owns Advanced Plumbing, we learned that our septic pump had gone out and that we could have a few flushes to go but that any given flush or shower could cause all septic to back up into our basement.

Our guests were so understanding as we waited until morning for the parts store to open, a technician to come and switch out the pumps, and a plethora of wedding showers to be taken. The smell did knock us over for a time and we had to forgo all air conditioning to open every window in the house to release the nastiness before breathing it all in.

With only a minor set back in time, all wedding plans moved forward and no one was the wiser as we arrived at the wedding in full spiffiness with nary a septic odor to be detected.

The Bridal Dunk

Daymia's crazy wonderful friends, Brooke, Morgan and McKell, took their hosting skills to a new level and had a bridal dunk for Daymia instead of the usual bridal shower.

They even rented a dunk tank and parked it in the middle of the back yard. Levi answered their questions before the party and if her answers were different than his, the guests threw a ball to try to dunk Daymia.

The rest of the games were set up Carnival style including a lingerie race, popping balloons with darts, and shooting bottles with Nerf guns. The most popular game seemed to be Bra Pong.

It was particularly fun for me to watch my mother and mother-in-law cheering each other on in Bra Pong, all while my mom wore her missionary name tag.

Many of the gifts ran in a similar theme as the games and if there was to be a favorite it might just be Kate's origami money lingerie.

Such detail work and oh, so much laughter!

I am delighted to have Daymia join our family. She is a joy to be around!

It was easy to smile for our group photo because our adorable photographer had us giggling.

Thanks Papa ♥

"It's About Dang Time"

Their families have both been waiting for this day to come!

Tami (Daymia's mom) had hinted to Levi that he should propose.

We didn't hint at all, just came right out and told him he should.

The younger boys threatened to marry Daymia if Levi didn't.

Levi waited for the perfect time and the perfect setting to ask the perfect girl to be his wife.

February 10, 2017

I cry hopeless romantic tears everytime I watch their engagement video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_GnyPTnH90&feature=share

The line that was clipped out of the video says it all. As Levi stood from his down-on-one-knee position and they hugged, Daymia exclaimed, "It's about dang time!"

We all agree and are so happy for the two of them!

Texas Trip 2017

As soon as we got home from the Bahamas, I was doing laundry and re-packing for five days in Texas. I also quickly put together some travel boxes for the boys and checked out of the library the first two book in the Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites audio series. It was a favorite for our older kids so I figured the younger ones should have the same Texas traveling experience. They loved it so much that I had to download a YouTube copy of the third book for the remainder of our trip home.

 The trip there was typical of any trip where I am trapped in an enclosed vehicle with the smelly habits of Edwards boys. Nathan and Hyrum were in a comic drawing phase so to get my point across, I used one of their pages and drew my own comic which, ironically, I did not find so comical.

 

After two days of stinky travel we arrived at Lenora's house. The following two days were spent in her pool and hanging out with family.

It was wonderful to see LeRoy's family and to rebuild relationships with those that we so seldom see.

My favorite picture from this trip! Frank doesn't show his true smile often, usually just a lopsided smirk, but I caught him watching the kids playing in the pool and when he looked up I got it, his true smile. He looks so youthful to me in this picture. What a wonderful man we have to lead the Edwards family. We are so blessed by him!

Nathan and Hyrum each played a game of pool with Papa, which stands out as one of their favorite memories from the trip. 

We all secretly signed a big card for Papa for Father's Day. It was wonderful to be together for his big day.

The Edwards men are so much alike! Tom's grandson took to LeRoy quite comfortably which surprised everyone since he doesn't like men. We all saw a little of Uncle Tom in him and were so glad to have him with us.

Our days were spent at Lenora's and our nights were spent with Nanny and Papa.

As much as we loved being together with everyone, it was calming to have just the six of us for late night ice cream, reminiscing, looking at pictures, and catching the Texas Rangers game. Nanny spoiled us with such yummy food and loved on us until we felt quite spoiled.

With a little one on one time it became quite evident that LeRoy is the spitting image of his dad! Right down to the way he chews his food, holds his head, stares at a ballgame, and even in their ornery stubbornness.

On Sunday we went to church with Nanny and Papa and enjoyed a wonderful Father's Day sacrament program.  After church we went to a couple of cemeteries in Mineral Wells and shared stories and some family history as we visited a few graves.

Roberta - LeRoy's mom

Tom - LeRoy's brother, Nathan was born on his birthday

Grandpa James Darden Loope - Nathan's middle name is Darden, after Grandpa

On Monday morning we started our two day journey home. Along the way we stopped at the Monticello Temple where I was able to share a few stories of our Hawkins ancestors and my mom, who grew up in Monticello. 

It was fun to show the boys where my mom grew up, where we went swimming one summer when we visited Grandpa and Grandma and the church where I remembered going as a little girl.

Cynthia Darlene shared such kind memories of Roberta (LeRoy's mom) and coaxed a few stories out of Papa about Viet Nam, meeting Roberta, and some very touching family stories that had never before been shared. She is such a wonderful support to Frank and we are so blessed to have her carry on the matriarchal torch for the last 11 years! 

The Bahamas

Legal Shield rewarded LeRoy's hard work with a five day trip to The Bahamas. 

Paradise Island and the Royal Towers at Atlantis (right in the center of the book crease) were beautiful, even though my stomach kept reminding me that I was on a very small island in the ocean, meaning I was surrounded by water.

At the resort we watched a worker feed piranhas, sat in the famous Atlantis chair, and wandered among man-made waterfalls as well as the The Dig, an underground aquarium with Indiana Jones type artifacts and floor to ceiling tanks full of wonderful water creatures.

The lazy river was anything but lazy! With intermittent moments of calm, the river was a rumbling tumble of waves, falls, and so much laughter.

Along the lazy river was the Mayan Temple and slide that LeRoy rode down a couple of times. It was a straight, 3 second ride from top to bottom with a sudden horizontal tunnel taking him through live sharks.

Speaking of sharks. . . I walked among sharks!

This was my absolute favorite part of the trip. Oddly enough, LeRoy was nervous about it and I was so excited. We wore special helmets that meant that the water did not touch our faces (perfect!) and we would breathe just like normal, but we could walk right in among the sharks. At 25 feet deep, we held living starfish, bobbled along the sandy ground, and let the sharks brush up against us.

LeRoy's favorite part of the trip was snorkeling in the ocean. The fish and reef were fascinating to him, though getting the hang of snorkeling left him a bit flummoxed and he took in more salt water than the human body likes.

While LeRoy played in the ocean, I enjoyed sitting in the sun on the deck. As rocky as the ride out was, it was rather calming to feel the warm sun on me as I was gently rocked nearly to sleep.

A slight storm came in on our way back to shore which left me a bit unsettled but so very appreciative of our captain. He didn't talk to anyone on the way out, letting the other guides do all the talking, and he stayed in a little sitting spot for the time others were snorkeling, and again, silently took us back to land.  When I thanked and tipped him he seemed shocked and when I asked for a picture with him, he showed the most beautiful, sincere smile I'd seen on the whole island. He has no idea how grateful this aquaphobic was for his skill and knowledge on the water.

The other person on the island that was touched by our request for a picture was the lovely lady at the restaurant that we ate at each morning. We was the female version of LeRoy: so bubbly cheerful and chatty and very willing to help the lost Idahoans needing directions.

P.S. Humidity hair is a real struggle!

Graduation

Before graduation we had to figure out how Justin was going to do his "full" in a gown with all the decorations on it, a cap, and slippery shoes on a stage.  It took a bajillion pins but we finally got it figured out.

As a freshman in high school Justin set a challenge for himself: to do a standing full on stage at his graduation. I didn't know about this goal until just a couple of weeks before. As he walked up on stage, I found myself holding my breath just like I did at every gymnastics and/or cheer event over the past 10 years, and I offered a silent prayer. 

The person reading the graduates names whispered to him, "you ready for this?" He nodded, took a couple more steps, removed his cap, and did a perfect standing full. When he donned his cap and walked over to accept his diploma cover, the principal shook his hand and said, "well done".

So well done! 

No gown, tassel, shoes, or slippery stage could get in the way of this boy and his determination and skill.

We were honored to hang out with our honors graduate, his high school career complete with a 4.20 GPA, an academic scholarship, 11 waived college math credits (that's nearly a full semester!), and a cheer scholarship to Weber State University.

After graduation and before he left for the senior all-night party, we stopped by Kiwi-Loco for our last high school frozen yogurt celebration. When we got home he stood near the kitchen and his halo appeared, confirming my hunch that he is near teenage perfection.

Justin finished the last two months coaching his Airbound Gymnastics kids and though he thought he was burning out after 3 years of coaching and was ready to move onto the next phase of life, he found that he was a little sad to leave.

I put together an 8.5 x 11 booklet with this collage on the front cover and blank pages inside and left it at the gym during the week after he had moved to Utah.  His gym kids wrote the kindest notes! Even some of the coaches and moms left encouraging and gratitude filled words for him. 

When I gave him his book a couple of weeks later he teared up as he sat and read through his card. As much as his gym kids loved him, he also loved working with them. 

Our Madison Bobcat has grown into a Weber Wildcat.

He wears the purple and black proud and they are lucky to have him. After all, Boise State and Utah State also wanted him.