Z + K = Marriage

January 4, 2014 was such a fabulous day! It was the day Zac and Karlie got married! It was such a pretty day and everything turned out better than we ever could have imagined. We have so many people to thank for helping make it all happen. We are so grateful for all of the support the family received as we celebrated this beautiful bride and groom's special day.



the only picture I took that day

I am so grateful to have gained a new sister - she is such a strong, faithful woman that knows how to make Zac happy and truly loves him for who he is - I am so grateful for that. We feel like we've gained a whole family of people as we LOVED getting to know Karlie's siblings and feel like we've known them forever. They are such kind and thoughtful people that truly love and care about each other. They are so quick and eager to help and are truly wonderful people.



our WHOLE family... until April ;)

***I absolutely LOVE their photographer and wish she was around when we got married. She is a dear friend and I love her. She does a wonderful job and is so comfortable to shoot with. She always takes care of her clients and puts her whole heart into her work
Check her out HERE

Ringing in 2014

We rang in the new year the way we used to, growing up. The parents used to have their own adult new years party, then all of us kids would have one together at one of the other houses. Except this time all the kids and parents were together (most of us are adults now anyway, so it worked out - so weird). We missed the usual's that couldn't make it, but still enjoyed a night filled with TONS of yummy food and good company, playing games and catching up.

Unfortunately I didn't snap any pictures that night, but we did get our classic BIG group shot :)

 

 

QT to AZ

The evening of Christmas day, we headed out for a quick trip to Arizona. Rob and Hannah were down there for the holiday with their sweet little Elizabeth and were blessing her while they were down there. It was the perfect opportunity to escape wedding plans for a couple days and visit with our Marsh family - not to mention soaking up the sun a little bit.

the best we have for now :)

We had a fun little 2nd Christmas and got a few perfect things for baby boy. It was so fun to share the excitement with them and soak up every minute we could with little Elizabeth. We enjoyed visiting the temple lights, eating tacos at a YUMMY little taco joint, visiting with AZ friends and family.
It's always great to spend time with our AZ family and sometimes feel like we could maybe get used to being down there... woops!

some of our Christmas spoils

baby Elizabeth as we imagine her "next to" baby boy

sleepy baby bottom

I seriously melt when they fall asleep in my arms!



one on one auntie em - lizzie time

traditional visit to Mesa temple lights
I felt like I always had to be touching Elizabeth in some way. Observe my hand haha

Tis the Season

This Christmas was an extra special one. Shaun was finally home from his mission and Zac had his soon-to-be wife, aka Karlie, at his side which meant we had my WHOLE family together, for the first time in a couple years. It's always fun to have those opportunities because as we are getting older, we are realizing how much harder it is getting to get everyone together.

kids in jammies on Christmas Eve

Christmas morning
lots of people means lots of presents

family dinner pic with mom

family dinner pic with dad

baby stuff on Christmas morning :)

Christmas morning mess

Brad and I hosted the family at our place for Christmas - which meant 8 of us + the dog spending some "close" time together. Yes, our family "Beau dog" came all the way from North Carolina for the holidays - it is all Shaun asked for, for Christmas. So literally the WHOLE family was there :)

Surprise SHAUN! As you can see, it made him very happy :)

It was fun to have our traditional dinner and waking up all together Christmas morning. We enjoyed exchanging gifts, lounging and going to Deelstra's for a bit. We got some really great stuff from mom and dad and the first bit of stuff for baby boy!

We spent the afternoon with the Richards (cousin's on my dad's side) enjoying some yummy food and good company - especially brand new baby Peter.

 

I am so grateful for the holiday season and the opportunities it provides for us to spend time with those we love. Even though our holidays were a whirlwind with wedding plans and such - we had a great time.

On a side note, I'm kind of freaking out that our next holiday season we are going to have a little one to share the love and celebrations with! YAY!!!

annual candy making with grams

"neighborhood" gingerbread party - so fun!

I was hired to wrap presents for someone in the ward and I LOVED it!
I actually really love wrapping presents :)

a Merry Christmas picture

it's tradition to do our Christmas puzzle

 

Here are just some pics of the Christmas décor this year:

(more to help me remember for next year)

 

 

ignore the stuff hanging out in front of the fire place :)

THANK YOU

We have had an absolutely overwhelmingly positive response from SO many after announcing our exciting news - literally hundreds! Because we have had such an overwhelming response, we felt this was the only way we could possibly reach out to everyone that has offered their support and shared our excitement with us.

Thank you so much for everything! From the uplifting messages to the faith, thoughts, prayers, and fasting on our behalf - we know we couldn't have done it without any of you. We truly appreciate everyone's thoughtfulness, cheering us on in our journey to have a little family. We know that we have been richly blessed through this experience and hope and pray others can find this happiness on their journey.
Thanks again for all of your love and support; it means a lot to us all - baby boy and Miss Courtney included.

*I am obviously WAY behind on the blog (like 2 months) but things have been crazy! Here's to getting caught up before things get too much crazier!