Joanna and Rayne get Married!

JUST LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE! 

Aaron's sister Joanna married a really cool guy named Rayne Baer on November 19th! We flew up to Utah for the big event. We got in on Friday and headed to the Airbnb that we were sharing with Stephen's family, Mom Blood, Jonny, and Daniel. The rest of the family came over to hang out and eat pizza that night. I wish I had gotten a picture of the mass of Bloods standing around the kitchen and doing that cute thing where they bounce a bit while they are talking. 

The next morning we headed to the Payson Temple for the sealing! Samantha and I stayed in the lobby with the bloodlings. I was grateful for that time- it was my first real conversation with my sister-in-law! We don't get to see her too often since they live in Alaska. 

Waiting for the newly weds to emerge

Here they are! And they looked so happy!

We had a break for lunch and a very much needed nap for Isaac. I miiiiiight have dozed off on the couch as well. 

Then we were off to the venue for the ring ceremony and reception! 

This tribute to Dad Blood caught me off guard. I wish he could have been there in person.

Rayne has been obsessed with Jurassic Park since he was a kid. Joanna walked down the aisle to an orchestral version of the Jurassic theme song. If that's not love, I don't know what is. 

Timmy gave an awesome speech. He brought me and most of the room to tears with some tender memories about when Joanna was born and how she always stood up to James and how she was the first person that Timmy felt he could come out too. Then he acted kind of flustered and said, "I lost my place in my notes. Actually.... nevermind, I never had any notes. This is just a picture of little Joanna with little Rayne photoshopped in." It was masterfully done. 

Then they announced that it was open mic time for people to come up and share memories of Joanna and Rayne. Several of Rayne's supporters got up, but the Bloods had a total deer in the headlights reaction. Someone should have given them prior warning, and we would have gotten some beautiful thoughts out of them. Aaron says that he could have come up with something coherent if he had just 10 more minutes. My excuse is that I was barely containing a very grumpy Isaac. A visibly agitated Elizabeth finally got up and managed to get out some Blood support for our beloved Joanna. The Bloods have many talents, but on the spot public speaking is not one of them!

Annie kept wandering off to make petal angels on the floor. Also, look through the doorway- they had a board of glazed donuts with a cute sign that said "A Hole Lot of Love."

We didn't think we would make it until the start of the 8pm reception with how tired the kids had been, but with an infusion of donuts and then ice cream we kept deciding to stay a bit longer to see this or that activity. Then they announced a dance party and pulled out light sticks. It was a blast! I haven't actually danced like that in a long time. Elliot surprised me by joining in the thick of things and dancing his little heartskee out. We stayed until 10 and saw the happy couple off with sparklers. It was a great way to welcome Rayne into the family!