A Wedding in Utah...

This past Friday Kenya and I took a quick trip to Utah...why???...Kenya's cousin Kelli was getting married...this marks the first grandchild on the Smith side to be married...Kelli is Kenya's closest cousin in age...they were born 3 days apart...Kenya and Kelli despite not living near each other seemed to connect anytime they saw each other...so when we heard the news of her engagement Kenya said to me 'we are going, right mom, we HAVE to go'...of course, I felt the same way and told her I would see if I could work it out...so after using a companion pass we were committed to going...
But for me this marked the first Smith family event since my divorce 51/2 years ago...this was a family that for 14 years I was a part of and loved and still love...yet just like that once the divorce is final you find yourself not just losing a husband but you also find that in a way you have lost or should I say the boundaries have changed with this whole extended family that was very much a part of your life for so long...even so I was looking forward to it...and by the end of the day I was glad we made the effort to attend...
The wedding ceremony was beautiful...the bride and groom looked so happy...for me I can't help but smile when I see two people so in love and ready to make that most awesome and challenging committment...and this is why I love weddings because of the happiness it makes me feel...
It also was awesome to be able to spend the day with Kenya...my daughter is a funny girl, yep...
It was so great for Kenya and I to see her cousins...Tara and Carson looked sooo good...we have missed them...it also was fun to see the younger cousins and how cute they are and how big they are getting...
, We loved seeing everyone, it was especially good for Kenya to see her aunts, uncles and grandparents and the only thing that would have made it better is if Kenya's Uncle Mark and Aunt Tami had been there...

Chelsea and BYU Volleyball

One of the things Kenya and I wanted to do was to watch our dear friend Chelsea play volleyball...we were lucky enough to discover as we were planning the quick trip to Utah that she had a home game on Friday night against the U of U...we left the wedding reception early to go watch her play...

It had been awhile since we had seen her play in person...we were sooooo proud of her...she rocked...unfortunately BYU ended up losing in 5 games...but I can confidently say it was NOT due to Chelsea :) she played sooo well and the whole time Kenya and I were so happy to see her succeeding on the court...you go girl!!!!

Hospitality Plus...

One of the greatest things about marrying Greg is that my kids and I inherited a whole new extended family...and lucky for us we love them...whew...

Kenya and I stayed with Greg's brother and sister in law Jeff and Lisa while we were in Utah...it is so nice how accepting they have been on their end with the additions of my family to their extended family...we loved seeing them and on Saturday even got to meet their first grand baby Brooklyn...she is a doll and it was fun for me to see how natural they have filled the roll as grandparents...we also were able to stop by Greg's other sister Lisa for a very quick hello...our time was short with them but it was made up by staying up REALLY late both nights talking and catching up...Lisa, Jeff and Brooklyn

Enjoying being part of the Warnick clan.

Sister-in-laws, Lisa and Lisa...

Thanks Jeff and Lisa for the hospitality and the warmth we always feel when we are there with you!

Homecoming hoopla...

While Kenya and I were in Utah celebrating Kelli's wedding, back home Dana Hills High School was celebrating Homecoming...I was a bit sad that I was missing out on the festivities...my boys committed to performing in the school's halftime show the leads up to the announcement of the school's homecoming queen...it is a bit of a mystery to me what spurs my boys to dance in front of a bleacher filled stadium since they keep their dance skills hidden from us at home when asked to show...but I can tell they have a lot of fun with it...maybe its because of the cute girls and they outnumber the boys by a lot...then again maybe its because their friends are doing it and both seem to be able to laugh at themselves and their friends pretty easily resulting in fun times...either way I am thankful for a good friend who took photos for me and Greg's account of the event so I could at least visualize the happenings...now if I could only get Sandon to show me his shimmy...word had it he was very good at this :)

Mckay came back for Dana's Homecoming game and Kendall was soooo excited to see him.

Sophomore class performing to an "alien" theme...can you see Karch...hint look in the middle of the second photo...

Sandon's class performing to a "sailor"theme...so sad I missed this...would have loved to have seen them in action :)...hint: first photo Sandon is 2nd row 4th boy from right...thanks Amy for the photos!!!!

The next day Karch and a group of his friends attended the Homecoming Dance...again I missed the photo opp beforehand but thanks to wonder hubby (this is what he was this past weekend filling the needs of my kids, which were many, while I was gone...) he was able to get some shots for me...

Encore!

Last Friday I met Greg in Arizona. Greg had been in Arizona for the week working. I made the quick trip so that I could see Greg's son perform in his school's fall play. I was excited to make the trip. I had yet to see Steve act. I kept hearing what a good job he does in these plays.

Steve had one of the leads in the play "Nightmare High School". From the moment the curtain went up I was so impressed with his acting. He was confident, natural, his voice projects really well and he played his role very convincingly. The whole production was entertaining and fun. It was great to spend the time with Natalie, Andy and Steve. We miss them and are glad that things are going well for them.

Bravo Steve!

(sorry for the blur in some of the photos, no flash photography allowed...)

Ummm...I think Greg is going to want to strangle me after this post...

Good thing he loves me sooo much!

Greg's 5 minutes of fame.

The San Diego Tribune ran this photo and article on Greg...what a stud! :)

(love you honey :))

click to read article, if you are curious