Fife's: Life As We Know It:: Just The Highlights, Please:

I'm not going to lie. I really thought I would be posting more here. I wanted to keep up to date on the things that were happening for Eryn's wedding. I really thought I could blog about every detail and emotion that occurred. But I completely over-estimated my brain capacity and energy level, and under-estimated the overall busyness that this happy celebration is creating. I thought I understood what it would entail, but I was so wrong:

This blog will just be ~~the things that I can remember~~ highlights of my trip to Idaho:

I went to Idaho to:

1: Find Eryn a wedding dress and bring it home with me:

We found one easily in Logan, Utah. At a tiny little shop called Belle Bridal (that's right. No 's' on Belle). I cannot tell you how amazing this little place was. Eryn spent most of the time just trying on everything we saw because all the dresses were so amazing. She narrowed it down to two beautiful gowns and we headed to lunch to contemplate which was the ONE. When we went back to the shop I picked two more for her to try on (note to other mothers: I did this just to make sure the two she had already picked were ones she really liked, and it worked!). After loving the latter two, trying on the newer ones really sealed the deal for them. She then had to make a decision. Which one is the dress? She loved them both and they were very different from each other. She put on Dress #1 and said, "I love it so much." She put on Dress #2 and said, "I love it so much...but, Mom is crying... I am glowing...This is the dress!" Hooray!
They were able to do the alterations by the following Saturday, the day before I left for home. When we returned and tried it on with the alterations it was lovely and Eryn still loved it (big sigh of relief), but it didn't fit just right. So this cute little Chinese woman said,
"No problem! I fix it. Come back in few hour." (Hahaha. I loved her)
And it was done. It was probably the easiest thing I've done for this whole wedding.

The drama did come a little later trying to get everything on the plane, but honestly,
that's a whole blog in and of itself:

2: Do wedding invitations:

Andrew was a trooper and did all the labels and printing while we were shopping for The Dress. I think it all went pretty smoothly with the exception of a typo on the sealing time. It's 11:00 am, not pm, for those of you planning to come. I know he had some printer problems, but he's not just The Man of Eryn's Dreams, he's a Problem Solver. (There was one other thing about it, but I can't remember what it is right now so it must not be very important.) It took the whole weekend to get all 350 envelopes labeled, filled and sealed, but whew!
What a big thing to check off our list!

Eryn, Andrew and Rico at G'ma's:

3: Buy Eryn temple clothes and...ehm "unmentionables":

'nough said:

4: Get Eryn and Andrew cleared out of their apartments at BYU-I:

Although I really didn't do too much here...a little packing here and there...I did do a lot of driving back and forth with their things that are now stored at my mom's house in Pocatello. In fact, the mileage of my car rental was actually higher than the miles flown from DC to SLC. Alivia and I were in the car all the time. SLC, Pocatello, Inkom, Idaho Falls, Rexburg, Logan. All of these places several times. Back and forth, back and forth. I could have done it in my sleep

(which I didn't, of course, but still! That was a lot of time in the car):

The scenery was incredible:

5: See family:

Oh my goodness. This was seriously the best part of my time in Idaho.
I really didn't get to see very much of those that I love,
but the time I spent with them was amazing.
I got to stay with my Mom several nights and see my Dad way more than I thought I would

(still wasn't enough though).

Alivia and Papa reading her new "Ka-chow" book:

I had one really peaceful day at my sister's house...
she pulled weeds while I just sat in a lawn chair and visited.
I could seriously do that the rest of my life and be happy.

At Auntie's:

I spent a night at Tony's parents and really loved watching them cook and prepare for their
reunion (sorry I missed out on the fun and seeing all the sibs...
not too sorry that I missed cleaning the bathrooms though! You are my hero, Crista).

Alivia eating "The Best Cowboy Hat Cookie Ever":

Grandpa Fife:

My little brother, Trent, came all the way down from Boise to see Alivia and me. I was so excited to see him, and his hot new car, that I pulled Alivia out of bed at 11:00 (pm) so she could put a name to a face. He scared the crap out of her, but then she warmed up to him. Who doesn't though?

He's a rock star:

Alivia and Uncle Trent:

(I am totally crying right now thinking about all of this)

I miss everyone so much and I can't believe how much support they all gave to me.
My sister, Toni, watched Alivia all day when we went to pick a dress out.
My Mom and Dad took her the whole next Saturday so we could go pick it up.
She had the best time.

She spent one afternoon with her cousin, Stephanie, while I took Eryn to an appointment.