To start things off, we set our date for Feb. 7th 2008 in the Rexburg Idaho Temple. On our way to Arizona for Thanksgiving, we made a stop in Utah and his brother took engagement pictures for us. Which was great! The only problem was that we had too much light on the pictures and not enough time to get the “good” pictures that we needed. 
We got back from his parents house in Arizona, and things went well for about a week. Then as we started making plans as to when and where the receptions would take place we ran into a snag. My mom found out that the Church in Gooding (where I grew up) was already scheduled for a blood drive Friday the 8th, which was going to be the first reception, could not be rescheduled. We couldn’t change the order of the receptions because of distance, so we decided not to have a reception in Utah and to take the money and run. We also changed the date of the wedding to the 8th of Feb. Same place, same time.
During Christmas break, we had family parties in Utah for his family and a bridal shower for me that his Mom and sisters put together. My Mom and younger sisters came up and we decided to make it a long trip to shop for a wedding dress! Which if you know me you know how much I just love to shop...NOT; but I must say it was one of the more fun times I have been shopping. I mean you get to try in these beautiful dresses and have people tell you how great you look in them. We shopped for dresses for about 3 days. Day 2 is when I found my dress. Wow what a great find. It was the about only part of the wedding planning that was a breeze, all it took was three days of constant shopping.
Time was winding down for the invitations which my amazing husband was creating. When we got back from Christmas, my sister took some picture and, we had some really good pictures for the invites Yay. Ben was working on them at the office after work, and He could only stay for about an hour, so naturally this caused some delays in making the invitations. He finished the invitations just in time, but not without a lot of stress and hard work! The invitations got sent out and looked awesome, and then it was time to really start looking for a backdrop. 
We looked for about a week and a half which was 3 weeks before the wedding, so naturally I was getting a little panicked. We looked for places to rent, backdrops to purchase, building one ourselves and nothing seems to be going our way. Finally we found the backdrop about 2 weeks before the wedding.
We looked for about a week and a half which was 3 weeks before the wedding, so naturally I was getting a little panicked. We looked for places to rent, backdrops to purchase, building one ourselves and nothing seems to be going our way. Finally we found the backdrop about 2 weeks before the wedding.
Then it was time for the Wedding dinner. His mom had taken charge of that, but was running into a lot of dead ends, So we put some time into that. She finally got one place to call her back. Johnny Carino’s was the place. It had great food and it could handle the size of our party. What a relief!!
Things went well for about 2 days. It was Friday when we got this all worked out. Then came Sunday and we found out that President Hinckley Died which was very sad news and we will always remember him. Then Monday, the church announced the Rexburg Idaho Temple dedication would be pushed back a week! Which meant we couldn’t get married in the Rexburg unless we wanted to change the date of our wedding! At this point I was wondering if anything else could go wrong. I had people calling me nonstop for about 3 days to find out what we were going to do about the temple. We decided the easiest thing to do was to get married in Idaho Falls because Ben’s Parents were coming up from Arizona and the plane tickets were expensive to change.
The next week some ladies from my home town put together a bridal shower for me. Well it just happened that the week was one of the worst snow storms that we’ve had for the last couple years. We had to move the date of the shower from Thursday to Saturday.
My sisters from St. Anthony and Boise came for the bridal shower. They got snowed in and had to stay till Sunday. My sister from St. Anthony come down with sick kids. They had the flu. So naturally it went through everyone. I come down with it on Monday. Good thing it was only the 24 hour flu, but my stomach was still weak for about 2 days after that. Which was when I moved my things into Me and Ben’s apartment.
My sisters from St. Anthony and Boise came for the bridal shower. They got snowed in and had to stay till Sunday. My sister from St. Anthony come down with sick kids. They had the flu. So naturally it went through everyone. I come down with it on Monday. Good thing it was only the 24 hour flu, but my stomach was still weak for about 2 days after that. Which was when I moved my things into Me and Ben’s apartment.
The next day Ben and I had pictures. His cousin Aaron came to stay with Ben and bring down the Tux’s. I asked Ben to try his on because I had a bad feeling about it. Sure enough around 8:30 or 9:00 pm Ben called panicked because the lady at the tux shop had sent the wrong size shirt. Luckily Hearts Tux and Gowns in Idaho Falls had a emergency number. I called them at 8:00 am the next morning and they were able to meet Ben at there downtown store at 8:30 so he was able to be at pictures only 15 or 20 minutes late. They were a life saver for me!!
It came down to the day before the wedding. Bens family were on their way up to Idaho Falls. At about 4:00 in the afternoon, Ben got a call from him mom saying the roads were closed because some semi trucks were overturned on the highway. Megan, Bens little sister, called a little later to tell him that Provo Canyon was closed and they were having troubles getting to Idaho too. And then again, his cousin called to tell him the roads from Wyoming were closed and if they didn’t open, they wouldn’t be there. The roads from Burley to Pocatello were closed too, so we weren‘t sure my parents could make it. In a panic, we decided to go ahead with the wedding even if our parents weren’t there. It turned out that our parents and family were able to make it, but the roads from Wyoming never opened.
It came down to the day before the wedding. Bens family were on their way up to Idaho Falls. At about 4:00 in the afternoon, Ben got a call from him mom saying the roads were closed because some semi trucks were overturned on the highway. Megan, Bens little sister, called a little later to tell him that Provo Canyon was closed and they were having troubles getting to Idaho too. And then again, his cousin called to tell him the roads from Wyoming were closed and if they didn’t open, they wouldn’t be there. The roads from Burley to Pocatello were closed too, so we weren‘t sure my parents could make it. In a panic, we decided to go ahead with the wedding even if our parents weren’t there. It turned out that our parents and family were able to make it, but the roads from Wyoming never opened.
We both got to the Temple just fine, but there was some miscommunication about when pictures were going to be taken, and wether Ben should come in his tux or suit. I sat in the brides room wondering if Ben was ever going to show up, as he sat in the waiting room wondering if I was going to come. My mom went to check if anyone had seen Ben yet, and found him in the waiting room with the photographer and my family.
After pictures were over and we both went into the temple. My younger sisters were left out in the waiting room wondering what they were going to do. See My dad was going to take them to my cousins home here in Idaho Falls, but my dad missed that memo. So my great older sisters got it all figured out. And everything went smoothly from there on out.
It seemed that it was not till after Ben and I were in the temple that things started to improve. The devil worked hard on us. I am so lucky to have a man like Ben. If we did not have each other then we could never have made it thus far. Its been crazy ever since I met Ben, but nothing touches planning the wedding! I hope that as time goes by that we will always remember that things happen for a reason, for this is the phrase I had to keep saying in my head through the course of our engagement.
It seemed that it was not till after Ben and I were in the temple that things started to improve. The devil worked hard on us. I am so lucky to have a man like Ben. If we did not have each other then we could never have made it thus far. Its been crazy ever since I met Ben, but nothing touches planning the wedding! I hope that as time goes by that we will always remember that things happen for a reason, for this is the phrase I had to keep saying in my head through the course of our engagement.
