Wedding Fun

A lot has happened this past month or so, but instead of doing a massive post, I will just go back a bit and catch up little by little with different posts. I'll start with my sister's wedding. Marie got engaged late August to Tia Purcell and decided to get married September 25th. With such a short time to plan a wedding, she did a great job and it turned out to be a lovely wedding. It was a very fun occasion to get all the family together again. Here are some of the pictures from the wedding:

My Christophers

I am so lucky to have these 2 wonderful Christophers in my life! They both make me so happy. Here's a little update on each of them:

Chris trained for and participated in a sprint triathalon. It was a 500 yard swim, 30k bike, and 5k run. It was his first triathalon, and he did a great job. I was way impressed!

Once we got back to Utah, I spent time in Provo while Chris went on a pack trip with my brothers and step-dad. They were up in the Wind Rivers in Wyoming and had a great time riding, fishing, and enjoying amazing scenery.

Now he is back at Weber going to school full-time, and he will start working soon. He's a great help with Christopher and loves interacting with him.

Little Christopher is doing great. Last night he finally slept through the night (10 hours straight!) and he is such a happy little guy. He is also eating cereal, rolling over both ways, laughing, talking and making gurglie noises, and grabbing anything within reach (which unfortunately includes my hair).

And here is his 'stink face' as Chris calls it. He is such a sweet baby and I love staying home with him all day.

Quick Update

After our great summer in California (thanks to the Waldrons), we are back in Utah! I wanted to put pictures up, but Chris has the camera and he is in Wyoming on a pack trip for the week with my brothers and step-dad. I'm in Provo for the week but next week once we're back in Ogden and settled in, I'll post some pictures.

24th in Cokeville

Every year the small town of Cokeville, Wyoming (population <500) has a big celebration for the 24th of July. Since I lived there til I was 7 and still have lots of family there, we've loved going whenever we can. I have missed the past 3 years for various reasons, but this year we were able to go, thanks to my brother David!

He and Heather called early last month and asked if we would drive to Cokeville with them if they helped fly us out to Colorado. (They're in Colorado Springs for the summer). We hadn't seen them for months and were excited to be able to spend time with them. The flight there and drive to Cokeville and back went pretty well, considering we had an almost-4-month old and a one year old (Taylor). We decided to keep it a surprise from my mom, so it was fun when she arrived! Here are some pictures of our fun weekend:


At my Dad's grave with David and Jessie with the small town in the background


David Taylor Dayton III and Christopher David at their Grandpa's grave


With Uncle Tom (Elder Perry) and Aunt Barbara and Elder and Sister Cook. Since Aunt Barbara is from Cokeville, every year they bring another General Authority to be a guest speaker at the meeting and ride in the 30-minute parade.

This is at the parade (it goes down main street then comes back again, all within about 1/2 hour.) And they throw out lots of candy. That's my kind of parade!



We went swimming out by the Cottonwood Ranch (where my dad grew up) and jumped off Taylor bridge. The water was incredibly cold, but we had lots of fun!

Other highlights included weiner roast up at Pine Creek with cousins, catching up with lots of family, seeing friends, playing games, Chris going to his first rodeo, good food, and just enjoying the Cokeville atmosphere.

Best of all though was spending lots of time with David and Heather and Taylor. We had lots of fun talking, listening to music, playing with the kids, and laughing. Thanks for making this fun trip possible David and Heather!!

Dolphin and Whale Safari

For my birthday, Chris' parents paid for Chris and me to go on a dolphin and whale safari with 'Captain Dave.' It was fun to get out and go do something fun with Chris on Saturday while his family watched Christopher. We had a great time and saw a bunch of dolphins and a huge blue whale! I loved what we saw, and also enjoyed just being out on the water, even though we both got sunburned. Well worth it though!

One thing we thought was cool was that we could come stand at the front of the catamaran and see the dolphins swim underneath and get splashed when the boat was moving. These videos are all short but I thought they were neat anyway.

One of the highlights of the trip was that I was the first one to hear and spot the whale when it came up one time after a 7-10 minute break. Every time I saw it I was amazed at how massive it was! (Sorry about the language in the background).

This isn't the most clear shot, but you can tell how close we were to it!

I promise next post will have pictures and videos of Christopher David!

My Birthday

I had a wonderful 25th birthday! I was able to celebrate early while in Utah by my mom taking me out to lunch and shopping, and yesterday was awesome too. I got some cute new clothes and fun accessories, chocolates, $ for shopping, and some other neat gifts. Chris' main gift to me was a beautiful Claddaugh Ring. It comes from Ireland and is a love symbol. The heart, hands and crown signify love, friendship and loyalty.

You wear it different ways to show if your heart is available or taken, if you're married, etc. I thought this was such a sweet gift, and it's neat too because I have Irish ancestry. He ordered it from Ireland and had our initials put on the inside. He is such a thoughtful, wonderful husband!

Once Chris got home from work, we went to the beach and hung out there for a while, then we went out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory. We had awesome food there, then came home for cake and ice cream and chocolate fountain! (Notice also the beautiful edible bouquet- already partly eaten!)

It was a great way to spend a birthday, and I appreciate family's and friends' calls, gifts, messages, etc. Also, I got a gift certificate from Chris' family for Chris and me to go on a Dolphin and Whale Safari sometime this summer. That will be way fun! Thanks everybody for a great birthday!

Fun in Utah

I was able to fly to Utah with little Christopher to spend a weekend with my family. It had been a while since they last saw him, so they were excited we came. We had a wonderful time and did some fun things.

I was a little nervous about flying, but Christopher did really well and was a good little traveler. While in Utah, my mom and I went for a hike to Stewart Falls, which was beautiful! I loved being outside and up in the mountains.

We also were able to go to the Oquirrh Temple open house which was really neat.

After that we went to my Aunt Margaret's campaign dinner in a lovely backyard where there was great food and entertainment. Mainly we enjoyed catching up with cousins and some aunts and uncles.

I also relaxed, goofed off with Marie, Jessie and Benjy, enjoyed nice weather and great food all weekend, and had fun watching everyone hold Christopher and get him to smile and talk.

I was fortunate also to be able to pick up a bunch of baby clothes and items that Chris' aunt and uncle were getting rid of. Isn't family great?

On Monday, my mom took me out to lunch for my birthday at Magelby's. Marie also came and we all enjoyed amazing food! We also went shopping and I got a fun new summer dress. It was a great vacation and I loved spending time with family!!