we'll be a dream

So this week just FLEW by...so quickly in fact that I didn't capture a single moment of it.

LLL infinitely sad faces LLL

So we'll keep the debrief on our week short to spare the masses.

I left Wednesday for Girls' Camp which I loved! I worried at first how you could possibly present a solid girls' camp experience with only 6 girls, but I soon learned that the strength in numbers claim isn't always true. All our girls, 12-17, worked together to make girl's camp great. It's the neatest thing to see the unity in a group that is so diverse. I admire that in my girls and wish we'd been more like that in my time. Guess that's why I'm on Round 2!

It took quite a bit for me to drag myself away from the fun to return to work. I'd had little to no sleep the night prior to camp and played a bit too much with the girls Wednesday night to even hope for a few extra hours of sleep to recoup (though my dear Tiffany claims you cannot catch up on sleep I refuse to cave to her cynicism...if I did I'd have to admit that my regularly negative sleep cycle leads to an unhealthy, dysfunctional me. P.S. My dearest Tiff, what of your Sunday naps...hmmmmm???? I'm just sayin').

Anyhoo...I expected to be totally ZONKED when I got to work but, to my surprise, I felt WONDERFUL!!! I think I must've been on a high from our escape to nature, the retro-70s cabin, 4-wheeling in my Honda, and feeling so blessed to be living my life right now. Sharing my testimony with these girls daily reminds me of how lucky I am to be at this point in my life. It's so sad to think I forget that some days...

So lucky me finished her work day and ran home to her dear husband who she missed like CRAZY even though she'd seem him just 36 hours before. Pardon the honeymooner moment, but is this the way it is with all married couples??? I know there's moments where we crave space, but I swear I spend 99.9% of my time wanting and needing to be close to Parker. Truly. It's quite crazy to me to be so attached and so cute to see he is too. He said that I need to learn what it's like to be home alone...to fall asleep in an empty bed...to roll over in the morning to find that dreaming about them didn't bring them home. I kind of like the system we have going now though...not so sure we'll be making changes anytime soon. Anyone who I've called during one of my sub-10 minute drives knows I don't do alone well...

Friday morning Parker and I headed back to Provo to attend the sealing of Mr. & Mrs. David Lee Bennett. Bennett and Parker have been buddies since Parker was the taller of the two (which is a big deal considering Dave is all of 6'8" now). I got to watch the sweetest home videos of these two as little shepherds in the Christmas pageant...it was priceless!!!...and knew from the first day I met Bennett that my hubby had good taste in friends. We spar regularly but I know, deep down, Bennett really does like me. And I like that he keeps me on my toes. If someone would just let him know that Farr West bank has no chance against Wells Fargo we could probably even be besties...JJJ (besides, what kind of city/banking institution adds an extra "R" to the word far anyway???I can't get over that...).

Needless to say, we were so happy to be a part of Bennett's big day. His new wife Natalie is a little firecracker and is perfect for him in every way. We are so grateful Bennett found her and so happy they found each other.

Their sweet sealing changed my attitude toward the Provo temple too...you really can't ever judge a book by its cover! The Provo temple is just as beautiful as any other inside and the Spirit is just as strong. Watching Bennett and Natalie make promises for eternity reminded me of how much it means to me to know that Parker and I will be together forever. We reminisced about our wedding day—how the nerves set in as we waited in the Celestial room, how they quieted the minute I looked at Parker and remembered that promising forever meant forever with him. We thought back on our sealer's words of wisdom and realized how very little we remembered outside of his blip on the importance of holding hands. It's sad! I wish I could backtrack, relive the day, and write about each moment as it happened. But I guess being busy is the nature of the beast on your wedding day...it's a beautiful blur!

Parker and I made a trip back to Provo later that night for the reception which was absolutely stunning. I don't think a pinch would've convinced me that I wasn't dreaming. Dave & Natalie's reception was exactly how I'd pictured our own when Parker and I first started entertaining the idea of marriage—a beautifully landscaped yard with trees, flowers, streams, gazebos with swings, white tables and chars wrapped in coral-pink bows, and white picket signs pointing the way to sweet treats and pink lemonade. The August sunset illuminated the million-dollar home and the pretty centerpieces teeming with ivory, pink, and the brightest green. Gosh I just loved it!!! Every bit. And if I'd been able to hold out on marrying Parker 'til August it just might have happened that way. Please do understand, I did love my own wedding. It's everything I could've asked for. I just loved the fact that I was able to see this other dream come to life. Thanks Bennett and Natalie for a super fun night!

And the last part of the week that I'm so sad I failed to document—date night on the lake! Chris and MiKell planned a fun night out for al the couples on their awesome Malibu wakesetter. Parker practically drools when he sees it and beams from ear to ear every time he rides behind it. We lake-hopped a bit in an attempt to outrun the monsoon moving through the canyon. While we missed the brunt of it, its little sister storm found its way to us just as we prepared to launch. We wondered what on earth we were thinking as we watched every other boat evacuate the lake, but Mike's optimism and a patch of blue sky I spotted in the distance offered hope. So we stayed...and thank goodness we did! We had the best night We surfed the wake like maniacs, watched in awe at Chris' mastery of the art, and laughed and giggled at Mike's show of submarines and platform attempts. We rocked out to She-Wolf as we watched Parker fly and me eat it on the giant wake. It was grand! Thank you so much Chris & MiKell for making our lives so fun!

Well...so much for my bitty description. I have a way for taking 5 minutes to say something I could've said in 1. se la vie! It was a killer week. I'm glad I lived it, glad I shared it, and prepared to make sure to be a picture-Nazi this week at Disneyland so we never have to go without these photo memories again.