Happy Halloween!

Since it's the end of the quarter at my school, today was Halloween day. Here are some mug shots. Make sure you read the plaque.

The Wedding Planner

A little while after my last post, Matt's little brother Brady got engaged and all kinds of chaos ensued. Here is a little background on their story.

Brady went to Denmark on his mission and met a man named Michael who he became very close friends with. Michael had a daughter. While Brady's initial impression of Malene was that she was very beautiful, and Malene thought he was great, he was of course still a missionary, and she actually had a boyfriend (soon to be fiance). Brady continued to be friends with Michael after he returned from his mission. A few months later Malene broke off her engagement and she and Brady began a casual friendship through emails and skype. Conversations became more frequent and soon there was a trip planned to the States. Malene tells me that she had hoped that romance would begin, and I have never seen Brady so giddy as the date of her arrival came closer. Malene and Michael came on July 3rd, Brady had kissed her by July 4th. They had apparently decided that they wanted to be married within about a week, but didn't tell the rest of us for another week.

Here's where it gets complicated. Their original trip was for about 6 weeks. They talked about possibly waiting a few months to get married, but applying for visas can be tricky, and if they were to just get married say, within the next 3 weeks, she could just stay here. Problem solved!

Only 3 weeks is not very long to plan a wedding.

This is where I come in. I am a teacher and it was summer, which means that I had A LOT of time on my hands. I offered my full services as wedding planner and we were off the ground. It was all very exciting. Of course I didn't do the whole thing, but I sort of ended up overseeing all of it. Let's start at the beginning.

First we had a shower. It was at Grandpa Snarr's house and the guests consisted of all of Brady's relatives. I wish I had the invitation to show you, because they were super cute. Malene was really cute at the shower. The Snarr family shower is a little overwhelming just because of the sheer numbers of the clan (I remember from my own shower). However, Malene took in stride and won everyone over with her charm and wit. We played a get to know her game (since this was the first time most people had met her and it was just days before the wedding). I asked her a variety of questions. Before the shower, I had recorded Brady answering the same questions. She would answer the question, and then I would play Brady's answer to see if they could get the same answer. It turned out fun. We had an excellent homemade icecream dessert which my mom help me make. Here is Malene surrounded by the loot and enjoying dessert.

The wedding was on August 9th and turned out beautiful. About 2 weeks before the wedding, we discovered that both churches in the neighborhood were reserved so there was a scramble to find a new location. We ended up deciding to do it and my parents house in the backyard.

The day started at about 9 am, with breakfast at my parents. Everyone came over to unload and set up chairs and tables, and then enjoyed a breakfast of german pancakes, bacon, and juice. It was so great to see everyone who had come from out of town for the wedding. After breakfast we got down to business, and it was WILD. Malene retreated upstairs to get ready. Tambra did her hair and helped with make-up. Leanne set to work on ironing table clothes, the Puro's set up the "alter", the men set up tables and chairs, and the twins put together the centerpieces. There were people everywhere.

We borrowed most of the decorations from Carole Voorhees, who is my great friend Melissa's mother-in-law. Other decorations came from great friend Heather Lloyd (both from my childhood). The Puro's provided the columns and pots for the alter. Since it was at my parents house, I mostly ran around from job to job, getting people started, or finding odds and ends needed to make things work. I got this great recipe for chocolate covered strawberries, and set the twins to that task! I also made it a point to frequently check on the progress of the bride and to bring her water and chocolate covered strawberries. We also had to set up centerpieces and the serving table. About a half-hour before the ceremony, Leanne's wonderful sisters and sisters-in-law showed up with the rest of the food and helped to arrange it on all the platters so that we could bring it out right after the ceremony. My wonderful husband borrowed sound equipment from his boss so that we could have music during the ceremony and after for the reception. We bought beautiful lilies and roses the night before, and Lena made a beautiful boquet for Malene.

Somewhere during the craziness, I managed to slip and way take a shower, although I wasn't in my dress until about 15 minutes before the ceremony. Everything was finally ready to go. The bride looked beautiful, and the groom was anxious to start.

Malene and Michael, walking down the isle. Isn't she pretty?

The ceremony was conducted by Bishop Crosby who did a great job.
(Rick, your head is in the way.)

Here is a better shot of what the "alter" looked like without all those people in the way. I wish I had had time to take pictures before all the chair were moved. It looked really great.

Mingling afterwards. Malene had the train down for the ceremony, but it also looks so pretty bustled up. Also, her hair looks beautiful under the veil. (The veil is mine by the way. Isn't it pretty? I picked out that veil before I even found my dress. I think she looks ravishing in it.)


The groom. Notice the lovely Boutineer (also made by Lena).
He's got a lovely wife and mouthful of food. Does life get any better?


The serving table. It looked prettier before people started taking food, but I couldn't get there fast enough to take a picture. It was a little windy that day, as illustrated by Laree's hair.




Me and the Bride

My sweetie and me. Isn't he handsome? We love being married. Congratulations Brady and Malene. We're so excited for you!

The happy couple have been married for 4 weeks now and are doing great! They've been staying at the Cox's, but are moving into an apartment this weekend. Malene will be going through the temple on November 4, exactly one year after her Baptism date. They will be sealed in the temple on November 7, 2008, in the Salt Lake temple.

July Stuff

Lots of things have been happening this month and here are some pictures. The first batch are from Silver Lake. We went hiking up there on the morning of the 4th of July. It was SOOOO fun and very beautiful.

If you look close, you can see me on the trail.

My husband likes photography, so we frequently have pictures like this. I think they're pretty good myself, but I'm biased (how do you spell that?)

We thought it was pretty green for Utah.

This is a gnarly tree that we found. I think it looks like a snake or something.

The end of our hike! Can you believe all the snow?

This is my new and beautiful bag that I made. Michelle made one, and I wanted it, so she helped me this last Monday. Michelle is an excellent sewing teacher.

Showing off. Isn't it cute?

We went camping in the Spruces last night. It was so fun!

We had very excellent tin-foil dinner which Matt made.

And we hung out with the squirrels. This one posed for the picture. We also saw some chipmunks, or as my nephew Kanon used to call them, "meatchunks". Really he just got the sounds mixed up, but I find it an oddly appropriate name.

10 or 11 inches later...

So I've been bored this week. The novelty of no work has finally worn off and I've been getting more creative about how to entertain myself. I went out with some people I haven't seen in while, went to the mountains, updated my blog, made some new things, etc. I also find myself being more spontaneous than usual. This is what I did today. Surprise!

It's all gone!

This pony-tail will be sent to Locks of Love.


Before (Matt made me pose like this to show off the length of my hair.)

And after.

Blog Makeover

I got tired of my boring blog background, so I changed it. I'm still working on a few things, but I like it so far. More fun changes to come. Let me know what you think, I love comments!

Skills...

On July 3rd, Matt and I bought some fireworks to do out on our street. I discovered a new talent to add to my many others including face painting, playing "Persian Princess" upsidedown on the piano, and various double-jointed stupid human tricks. I will call it sparkler skill. Everyone writes their name when they play with sparklers, but can they do it fast enough to catch on film? You're already impressed, I can tell, but prepare to be amazed because it gets harder. You have to do it backwards because the camera is on the reverse side. Not just the name spelled backwards, but the letters backwards. Tricky. Here is some documentation of the process.

First attempt. This is when we discovered the backwards problem.

Not quite fast enough for the camera. Also I switched from cursive to print. Because I can't really do cursive forwards muchless backwards. Notice that I started with the z and not the L.

And here we have success.

This one is Matt trying to spell his name...

So he tried something a little easier. It's suppose to be a star.

That's better.

Sunshine Holiday

My family has a tradition during the month of June and it is called "Sunshine Holiday". I never feel quite like summer has begun until Sunshine Holiday. You haven't heard of this holiday? That's because we made it up. I was about 5 years old. School got out and after about a week, we kids got bored. There are no holidays during June except for Father's Day, and let's face it, it's not a very exciting holiday(at least not for kids). So we made one up. The traditions have changed a little over the years as our family has grown, but the basic elements still remain.

I like to dress in the appropriate holiday colors.

Tradition #1: Draw names. You become that persons secret sunshine. When we were young, the holiday lasted for a week, and you did nice little things for the person all week. Things you could make for your person were usually yellow or had sunshine incorporated into it somehow. Yellow candy, objects, drinks, etc. At the end of the week, your secret person is revealed and you give them the "big gift", which is basically a white elephant. My favorite gift this year was given to my nephew Kanon. A gas mask with some yellow on it. I think he got a game too.

Yellow sun hats.

Doesn't Kelly look great in blond hair?

I think I have seen my dad's bare feet maybe 3 times in my life. He ALWAYS has shoes and socks on. Treasure this moment.

Tradition #2: Big BBQ/sleepover. Everyone comes to Grandma and Grandpa's to party. This year we had very excellent grilled salmon at the BBQ. It was very delicious. Often times we sleep in the backyard in tents, sometimes we go camping. Water games are always involved, usually resulting in a water fight. This year we had a giant water obstacle course. Also my mom makes giant bubble mixture which is always fun. White elephants occur at the close of the festivities.

Lots of little boys!

The kiddie pool isn't quite big enough for these guys.

Can't have a BBQ without watermelon.

Jacob is the right size for this pool.

3 Days Left!

That's right. 3 more days and I will have officially finished my first year of teaching. What a ride it has been. This morning I am finally starting to feel the stress lift. Yesterday was our last performance (an assembly for the school) and final grades were also due. Two things which made the entire week fairly intense. Not to mention all of the extra little things happening like turning in textbooks, signing check-out sheets, and end of year meetings. Plus the regular occurances of junior high kid stupidity: I left my project at home, I forgot to bring my concert clothes today, that gum just fell out of my mouth I didn't put it there on purpose, but it was my mom who was texting me so I should get my cell phone back(sometimes parent stupidity), and on and on.

It's not all bad though. Here a just a few great things that happened in the last few weeks:

1. We had a awesome evening concert. I was so proud of them.
2. My students got me flowers.
3. Girls' choir got me a cake that said "Happy Anniversary Mrs. Cox". I don't even remember telling them that it was my anniversary. But it was very cute. They presented it and everything.
4. 6th period successfully coreographed a dance to "Night Fever". We did a short unit on music and movement and that was one of their assignments. It was so fun.
5. No one failed my guitar class this semester! Yay! What a great class. Fellow teachers will understand that this doesn't happen very often.

These last few days of school, I'll be babysitting, rather than teaching. I have a few academics planned, but most classes involve movies, food, and games. Should be fun.

And what, you might ask, am I planning on doing this summer? And the answer is, whatever I want. After a year of emotional insanity, I am looking forward to excess amounts of free time. I have several projects planned (like working on my blog), but I will do them at my leisure. One of the most stressful things about teaching is that there is a constant deadline. You have to have lessons ready for tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. No deadlines this summer.

3 more days. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Parent Teacher Conference...

It's 6:00 pm, and here I still sit at work. I've already been here for 10 hours and will stay for another 2. It's parent-teacher conference (joy). Actually it's "student led conferences" which is a little different. Because of the altered schedule, I get to stay in my room, and not as many parents come talk to me. This means I have extra prep time, but it also means that I still have to be here. Good thing I brought my book

I work at Union Middle School. Yes, you heard me correctly, middle school. I already know that I'm crazy, don't remind me. I spend my days with 12-15 year olds, possibly the most unpredictable and awkward people in all the world. I teach choir, guitar, and general music. Every day is an adventure.

Home Sweet Home

For those of you who have never been to our place, this is our humble abode. We live just a few blocks from the University of Utah and we love being so close to everything downtown. We have 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 kitchen, and 1 dining room/living room/office/library. It is small, but cozy and we love it.

3, 2, 1, Blast-off!!!

Last year for Christmas, Matt and his brothers got rocket kits, but they didn't build them until a few weeks ago. On New Years Eve, we all went out to Germania Park for the big launch.

Here they are, all in a row. Matt's is the one in front.




.

Our First Christmas Together

Our humble tree ($30.00 at Walmart). Both of our families have a tradition of getting a new ornament each year, so it was fun to combine them on our very own tree!

My favorite gift, and I've used it everyday since Christmas. The box said it is the "softest sweetest robe on earth," and how true it is.

Matt's favorite gifts. He carried it around with him all day and learned several Beach Boys songs. I think some of his brothers are coveting it.