Welcome #2

Welcome to our family Andrew!

There's a good reason why we were leaving a sweet smelling new baby and driving down to St. George. It was to be with Colleen and Andrew as they got sealed together as husband and wife for eternity in the temple of the Lord. We changed gears and our attention. The drive was just fine. Having a book to listen to while driving is very nice, even if the story is poorly written and narrated.

When we arrived, we found Colleen & Andrew eating dinner with Katie & Seth. We joined them and had a great reunion. Before we could settle in at the temple apartments, we went to the grocery store. There was going to be lots of people arriving in the morning so we needed breakfast food and the luncheon wouldn’t be available until late in the afternoon, so that required lunch food too. One thing you need to remember about Colleen- always keep her fed. I needed snacky stuff to have on hand to keep her on an even keel.

When I reserved the temple apartment, there was only going to be Colleen and I. Then Lauren was added. During the week, Colleen casually stated that she had invited her roommates to stay and a companion she had on her mission. It was such fun. Everyone was fussing over Colleen- rolling her hair, working on the botched manicure she got that morning and getting her veil finished. I had to go to bed first- I was exhausted. I claimed the bed for Colleen and I- everyone else had to fight for the couch or claim a space on the floor. Just a note- the temple apartments in St. George are wonderful! They are a one bedroom flat with a full kitchen (microwave, fridge, etc.), bathroom, living room (with a flat screen TV!) and a dining room. All beautifully furnished. We had to bring our own linens and towels and they gave us all the cleaning supplies we needed to leave it as nice as when we arrived.

Colleen was the first one up the next morning. She woke and slid right out of bed on to her knees for her morning prayer. She told me later she asked that she might totally feel the emotions of this day, to remember always. Watch out what you ask for. After her shower she went into the living room and woke her sister and friends by announcing, “Wake up! Wake up! It’s time to pamper me!!” That is just what happened. Katie arrived and did her make up, Lauren worked on her hair, more work was done on her nails, we dressed her and made her look stunning. Andrew and his friends had an apartment too. About a half hour before they were to meet the photographer (C & A had decided to take their wedding pictures before the sealing and before it got too hot), I looked through the shear curtains and saw the silhouette of a man in a tux waiting patiently outside. Do you know the song from My Fair Lady with these lyrics- “I have often walked down this street before, but the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before, all at once am I several stories high, knowing I’m on the street where she lives.”? I saw an infinitely patient, excited groom waiting for his bride to appear. It was so romantic.

I think Andrew melted when he saw Colleen in her wedding gown for the first time. They were so cute!


Every big event has it’s hiccups. The first was when the photographer called to say he was going to be a half hour late. He was coming from Las Vegas and forgot about the time change. While they waited, I got ready and greeted Larry, Ian, Dan, Erin, Mark, Aubree and Bryce. The Winters had arrived from Florida the night before. Larry picked them up from the airport and they stayed in a hotel in Las Vegas. It was early when they left, they were prepared for the time change. All of a sudden the apartment got a lot smaller; it was stuffed with people. Too soon, Colleen came in and said we (she and I) needed to get to the temple. I was almost ready, the temple is just across the street, so I told her to go on ahead and I would be there shortly. I thought she had gone and was finishing getting ready, when I heard her crying, “Mom, we need to go!!” The most important thing was what was going to happen in the temple, nothing else mattered,and she did not want to be late. That stress was the straw that opened a flood of tears. (I told you to watch what you pray for.) We worked to calm her down and scurried across the street.

While Andrew and Colleen took care of some paper work, etc. I got changed and met Dad and Andrew’s parents. We were escorted to the large sealing room just off the Celestial Room. (I learned later that this is the room where Lorenzo Snow did the sealing work for the founding fathers.) There we were instructed to sit and wait. I tried, really, but this is the first time I had been in the St. George Temple and I wanted to look around. It is beautiful, the doors are narrower than newer temples (were the people smaller then?) and I got to take in the serenity and simple majesty of the celestial room. I went back to my seat when everyone else was brought in. To my surprise, Bishop Demke and his son Joe were in the crowd! Mark was missing- his temple recommend was expired and that is something that they couldn’t fix at the front desk. Erin looked disappointed.

The reason Andrew & Colleen decided to get married at St. George was his grandfather was a sealer there. He is emeritus, but got permission to perform the sealing. Alas, he fell ill and was unable to make it. The man who replaced him did an outstanding job. Later, outside we saw Clint Bunker. (To remind you, Clint is my Uncle, Anna Bunker’s son) He and Anita live in Cedar City and go to the temple regularly, this was their day. Turns out that Dr. Bunker was Andrew’s grandfather’s physician and had just visited him in the hospital the day before and signed his release to go home that morning. Small world.

After the sealing, we took pictures. We were in southern Utah in August, fearing the worst summer had to throw at us, but we were pleasantly surprised to have a beautiful day, it was only 96º!! One week ago when Lauren and I were passing through it was 109º. We took lots of pictures. When the family was no longer needed, the Keske’s left to get the luncheon ready. Katie & Erin supervised the packing and cleaning of the apartment. I hung around with A & C till they were done smiling and posing. David & Eileen Miranda came from Idaho to photograph the wedding.

There was an hour drive to Kanarraville where the Keske family had a luncheon waiting for us. I had the honor of having Sister Lisanne Murphy ride in our car with us. She was one of Colleen’s mission companions. She had never been in southern Utah before and was enjoying the view. We got to talk about their mission and she told me how Colleen had taught her about looking for miracles. She pointed out that miracles happen all the time; we just need to ‘see’ them. When she was packing to come to the wedding, she threw in her blow dryer and some lip balm. These are things she normally does not use. It turned out that she was the only one who brought a blow dryer, and we needed it to do Colleen’s hair. As Katie was working on Colleen’s make up, she asked if anyone had lip balm, Lis offered hers, it was exactly the brand Katie had forgotten at home. Sister Murphy said these were miracles, that the Lord, who knows all, made sure we had what we needed to make Colleen’s day special. I really enjoyed getting to know her, now I know why Colleen speaks so highly of her. She said she had a great time with our family and was happy to be around us. She even said she would do it again!

The luncheon was tasty and we stayed to help get everything cleaned up. Dad took the Winters’ and drove straight to Lewis & Karen Chruch’s home. It was going to be late when they arrived, Dad was tiring and Erin wanted to get her kids down at a reasonable time. We had arranged to stay there so the Pope’s could have some peace with their new baby. Everyone else wanted to see the new baby. We were caravanning with the Harp’s. Just as we got on the freeway after getting gas, Seth got pulled over for speeding. Oops. The Highway Patrol pulled over two cars at the same time. We decided to keep driving and just give them directions to Kira & Stew’s new home. Cell phones are so nice. We still had a three-hour drive back to Provo. Poor Dad, Bryce cried almost the whole way there. Colleen and Andrew spent their first honeymoon night in Cedar City.

We dropped of Lis Murphy before going to Kira’s, by then the Harp’s were there. We spent a couple of hours with them. Kira was still very uncomfortable, so Lauren decided to stay and help her out. Katie and Seth had an appointment in Provo the next morning, so they stayed in the Pope’s Summer Home. (aka their old apartment). I took the boys and finished the drive up to the Church’s, which was another 40 minutes north. By the time we got there, it was late and we fell straight into bed.