Back to our stomping grounds

Our third wedding trip of the summer was for one of our favorite cousins, Mark.  We went out to Utah for Mark and Jenna's wedding.  Mark is one of the Packard boys that Sean grew up with.  Sean is closer to a lot of his cousins because he literally lived next door to them.  Who needs friends when you have TONS of cousins your age?  Not Packards.  :)  I got close to Mark when he so generously  let Sean live with him when we engaged (aka-had NO money).  And everyone knows when you're engaged you spend every second with your fiance, thus spending every second with Mark.

We left Utah over two years ago when I graduated and haven't been back since.  That means we haven't seen most of our family since then.  Let's be honest...we have to go visit everyone...no one comes to visit us.  Anyways--Utah is where we started dating, got married, and lived for our first year of marriage.  It was kind of weird to be back there, back to BYU, and to visit our old stomping grounds.  We drove past our little ghetto first apartment, make out spots on campus, and places of our first dates.  It's funny...it seems like it hasn't changed at all.  I basically lost count of the people/family that asked us when we are going to have kids, or why we don't have them yet.  I guess it's not really the place that hasn't changed, it's the people too.

 I really liked going to school in Utah, but I would never want to live there permanently.  There are a lot of conveniences though...being LDS and all.  I loved going to an LDS school.  When I was in high school the only other mormons were my brothers, and most of them weren't helping make my 'life' any easier.  It was really hard to not drink/smoke/be chaste...because no one else was.  I always felt like I didn't fit in, and that high school really shouldn't have to be that hard.  When I went to BYU it was refreshing, because I didn't have to worry about that kind of stuff anymore.  I could just have fun, and sure if I wanted to make bad choices they were still available...but for once, they were the odd ones out, and I loved that.  So that being said, I have a lot of great memories from Utah.  But I definitely feel like it was a different stage of life, and that I've moved on from it all.

Another great perk of Utah is all the family we have there, and it really was great to see them all.  That's one of the reasons we decided to get married in Utah, we have SO MUCH family there...on both sides.  And it just made more sense to have more of our loved ones there on our special day.  This trip we just saw Sean's side of the family, and it was so wonderful to see them!

We've missed Mark and the cousins a lot, it's hard being away from most of our family.  Mark is such a great guy and we're so glad he's found someone that's as amazing as he is.  We are so glad we were able to make it out for Mark's special day, he means a lot to both of us.

Sean and Mark...lookin' good.

Mark and his beautiful bride Jenna (and Grandma in the background!)  I'm so dumb...it didn't even occur to me to take pictures during the ceremony .  I only thought about it until after they kissed!  Ahhhh!

 The cute venue they were married at!  It was such a beautiful day!

 Packards running around... :)

We basically felt like we were VIP.  Out of all the Packard cousins we were one of two that were invited.  Mark <3s us.

Slipping in some family time!  Sean's Mom and Adam came up from California since we were so close (and for the wedding), which was so nice of them.  Sean LOVES his Mom and Adam, I know he misses them a lot.

One of two of our adorable nieces.  I couldn't believe how big Addie was, she was only 6 months old the last time we saw her!

 Watching YouTube videos...

Me and my sister-in-law Hailey.  It was so good to see her and spend some time with her!

 Adam arm wrestling his big brother.

Some of Sean's immediate family...missing a few people.

Sean gets mad when we match, but somehow it's adorable when he matches his kid brother.  Yes, it absolutely is...love it.  :)

The newlyweds dancing their first dance together.

Cutting the cake!  P.s. Sean's amazing cousin Debbie made this.  Seriously, how are people so talented?

 So cute.

Sean's Grandma and Grandpa Packard 

(Grandpa fell down the day before-that's what the gash on his forehead is from).  :(

Cousin love.

When I was taking this picture someone commented, "Look-it's the former hell raisers of Oak Avenue."  I thought that was an appropriate caption.

I totally missed it, but someone was kissing someone-I always miss the good stuff!

Jared and Matt's beautiful wives, Erin and Annie.  When I met them I totally thought THEY were the sisters!  It was so good to see them.

While we were there Sean's Moms side of the family had a get together too.  The famous Webb sisters family dinners, delicious as always.

 Addie loved playing with their dog, seriously so cute.

Sean's Nana, love her.

Congrats Mark and Jenna.  We're so glad we were able to be there for your special day!