the Hartshorns

Back in the good ol' days of Liberty Square I met Whitney Ricks.  I am pretty sure we cuddled on a couch during a scary movie long before Adam and I ever did.  Who knew that one day we would be sister-in-laws and become even better friends.

So, naturally I was thrilled when Whitney started to fall for such an awesome guy.  Everyone could tell that they were a perfect match and that Ben would be around for a long long time.  Sure enough, Ben proposed to Whitney in December and they set their wedding date for March, so that Amanda could be there.



March 15th turned out to be a gorgeous day.  The weather was incredible, blue skies, not windy, and the warmest day that we had had all year long.



Whitney and Ben were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple.  What I thought was so incredible was that all of Ben's and Whitney's siblings were able to be there.  I'm pretty sure that is almost unheard of - for most families between missions, younger siblings, sickness, babies, or whatever else it seems like there is almost always someone missing in one family or the other.  Luckily Ben's sister Sarah and her husband still made it even after getting hit by a drunk driver on the way to the temple... go figure.

My mom watched Asher for us so that we could go, and met us right after so that Asher could be with us at the temple for pictures.  Whitney looked stunning, I especially love her bridals!

Watching couples come out of the temple after being sealed is one of my favorite things.  Whitney and Ben looked so happy and we are so grateful to have Ben as a part of our family.

Pictures at the temple were followed by a brief stop up to Lyndon's office so that I could feed Asher before the wedding luncheon.  Finding a good place to put Asher was a bit of a challenge, but he managed to get comfy anyway.



The wedding luncheon was held at the Joseph Smith Memorial building followed by the reception at the Lion House.  Everything was elegant and beautiful - what a wonderful day.  Congrats to Ben and Whitney!

Dreamin'

One of my favorite memories from when I was little was music in our house.  My family has always loved a good dance party in the Kitchen on a Saturday morning, or annoying the neighbors with Rascal Flatts blaring while doing yardwork every weekend during the summer.

Every Christmas you can count on my dad leaping around the house to Amy Grant's Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, and every morning throughout the school year we woke up for scriptures to MoTab - we had until the end of the song to be upstairs in the front room, or else... :).  Music was constantly on and we all loved it.

Car rides were filled with James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkle, Cat Steves (mom's favorite), Earl Klugh and tons of other music.  Dad challenged our knowledge of artists by offering differing amounts of money based on perceived difficulty.  We never cared so much about the money, but being able to surprise our dad with correct answers on the especially difficult questions.

If one of us ever found a really good song it was played over and over and over again until we eventually found a new song to take its place.  We knew that we had found something special when Dad would purchase the whole album after hearing just one song from the new artist we had discovered.

Over the years I have come to appreciate just how much music can have an impact upon my life.  I find that the weeks that I have hardly listened to any music aren't nearly as fun or happy as the ones where I surround myself with wonderful uplifting music.

Sure, my taste in music is probably immature - I love a good Justin Beiber song now and then, and have you ever listened to Telling the World or Take You to Rio from the Rio soundtrack? But all of these songs bring fun and joy into my life.

I have always had this secret dream that one day I would dance in the kitchen with my own husband and kids.  Tonight, we were eating dessert, Asher was smiley and wiggly and was ready to play.  So naturally, we turned up the music and just danced in the kitchen, just the three of us, Adam, Asher, and me.  Asher loved it, and I loved it more.

Music will always be a huge part of my life, and I hope for many more kitchen dance parties to come.

Life has never been better.