day one hundred thirty four

Well, here it is... the naked wedding cake. Essentially it took me 10 hours un-frosting it to make it look perfectly undone.

And the cutting of said naked cake.

Trends these days are so very strange. I ended up liking it though. It went very well with the rustic decor she had. I am, of course, into rustic decor so I felt right at home.

There was dancing in the barn and it was so much fun! Kylie looked more beautiful than I have ever seen her. She literally glowed.

Tates and Jade

Jade and his dad, for the very first time in their collective lives, posing kind of nicely for the camera! Miracles do apparently happen.

Me and my boy having a dance....

Congratulations Kylie and Uncle Jim!

day seventy four

The dreaded goodbye day has arrived. We went to the airport one and all to see Grandma and Grandpa off.

Here are all the grandkids minus Derek, Pace and Bailey

John, Michael and Dad

Mom and Jack with a little bit of Lydia in the picture

 

Me and my mommy

Family pic courtesy of the airline employee who certainly earned her wages today!

 

Me and my Pa

Jacki with her airport buddy

Taylor saying goodbye to Grandpa

Just to clarify this picture... My mom, Laurie and I are on the Varsity team while John, Mike and Matt are on the JV team.

Hicks and Mom

Michael and Dad

It's all smiles now... just wait till security sees what my mom has in her carry on!

Lots of hugs, lots of tears, lots of me having melt downs and they're off! Goodbye Grandma and Grandpa! See you in 18 months! WE LOVE YOU!

day seventy three

Sunday dinner with all the cousins and family. This will be the last time we all meet together for the next 18 months. Even as I type this I am hyperventilating! Jade, Pace and Bailey had to stay in Vegas on account of stupid school. Being the only part of the Pace family who lives outside of Cedar is a drag.

Uncle Buck and Sahara

Dad cutting up the mutton. My dad can cook mutton like no other. It's depressing when I make it and my kids inform me that "it doesn't taste like Grandpas". It's kind of true though... it doesn't.

Laurie has been over all week helping Mom pack. They have lists upon lists upon lists. I cannot even imagine packing for a year and a half. I would have a melt down.

They packed an entire carry-on with meds and supplements. It weighed in at 26 lbs!!! I died laughing when I saw this. The DEA at the airport is going to have a field day with this! Hopefully they don't have drug sniffing dogs at customs in Africa.

 No words can describe the cuteness of this picture of Grandma and Max.

Ole Pete stirring up the macaroni and tomatoes

And now for the icing on the cake of a perfect day... the setting apart of Elder and Sister Pace. President Rollins set them apart. In the circle were the rest of my family. To see my dad get set apart by my brothers and then my mom get set apart by both my brothers and my dad was pretty unreal. The spirit was so strong in that room, I felt so blessed to even be a part of it. I don't know of a time when I have been more proud to be their daughter than tonight.

day fifty four

Today my dad provided an invaluable service to my yard. He cut down the pigeon population by about 8 or 9 today. This trip of my mom and dad's just keeps getting better and better!

I told him he had to kill a certain amount of pigeons to earn his dinner. By the end of the day he earned his dinner and dessert!

What is my mom doing on my counter?? We had an eyebrow plucking clinic so she'd be so dah'ling in Africa. Now, and only now, is she cleared to go on her mission. The eyebrows are that important.

day fifty three

My girls sure do love to wallow Grandpa! 

Guess who came for a tiny minute today?? Kathryn had to come to Vegas for a meeting and so we got to see her today!!! It was only for a few hours but hey, we'll take what we can get. It was SOOOOO awesome to see her! It did all of our hearts good to spend even a small amount of time with her.

day fifty two

Well today was pretty much an excellent day. Grandpa came to Vegas to give Pace his patriarchal blessing.  To say that it was incredible would be the understatement of the year. The spirit was so strong. To get a patriarchal blessing is pretty amazing in and of itself but to have your grandpa give you the blessing was beyond amazing.

The only (and I mean only) bad part of the day is that I left my camera in Utah. Grandma brought it back to me but the battery was dead so we had to take pictures on my phone. The pictures aren't the best clarity but I don't think anyone here will ever forget this day.

day fifty one

Grandpa came by to pick up his bread today. He takes it home and then makes toast every day and won't let even one person in the house have a piece! I have no clue why he has a stack of money in his hands, the bread was free.

day forty five

Happy Valentines and Mom and Dad's Farewell Day!!! Dad and Mom spoke in church today for their "farewell". Although my Dad was bound and determined that no one would witness the speaking in church, a few people found out about it and came. Here is Dad and Uncle Ted.

Mom, Aunt Char and Uncle Gary

La, Hudson, Jade and Dave who looks like a photo bomber.

Pace and Devin

Sarah was nice enough to host the after church dinner. Here are all the cousins having a bite.

The small table of bigs

I love this scene... everyone milling around eating, laughing and just being together.

day three

Time to head back to Vegas but not before a quick game of Sorry. This is a terrible game to play on Sunday since it usually ends up extremely violent with my kids.

Here are some random cool pics my girls took...

Loading up to head anywhere makes Jade extremely happy and cordial (I just choked). So he may not have been too thrilled when the excursion wouldn't start. I'm sure my mom and dad were equally distraught that the noise and chaos would stay just a little bit longer. I'm at least happy!

Check out how Grandpa keeps his hood open. This is the hillbilly way. 

Let me tell you what they are thinking at this exact moment... "Good riddance Thomsons. We're going to go take a nap! We'll miss the pandamonium that has been at our house all week! NOT".

We are loaded to the hilt and Taylor was asleep before we hit Kanarraville. Hopefully she won't wake up and discover Pace's feet on the back of the chair! Feet on the back of the chair has caused more fighting in our vehicle than any other topic.

 I think Bailey was the only one to remain awake on the ride home.

Jack sound asleep....

Jack 5 seconds after she woke up all dazed and confused with red sleep marks on her face.