Edited Photo

Sarah's photographer for the Bridal Pictures and Engagements did me a huge favor today. He took one of my photos and adjusted it to make it have the same feel as the others. His photographs are still much, MUCH better than mine, but this way Sarah could have one photo from her wedding day that was in the style she liked so much. His name is Jimmy and this is his website:

http://www.gideonphoto.com/

I highly recommend him for any occasion.

Sarah's Wedding and Reception

Hello family and friends. Last week was crazy with all the wedding stuff going on, but I thought you might enjoy a few pictures. This first one is from when they came out of the temple. There were some issues with the back panel of the dress (as in it was forgotten at the apartment), but it all worked out in the end.
I thought this shot turned out pretty well. I tried to do a little of the crooked view that Jimmy does so well (their photographer for the engagement and bridal pictures).
This group is all of the bride's maids and groom's men from the wedding party. Alisha, Ashley Alyssa, Natalie and Hailey were the bride's maids. Dane, James, Mitch, Chandler, and I were the groom's men. The two kids are Hannah and Parker (belonging to Chandler and Hailey).
This one is my family. My parents (Jim and Daisy) with Austin, Sarah, Adrienne and I.

Here's everyone from Sarah's side together. I don't want to name everyone because there's just too many. But we have people there from places spanning from Washington to Pittsburg.I had to include at least one from the reception. It was a great party. Beautiful decorations, good food, and great people. Here's the cake cutting.

Sarah Wedding Updates

Sarah went through the temple yesterday so I thought I would share a couple pictures. The first one was outside beforehand and the second is Sarah and Austin when we came out.

Updates

Jason's parents arrived yesterday afternoon. After Jason and his dad watched the Jazz/Lakers game we headed up to Salt Lake county to have dinner with Sarah, Austin, and the future in-laws. The food was great and it was nice to get to meet the rest of Austin's family. Jason's parents are staying at a hotel in Salt Lake to make sure they are available for anything Sarah needs help for with the wedding.

After dinner, Sarah had all the bride's maids and groomsmen meet to go over instructions and responsibilities. We had to laugh a little because Sarah had a full page of instructions (front AND back) outlining everything that we each had to do. It included responsibilities, assignments, times, dress codes, etc. In the end it will probably be very useful to have that all written down, but every once in a while I still see her as my 11 year-old sister and it weirds me out that she is getting married.

This week will be swamped. Sarah is going through the temple for the first time on Tuesday, we have a family wedding dinner on Wednesday, and Thursday is the wedding itself and reception. I don't know when we'll get to sleep again (probably after it's all done).

We don't have any news to report on the adoption front. Still trying to speak on the phone with the girl out of state and nothing new from the one in state. We'll try to keep everyone updated as we get more information.

Jason's Favorite Story from General Conference

The Story of the Light Bulb, or Losing Sight of What Matters Most - As told by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"On a dark December night 36 years ago, a Lockheed 1011 jumbo jet crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing over 100 people. This terrible accident was one of the deadliest crashes in the history of the United States.

"A curious thing about this accident is that all vital parts and systems of the airplane were functioning perfectly—the plane could have easily landed safely at its destination in Miami, only 20 miles away.

"During the final approach, however, the crew noticed that one green light had failed to illuminate—a light that indicates whether or not the nose landing gear has extended successfully. The pilots discontinued the approach, set the aircraft into a circling holding pattern over the pitch-black Everglades, and turned their attention toward investigating the problem.

"They became so preoccupied with their search that they failed to realize the plane was gradually descending closer and closer toward the dark swamp below. By the time someone noticed what was happening, it was too late to avoid the disaster.

"After the accident, investigators tried to determine the cause. The landing gear had indeed lowered properly. The plane was in perfect mechanical condition. Everything was working properly—all except one thing: a single burned-out light bulb. That tiny bulb—worth about 20 cents—started the chain of events that ultimately led to the tragic deaths of over 100 people.

"Of course, the malfunctioning light bulb didn't cause the accident; it happened because the crew placed its focus on something that seemed to matter at the moment while losing sight of what mattered most."

This was just a small part of the talk he gave during General Conference. There is a really good lesson to be learned from this. How many times in life do we get focused on things that might seem important in the moment and lose sight of those things that matter most?

We haven't posted much about adoption recently, so I think that it is a good time for an update. We are currently being considered by two different birth moms. We don't know much about either one, but have hope that something will work out. We'll post more information when it is available and appropriate to share. All we know at this point is that one is in state and one is out of state.

Friday night we went to the BYU/UC Irvine Volleyball. It is always amazing to see the ability level that college athletes achieve. We got there over an hour early so that we could get good seats. We were just a couple rows from the front (as you can see in the picture I took with my phone). We lost the game, but it was close. UC Irvine is #1 in the country but BYU is #6.

Much of the weekend was spent in meetings for the LDS semi-annual General Conference.

Saturday, before the first meeting, some neighbors and I rented an aerator and did our lawns Saturday morning. We were hoping for clear weather, but it snowed overnight and snowed the whole time we did the lawns. The irony is that the weather cleared up later in the day.

Sunday, aslo befoer the first meeting, we had our neighbors (Seth, Jill, and their 3 little girls) over for breakfast before General Conference. We also had Heidi and Trevor come by. We had pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit, juice, and even hash browns. Just a great breakfast with good friends and family. I'll pick a favorite talk from General Conference to review later this week.