These are the Days!: Mother of the Bride

At our house, the anticipation of Christmas was right up there with the anticipation of the ring on someone's finger. I knew Cole had ordered it, and I knew it was coming via UPS to my house for safekeeping since he was moving down to Utah from Oregon before the ring would be ready. My neighbors did not know. They probably wondered why I kept opening my door, peeking out the window, fussing with the rug on the porch. Vacuuming the rug on the porch. (Hey, I didn't want a ring box on a dirty, post Christmas-tree rug!)

I was sure UPS would knock, with such a package. They didn't.

And we waited. The ring company kept pushing the order back, and so Cole decided to move ahead with his plan, sans ring. He was even sweet enough to call me and ask my opinion on how Leslie would feel about that. I assured him she would not mind one bit. Luke suggested, though, "How come he can't just get a ring at Walmart?"

That night, after abandoning the Walmart ring idea, Cole opted for a different, sentimental approach. He picked Leslie up for their date. He suggested that they go to her favorite restaurant for dinner. (Smooth!) Leslie curled her lip up and informed him that her Dad had just taken her there for lunch that day. (Oof.) She wanted waffles. After dinner, Cole brought her to the theater where he had tickets to the most romantic of all plays, Cinderella. Leslie likes plays. (Smooth!) They took their seats, enjoying the moment, the prince with his love.

Then some little girls in tutus scampered onto the stage. The music began.

It was not the musical, Cinderella. It was a Cinderella themed tiny-tot dance recital. (Oof.) They laughed at the turn of events and at all the cuteness. Cole's ever-evolving proposal plan had one more ace in the hole. They could walk around the beautiful Provo City Center temple grounds, and voila!

Leslie was shivering. It was January, it was dark outside, and she was very cold. She did not want to go for a walk. She wanted to go home. They got to her balcony. Cole pulled out some blue flowers (a reference to when they first began their relationship) and went down on one knee.

She said yes. (Woohoo!)

And then one day, I found a manilla envelope on my porch. That evening's double date to Brick Oven and a BYU volleyball game was an espionage filled relay-style handoff of a diamond ring to a young man with dimples and glasses. Cole didn't want Leslie to know he had the ring yet so he could surprise re-propose later. The problem was, we couldn't talk openly about it and the box was too big to fit neatly into his pocket, as he had planned. Pretty funny trying to distract her while he got the package safely back to his apartment.

Engagement photos by Haley Childers.

Meanwhile, back on earth, we were also busy with the other five kids.

Cooper continued his 9th grade basketball season. This particular game with Spanish Fork (several of his friends from previous school Diamond Fork) was so crammed that the student body had to line the ends of the court. It was crazy for us to hear the loud loud junior high crowds every time. Like, state tournament frenzy but with 7th-8th grade hype. Wowsers.

Cooper and his team were SOO fun to watch and ended the regular season with one loss, losing to that same team in the championship game. Such good boys. Cooper also had a huge growth spurt over the season, so much so that his coach kept doing a double take. "Cooper! How tall are your parents, again?" Ha, ha. He was the youngest on the team, I think, and has a lot of height yet to gain. I love that his coach gave him the green light to take 3 point shots whenever he wanted, and pushed him to take more shots and be more aggressive. One practice he won a Subway sandwich by hitting 20 freethrows in a row, and also another competition for shooting 3s. It was fun to hear the crowd roar, "He's a SHOOTER!" Okay, all done bragging, but I really enjoyed the season, and I'm not really a sports fan. Just a sports mom who has logged many, many spectator hours leading up to this.

Leslie's birthday landed on Cooper's championship game, so they came down to watch. Unfortunately, it was the worst game of the season by far, despite all of the fun posters for the boys we made at the mom party.

(We did tease our Cole a little about the "Cole's our Daddy" poster, heh heh.)

Announcing...The MUSTANGS! This was from the semi-finals, a home game that was probably the most fun of the whole season, by contrast. Cooper wasn't starting so he was surprised at getting announced--they had never announced the game before--and he was first because of his number.

I don't have many pictures of the season because I was too busy taking all the video. Cooper loves to rewatch the games and put together this highlight video for me. Excuse all my repetitive "wooooooooo!" In fact, maybe just turn down the sound. It's super annoying. I need a new cheer.

Rosie enjoyed NOT going to the loud basketball games.

Mark with his brother Paul at our niece Hadley's wedding luncheon.

Luke and Boston were also a delight to watch. I didn't get to see many of Boston's games because Mark was coaching, so I was designated to go to any of the other games. It was so interesting to me to observe the different styles and personalities of our three boys during their games. Luke was just tickled to be there, jumping up and down on his toes mid-play with glee, and we had to keep reminding him to go and do. He was great at defense. Boston did a great job in all areas and liked this year much better than last year. Macy also continued playing Bantam ball. We didn't love her team but it was fun to watch her become a little more confident.

Macy and I broke away and went skiing. So nice to have a ski buddy when the slopes are so close.

Lots of white that month. Dress shopping was both fun and stressful. Leslie was beautiful in everything, but a difficult tall size. Since she had also decided that the bulk of the wedding budget would go to the reception venue, not other stuff, she wisely decided to custom rent after checking out the available options. She was sure she atleast wanted lots of lace. And fitted.

It was fun to have a couple of bridesmaids along for both shopping days to ooh and aah. This is her cousin Lydia and one of her mission companions, Emily.

And the winner is...no lace at all. You can see the relieved and happily surprised smile on her face. We all adored the long cathedral veil. Pretty became STUNNING.

Leslie with her other two bridesmaids, Macy and Abigail, her incredible maid-of-honor.

It was fun going through pictures of the engaged couple and also of Leslie when she was little.

That's a lot of envelopes. We ran out of stamps at the end and Mark stood in line at Walmart to buy more. Bad idea. After a half an hour wait, and having already paid, they only had Christmas stamps. I teased Leslie and Cole with them for a minute but we decided to wait to mail the rest until the post office opened Monday.

In February, my grandpa Ebert Heagy passed away from complications due to esophagal cancer. We went up to Montana for his funeral. It was good to be with my family and really wonderful to hear many stories and memories about him. He was a very lovable, fascinating person and gentleman. I am so fortunate to have known him well and that my kids could also know him.

Grandpa was in the Air National Guard. His life was spared many, many times, most dramatically when the flight transporting Montana Governor, Donald Nutter, went down in 1962, killing all aboard. Ebert was supposed to be on the flight but my mom, a little girl at the time, got very sick so his friend Chick Ballard substituted for him last minute, even borrowing his flight suit. Ebert's dog tags were in the suit pocket and were recovered from the wreckage. They displayed them at the funeral, honoring his friend Chick and all aboard.

Me with my little bro Jake.

If you knew him and would like to hear him tell a story about when he met Babe Ruth, I actually have a recording of that. He had an unusual rumbly voice.

At the family get together that night, my uncle Brian taught us some square dancing to "Oh Johnny Oh" in honor of Grandpa, who loved square dancing and "Oh Johnny".

The kids loved getting to spend some extra time with their Haynes and Weishaar cousins.

Luke had a rough time. He cried a bit at the viewing and then the crying brought on a massive migraine, vomiting, etc. after the funeral. You can see it on his face here.

Cooper was ecstatic about the opportunity to go coyote hunting on the 4-wheelers. He shot this one, mostly to put it out of its misery after getting chased down.

Leslie, Cole, and Boston stayed home for school and work and big Valentine's dates. Grandpa would have completely approved.

Then it was time for more wedding stuff. The guys went out for Cole's birthday while we hosted a shower here.

The banner says: SHE GOT SCOOPED UP! Leslie's maid of honor Abigail threw this fun shower for Leslie's college friends. We had a brunch shower for the neighborhood and family the following week, but I forgot to take pictures. It was really great to feel so loved and supported by everyone who came.

Macy had a rather understated birthday during all this. She got her own can of whipped cream and a raincoat for an upcoming trip.

The guys had a bachelor party for Cole with lots of manly stuff the night before the wedding. It was fun for my boys to meet his brothers. Cole is the youngest brother, so now it's his turn to be the big bro.

Rosie and I enjoyed chilling during Leslie's final dress fitting.

Leslie finished up some school projects before the wedding. Here she accidentally dressed like the Greek flag on her public health presentation. She and Cole would miss a little school for honeymoon plus moving apartments since they weren't waiting til after the semester, but it worked out. It's nice that they both still have options to do class online etc., post covid.

The day before the wedding, Cole's family flew down to Utah, as well as my mom and sister Brooke. (My sister Darcy had felt last minute to change her plans and stay home in Oregon. It was a huge blessing because my nephew needed to spend several days in the hospital with an infection.) Brooke and Mom helped me prep some of the food for the reception.

Finally the big day was here. I was so glad that they had decided on an afternoon wedding rather than first thing in the morning. It made things much less rushed. My boys even slipped away to go play in a basketball tournament beforehand. Of course, I told them that if they got injured they were just going to have to fake it and show up anyway, broken bones or not.

Brooke was our designated hairdresser. Our sister-in-law Natalie is a pro but we missed her as she was coaching her first high school soccer game. They won!

This is a special picture to me. I think it's the only one I have of just me and Leslie from her wedding day. It is an honor to be her humble servant--the mother of the bride--preparing for this day, the last few months, and all her life. She is a jewel in my crown.

And here she is with her other special helper, who was truly a lifesaver and best maid-of-honor ever.

I love the flower girl. She was just so tickled with her dress, we had to take lots of pictures.

The weather was beautiful, too, so we all enjoyed getting to be out in the sunshine.

As I'm looking through these pictures, I'm realizing that Macy was also super helpful.

Boston celebrates making it home from basketball in time to get a shower in.

Mom was still fussing with her dress and not sure if she liked it or not, so she's hiding.

First look at Leslie's dress. Bride & Groom pictures courtesy of Haley Childers.

I love this shot of Leslie's loooong arm. It reminds me of a glimpse I got of her on her mission as she helped a lady into the baptismal font (we were watching the baptism on zoom) and I could tell it was Leslie just from her long arms and hands.

Cole and Leslie both served in Kentucky, part of the West Virginia Charleston mission. Several of their companions got to come to the wedding and the reception.

The father of the bride was a good sport about the whole thing and mostly did what he was supposed to, haha, by staying out of the way and emptying his pockets.

Most of my pictures from this day are something like this, on my way to accomplish something, sometimes even with my hair blowing behind me. Or with my mouth open talking to someone. I'm definitely coming into my inheritance from my Dad and Grandma LaVonne at being "photoallergenic".

Wedding pictures photo credit: Lauren Whiting Rowley

They were married, sealed for time and all eternity. Not til death do you part. If you'd like to see some beautiful pictures of the interior of the temple, including the sealing rooms, check this out.

Luke said something like, "Ha! First one to give you a hug!"

Leslie with her little cousin, Saylor Haynes. Leslie is the eldest cousin on my side.

Exhaltation is a family matter.

Luke's shirt was untucked, and Rosie is picking her nose. I'm holding a discarded mask wrapped around my bleeding thumb because I stabbed myself trying to pin on Luke's bouttoniere. Keepin' it real, folks.

This one is my favorite.

Not all of Cole's siblings could come, but this is still a big crew! We love Cole's family and his parents. I should have taken a picture with just me and Robyn as well--we have thirteen kiddos between the two of us.

This series of photos made me laugh so hard. We were told to kiss. For an uncomfortably long time.

Robyn tipped over, I had a runny nose and was laughing and trying not to snot up Mark's face, we all were slobbery and it was just the funniest. Cole and Leslie were the pros, I guess.

The mission friends!

Leslie says this is one of her favorite pictures from the whole day.

This is a great picture, but so sad. We drove off with Macy in our car and forgot that she was supposed to still be photographed as a bridesmaid. My bad.

Our niece Kelsey with Mark's sister Kathy and her hubby Trav.

My nephew Crew. He provided some fun later at the banquet by crawling directly under Cole's sister's skirt from the back and trying to remove her high heels. I snatched him up so fast I almost tipped my chair over, haha.

My brother Duke, Crew, Hallie, Rosie, my Mom, Saylor, my sister Brooke.

Our dear friends the Proberts. Sister Probert is also named Leslie, and very tall, so the two Leslies are besties.

My mom saw this picture of Luke and said, "We ALL felt like running and jumping, we were so happy."

Duke? I think he misses Natalie.

I love this one of my mom and Leslie because it looks like they are talking about the flowers in her bouquet, which is a natural conversation for my mom.

Kendyl, Cole's sis-in-law, was a champ to put together their video of growing-up pictures.

Rosie isn't quite sure what to think of this new brother, but he is so sweeeeeet!

You need brothers even when you are old like us.

Then, it was off to the family banquet and the reception, which were at the same location, a great decision. Leslie had decided early in the planning that she wanted to put most of her budget toward a lovely venue, and Quiet Meadow Farm did not disappoint. I also greatly appreciated not having to decorate a thing, or clean up afterwards. We all had a great time there!

Earth is the designated place for organizing families. Didn't God make a beautiful setting for us?

The bride's room was brand new and way up top of the barn where the loft would have been. Very fun.

Photo credits: Marcia Day.

Mark and Burk Childers.

Cooper was man of the hour for a bit. He told some jokes and made a great speech at the banquet. Boston later said that was his favorite part of the whole day.

The fireplace was nice and warm for our short-sleeved bride.

Cole and Leslie played the shoe game, where they had to answer questions by raising that person's shoe. This may have been the question everyone wanted to know. Who's taller?