DC Blizzard

We headed to DC on the 18th for Alan's sisters wedding and lucky us we got in right before the big blizzard hit. Peter did pretty good for his first plane ride but it was a long day of travel for him and when we got to the hotel we let him hang out in his diaper and get all his wiggles out. This is the first time I think that Peter is starting to look like me. Check out the picture below-what do you think? He is getting his mommies rolls!

Since I couldn't go to the sealing because we did not have anyone to watch Peter and there was a blizzard I stayed at the hotel and watched Alan's neices. Good thing she brought her sunglasses for the snow storm!
Dianna and I were lucky to fly into DC when we did. Not too long after we got there, the really severe snow storm hit DC and dumped over two feet of snow in 24 hours. The roads and runways quickly filled up with snow, and all the airports (and many of the major highways) in the DC area shut down leading to cancelled flights all over the nation. My poor pregnant sister Lara, her husband Brent, and their two kids had their flights cancelled like 3 or four different times. After driving from Boise, Idaho to Salt Lake City to catch a different flight which ended up being cancelled as well, and spending two nights in the La Quinta Inn driving back and forth to try and catch one flight after another, they finally had to call it quits. They were never able to make it to the wedding. We were sad to have missed them, but there was nothing that could be done. They put more effort into trying to make it than most people would have, thats for sure. Back to DC- the night before her wedding, the temple called my sister Marci to inform her that they were closing the temple due to the weather. I can only imagine what she must have felt like when she heard that news- and after everyone had already flown in for the wedding, and all the plans had been made. Not something a bride really wants to hear the night before her sealing. At that point, we weren't really sure what we were going to do. I guess there were a lot of people in the same situation, because the temple decided to open that day just for the people who were getting married. So the next day we all packed up, faced the crazy ice covered roads, and made our way to the temple.
This is a picture that I took just outside of the temple. I really wasn't that far away from the building- but notice how little you can actually see the temple. Just to give you an idea of how heavy the snow was falling at the time. It made for crazy plans and driving, but it sure was pretty.And here is the newly wed couple. Isn't my sister just beautiful? It was crazy trying to get there, but the sealing was great, and everyone was very happy. Congratulations Marci and Alan (yes, his name is Alan too)!!! We love you guys. Here is a picture of my family, or at least those that were actually able to make it. Notice my freakishly tall younger brother and his freakishly tall wife on the right hand side. Yes, they are giants. But friendly ones. We enjoy having them in the family.


Just to give you an idea of the amount of snow and the driving conditions, here is Alan trying to help his parents get unstuck driving back from the temple to the hotel.
Besides preventing family from attending and almost cancelling the wedding itself, the snow storm also decided to destroy their reception. Because DC is so big, it is only able to plow major roads. The reception venue was NOT on one of these roads. Since nobody could actually make it to the reception center (seeing as how the roads were not driveable), they had no choice but to cancell the reception as well. Sad thing is, all the food for dinner had already been prepared, and since the company was not able to store any of it, ALL of their food for the reception had to be thrown away. The thought of that, with all the time and money that was spent on it, just going to waste makes me sick. Well, we couldn't just let all of it go to waste, so the next day the families of the bride and groom went to the venue (nearly getting stuck on the way ) to get pictures taken and at least have some cheesecake in celebration of the event. The people who decorated did a great job- it was much more beautiful than this picture can show. Luckily, the venue allowed them to keep the decorations up so they could have a big party with all of their friends in DC once the weather cleared up (even though all their food is already gone). A very nice gesture from the venue.

Here is my handsome little man, I think he looks adorable in his tux. I realized after reviewing our pictures that since I take most of them I am not in many of them so I told Alan he had to take some pictures of Peter and I this trip. So here we are-I kept his hat on for a while because it took a little time for the room to warm up and well because it is too cute also.