Evan & Madison Fitzpatrick, February 6, 2010

Evan and Madison Fitzpatrick
Albuquerque, NM Temple
February 6, 2010

A beautiful wedding, but a trip I will never forget (because I was sick!) I'll spare the details on the being sick part, but it really hindered my involvement in the wedding as well as my ability to go out and explore the area!

(As a notable side note: This is the 2nd family gathering/trip that I have been sick on in the past two years. I NEVER get the flu when I am in town and can stay home in bed... only when I travel! Not a good trend I want to continue.)

So, I'll just stick with the wedding details. However: if anyone is ever in the area of NM, I would recommend a stop in Old Town Santa Fe, NM. I only saw brief parts of it as I stayed mostly in the car when we went to visit, but it was very nice. Lots of art galleries, jewelry dealers, and neat architecture.

As you can see it was a BEAUTIFUL day to get married. One thing I had been really excited about before the wedding was that I thought Albuquerque would be WARM in February. But, was quickly informed this was not the case. Hey, it was in the 40s so at least it was better than DC!

This was also the turning point for me when I crossed from feeling ill to actually feeling normal again. It was like an immediate switch on the drive to the temple. I had spent the morning in bed, but felt a TON better by the time I arrived here!

Albuquerque, NM Temple

This was my first time attending a sealing and it was beautiful. Nothing can compare. Of course, those attending were able to leave the temple before Evan and Madison, but here is a picture of their "official" walk out of the temple as husband and wife!

(ha, ha... they had walked out once already, but we weren't ready for them, so they went back in and walked out "officially" in this picture :)

This is a picture of Madison's fun family
... with one new addition, of course!

My family with a new beautiful addition as well.
Sadly, we were missing Justin's wife and two sons.
Someday we'll all get together
in the same place and same time.
Someday!!!

After the wedding, we had some time before the luncheon. This gave me the chance to spend some time with my dad... who I really had not been able to spend time with because of being ill. A treasured time for me :)

But, with the good, often comes the bad. Upon arrival at the luncheon, I checked the messages on my phone. ... the dreaded phone call people had been teasing me about all day had come. My flight back to DC the next day was canceled due to the

“Snomageddon”

as officially declared by President Obama.
(The 2nd one of the winter season!!!!
Why did I move here again???)

So, needless to say, I was very shaken by this because my family was all leaving on Sunday morning and I was being told I couldn't get a flight until Tuesday night. I envisioned me being in a hotel room without a car and no family around. Honestly, I kind of lost it ... literally... because I just wanted to be back in my own bed and my own apartment after having such a difficult travel experience up until this point with being sick! Thankfully, my angel mother was able to step in and handle my new travel plans... details below.

But, sadly, I missed the entire luncheon and my mom missed the 2nd half of it because she was on the phone with the travel agent. Ugh - really poor timing. But, I heard the toasts and everything were wonderful. The luncheon and the reception later on were held in this very old church. Not a typical church, but one with white adobe (?) walls, I think. Very cute and quaint in a secluded part of town. Perfect for our numbers though! There were actually no street lights, or lights anywhere, so they had lined the walkways with little luminaries. Very pretty. I also noticed this was something that was different about Albuquerque, or at least the parts I saw. It was rare to have a street light or lights in general, which made driving at night "different", but the sky was very clear to look up at with the stars and no lights getting in the way.

So, another sad thing is that my angel mother ended up getting the flu and started feeling sick after the luncheon, so she missed the entire reception in the evening.
(I know... this is a wedding for the record books, but fortunately, I don't think there were any snafu's for the bride and groom, which is the most important thing!

So, here are a few pictures from the reception.

My family (minus my mom)

My dad with Evan and Madison

Evan, Madison, Justin and I

Evan holding the wedding cake...
which I didn't eat any of because it strayed a little too
far from my diet of saltines up to that point,
but I heard it was good!
BEAUTIFULLY DECORATED!

After the cake "ceremony", Evan sung a song for Madison and it was beautiful. Totally a surprise for her, but I think a pleasant surprise!

Their first dance as husband and wife.
What a CUTE couple!

I didn't have too much of an opportunity to get to know Madison before the wedding, but I have been impressed with her optimistic, positive attitude, her style and fashion (an area I need so much help in!!), and most importantly how much she outwardly shows her love and support of my little brother, Evan, whom I have always looked up to and admired. If my opinion counts for anything, which it doesn't (!!), I approve of his choice for an eternal companion! And, the best part about it for me is that they just moved less than a mile from me. WAHOOO!!! Evan starts a job with BCG on Monday!

So, overall, this trip was not one that will go down in the record books for me as one I'd like to repeat anytime soon... or EVER. But, I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I am grateful to have a wonderful, new sister-in-law, and for the chance it gave my family to gather.

Oh - and "SNOMAGEDDON" actually turned out to be a blessing because my mom was able to work it so I could fly to Denver with her and my brother on Sunday morning, spend two days with my nephews and other sister-in-law, and get back to DC with plenty of time to rest and relax as the entire city was SHUT DOWN for a week! It was a true blessing to spend time at their house and with my adorable nephews. I love time with family. Nothing can compare. However, the personal drama of this whole trip, including the craziness of the actual flight home, I could have done without!

Oh - and 2nd thing that's worthy of note: I didn't realize it until 20 minutes into our conversation, but I sat next to Mark Madsen on the flight to Denver! Ha, ha... that's a story I'll have to share in person. It's a good thing I like to laugh because I continuously crack myself up over silly, stupid, dumb things I do.

Like this week for instance. ... more stories to come in next post about Spring Break this week!