Kamiko + Bekki

And...just like that...I have a blonde daughter.

Kamiko and Rebecca Inez Brau (Bekki) met last February at a wedding. Kamiko was a bridesmaid to Alysha and Bekki was a groomsman to Michael. It's true. They met at the bachelor party in Vegas and hung out and enjoyed each other's company. Then it quickly progressed to more. It was a long-distance relationship, with the kids taking turns to fly to see each other until Bekki came home to Provo at the end of her semester at University of Arkansas! Where else?! Razorbacks forever!

Grandma helping Kamiko get lint off of his suit before pictures

Bekki is a Utah County girl who graduated from Springville High School. Her parents, Jim and Michelle, now live in Provo in a house with probably THE BEST VIEW in town. Anyway, the kids communicated via facetime, text, calls, etc. for months. Kamiko flew to Arkansas a couple of times and Bekki flew here a couple of times. I think the longest period of time they had was when Bekki was home for about a month this summer. She's working on her doctorate in business with an emphasis in supply chain management - people, not product. Her dad teaches in the business school at BYU. He's a convert and a West Point graduate, a former Army Ranger. He's full of life and is very animated. Michelle is a sweetheart. The first time we all met, we hit it off. I'm so glad the kids found each other. They are perfect for each other and our families go well together.

Bekki has 3 brothers, so she got sisters out of the deal. Kamiko, of course, got brothers he didn't have. The girls love her. Mel even got to teach with Bekki on campus before Mel finished her mission. What an experience. Bekki served a mission to Mexico and finished in San Jose, California, due to illness.

The whole time they said they wanted a low-key wedding and that's exactly what it was. I asked them after all the festivities if it's what they imagined and they said YES. There were 15 of us at a breakfast on Thursday, December 20. Mom and dad, Me, Keenan, Kamiko, Allie, Mel, and uncle Mike. My sister Kris flew out to attend the open house and was super helpful at the breakfast and the open house. On the Brau's side were Jim, Michelle, Brigham and his wife AJ, grandma, Bekki, and uncle Johnny. It was so great. We all fit in the kitchen and had a nice time getting to know each other better.

My kids having a sleepover on their last night together before the wedding

There were about 10 of us in the sealing room. The kids only wanted their siblings and parents and grandparents that could attend. Dad sealed the kids and it was very special. Bekki didn't want all the craziness of crowds outside of the temple. It was perfect. We got a few pictures after, but mostly headed our separate directions.

Bekki and Heber

Bekki with Jameson

Michelle with Brigham, Jameson, and Bekki

Bekki with Brigham

Good husband, carrying everything. My kid has a ring.

My kids: Melia, Kamiko, and Allie

My beautiful girls

Friday we relaxed and finished up the cake until it was time to go to the venue to set up. The kids had an open house in a conference room of the Provo Library. They had pizza, drinks, and cake that Allie made. Bekki's favorite is funfetti with chocolate frosting and that's exactly what Allie made. She used my friend Cake by Courtney's recipe and that was special for me. It turned out sooooo delicious. The kids invited their closest friends and family to a ring ceremony that uncle Johnny conducted. The cute dog, Dot, was part of the festivities. Lots of friends and neighbors came to the open house. We had a great time visiting with friends. We found out the Braus have a connection with Chris Kitchen, as do us Hunters. He was the family's home teacher in Springville. Mom and dad were best friends with Chris' parents, Arden and Kaye. The Kitchens died in a plane crash when they were coming to visit us in California when Chris was probably about 12 or 13. Kristen was really emotional visiting with him. It had been years since she had seen him. Kris was so helpful, serving food, helping clean, etc. She was in her element. She loves to meet people.

Uncle Mike Sears flies out for the wedding and for Christmas

Carefully transporting the cake to the venue

Finishing touches

Lots of hours of community service

Kristen ready for work

I'm so stiff in this dress. I was pretty sucked in with my shaper. 

It was a wonderful couple of days. I feel blessed. Bekki is the perfect addition to our family. We love that girl. I'm also really really grateful that Mel suggested we get a family picture the Monday before the wedding. It was crazy and a bit tricky to get everyone together, but I'm so glad we did. I love the picture.

Let me mention that there were a lot of us staying at mom and dad's house: Kristen was in the bunk room with Melia, Mike was in the flowered room, Kamiko was on the couch, and Keenan and I were in Derek's old room. Allie, thankfully, still had her house to stay in. We had a great time, though, and Mike, Kris, and I had some great walks.

Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra with Mom - EPIC

The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra on Temple Square's annual Christmas concert is always a hot ticket. We usually luck out and get tickets in the online selection process. This year we weren't so lucky. I was bummed because the guest performer was Kristin Chenoweth, a very bubbly performer who has been on broadway and TV. The timing was awful, so I figured it was just as well that we didn't get tickets. It was the week after Mel got home and we moved into mom and dad's basement and the week before Kamiko and Bekki got married. How would I make time for it?

Well, my friend Amy Christensen went to the concert on Thursday night and said it was the BEST ever. She said I had to go. So, on Friday morning, after getting my hair cut, I called mom and asked if she wanted to give it a try. She said "sure."

We ate a quick dinner and left the house around 4:30 pm. I had a plan.

We got a great parking place based on where Amy's husband, Dane, suggested. We got to temple square and I was going to have mom wait in the standby line while I tried to score tickets from concert goers as they approached the conference center. The plan had to change when we saw the standby line. It was soooooo long. It went on and on. Wow. Mom and I decided to just go together and try our hand at getting tickets. I had made a sign that said we were looking for 2 tickets. We went to the southeast corner of the conference center, close to the street, to wait for concert goers to cross the street toward us. I wanted us to be the first ones seen. There were many people near the conference center, but none were bold enough to stand right by the street light. Many were holding up one or two fingers. I was holding a sign and mom and I obviously wanted to attend.

A few people walked by. One couple said they were sorry that they didn't have extra tickets. We joked that I was using my 80 year old mom to get people's sympathy. After only about 15 minutes of standing on the corner with our sign, a nice couple told us they had tickets and wished us a Merry Christmas. We were so thrilled. We had excellent seats, too. Just like Amy and Dane said, it was spectacular. We loved it so much. It was really nice to hear a performer who was a person of faith sing to us. She said how grateful she was that the person who offered the opening prayer prayed for her. She said that rarely happens in her business. We even got to sing along with the choir. So I've sung with the Tabernacle Choir! We were so glad we took the time to attend and were so grateful to the nice people who shared their extra tickets with us.

Side note...we sat by a very lovely lady who said that this summer will mark 50 years that she has volunteered on Temple Square in one capacity or another. She's began singing in the choir when she was 21, has been a tour guide, and currently answers phones at the ticket office. I joked that they probably had a lot of angry phone calls with the popularity of the concert. Sadly, it's true. I asked if anyone ever calls to say thank you. She said no. I'm gonna try to remember to call and thank them the next time I get tickets.

We don't know what got us noticed more: my orange coat or mom's age. 

One LAST Trip to Disneyland

Jenny and I HAD to use our passes ONE. LAST. TIME. before our annual passes expired. Even though life was a bit crazy with the upcoming move and Mel coming home, I was able to get away for Disney. We flew to LAX and rented a small car. We got to stay at my friend Jenny's place, but we got OUR OWN place. She manages apartments for her dad and one was vacant. She set it up for us with a blow up mattress, sheets, towels, etc. We had a great time. We even got to spend some time with Jenny and her husband, Andrew. Jenny was a TA many years ago and is great. In fact, she just texted and asked me if the girls and I are coming in January. We actually are and her 2 bedroom apartment is still vacant, so we have a place to stay again. YAY! I'll probably skip the park and just hang out with Jenny and go visit Derek and Rachel. I want to be with people. I'll drive the girls to and from the park so they don't have to spend money on parking.

Anyway, enjoy our pictures. Jen and I had a great time just walking slowly, taking lots of pictures, and asking photographers to take our pictures. Derek met up with us and we had a great time. The three of us hung out for a few hours. Derek was surprised to hear that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was a new ride when we were teenagers. It was fun for me to learn what his favorite ride was as a teenager - Star Tours. It's been such a fun year of Disney with Jen and everyone else who went with me. I think I went to the park 24 different days. That's what it appears from the pictures on my phone with 24 different outfits.

If you look closely, Jen and I are wearing matching Mickey pins. There's a great story behind those pins. At church on Sunday, Jen and I decided to do something Monday at the park to Light the World. We were looking at ornaments in California Adventure and a nice young couple started looking at ornaments. They were talking about getting an ornament and wondering if you could get your name on it. We told them where they could get an ornament personalized. Then it came to me. I told Jen we should buy their ornament. We did and it was so fun. They were so grateful and it only cost us $30. We told them to get it personalized however they wanted. They put their names and hearts on it. They gave us hugs and thanked us profusely. It felt so good. Then after that, a cast member came up to us and said "can you two girls come follow me?" Of course we could. She took us to a nearby gift shop where she was looking at a wall of pins. She finally found the ones she was looking for and gave us these Mickey Christmas pins. She said she wanted to thank us for being kind to another guest. We had no idea that could happen. The pin actually matched the ornaments Jenny was looking at to buy for her kids. I'll treasure that pin.

Wearing the Mickey and Minnie Vans Kamiko gave me for my birthday

Found something we'd never noticed before...it houses the ATM in Frontier Land

I joke that I'm working on a coffee table book entitled "Disney Skyline"

Disney looks so great at Christmas time

I love this picture

Our flight got VERY delayed coming home. We got home around 1:30 am instead of 11:00. We both had things to do the next day. I had to work and she had meetings. That was one crazy trip. 

So much fun with our brother!