Well we did it! We were married on June 28, 2008 in West Glacier, Montana. We all had such a fun and exciting weekend visiting the park. Ryan and I had planned everything online and had faith that it would be exactly like we had visioned it. And it was. The lodge that our family stayed at was beautiful. It was more than 5 miles off the beaten path in a remote part of West Glacier nestled in the woods. The lodge was brand new and had beautiful views of the treeline and mountains. The owner, Susan, was soo kind and nice, she and her son cooked the families dinner and breakfast during our stay. It was the perfect place for our families to get to know each other since we were the only families at the lodge. Ryan and I checked in the lodge on Thursday (26th) and waited for our families to arrive at Kalispell Airport. Throughout the day various family members flew in and at 5:30pm we all met up at the Great Bear Inn. All of the couples stayed in the Deluxe Suites on the top floor, my dad stayed on the main floor, and then the two Grande Suites downstairs were split with one for the girls and one for the boys. The bottom floor also had a recreation room with a pool table where JP an Cori spent time betting foot massages (last time I checked, Cori owed JP five foot massages). After everyone settled in, Jan (Ryan’s mom) prepared some yummy pulled pork sandwiches, with chips, fruit, and vegetables. Afterwards, we went to Lake McDonald and hung out there for a few hours checking out the scenery. Usually, there is at least a twenty foot wide rock beach to walk along, but because of the heavy winter and snow melt, the lake was completely full and the creek was a raging river!
On Friday, we had a quick breakfast and headed into the park. Since the Going-to-Sun Highway was closed, we did a 4 mile (round trip) hike to Avalanche Lake. Ryan and I have done this hike several times, however, we have never seen so many waterfalls flowing into the lake as we did on this hike. It was absolutely beautiful. Afterwards, we had lunch at the base of the trail in the Avalanche campground and headed back to Lake McDonald for a few hours, where Ryan, Zane, Melissa and Laini spent time cruising in a small rental boat on the lake and Staci’s family did some souvenir shopping. When we arrived at the lodge, Susan and her son were BBQ-ing an incredible Steak and Chicken kabob dinner. After dinner, Jan had some cute word games planned. She had everyone do a word scramble with words that related to Ryan and I. She also had one with baseball terms. It was a lot of fun. That night, Ryan and I said our goodbyes for the night since I didn’t want us to see each other until the wedding ceremony. I ended the evening helping my mom make the bouquet of cymbidium orchids (which my mom brought from OC).
The next morning, I slept in while Ryan, Ernie (my Stepdad), J.P (my sister’s fiance), and Zane (Ryan’s Brother) left to play 18 holes at the nearby golf course. While they were gone, my mom, Tanya, and I went to the Heaven’s Peak Lodge and Resort to get ready for the wedding. At the lodge we were getting the reception table ready. A few minutes later, my mom realized that we had forgot the bouquet at the Lodge. I couldn’t drive back to fetch the bouquet because I didn’t want Ryan to see me. So the only option was to have my mom drive back solo. That was scary in itself since she had to maneuver around gravel dirt roads to get back to the lodge. But she was able to make her way there and back with the bouquet without any issues. Laini and Melissa arrived and helped out with setting up the cake and putting the finishing details on the table. This was about the time that I was starting to get really nervous. All weekend, I was calm and relaxed, but about an hour before the ceremony, I began to feel really nervous and couldn’t stop shaking. At 3:00pm, I met my dad behind the double doors of the lodge and the ceremony began. It started with Brooklyn (our flower girl) walking down the path dropping flowers. She was concentrating at dropping the flowers when she started to zig zag a bit, but she made it to the end. She was soo cute with her white dress, her red hair, and her silk ribbons. She practiced really hard at laying out the flowers, because she knew it was an important job and wanted me to find my way to Ryan! 
The flower girl and I walked down the aisle to the same song (Canon in D - the faerie tale version). I did not want to the do the traditional Here Comes the Bride song and instead I chose a nice classical song. It worked out really well. Once I was at the front, Ryan and I held hands. I was so nervous, he could feel my hands shake. Bishop Brooks started off the ceremony by requesting a word of prayer, which was given by Chris (Ryan’s Brother-in-Law). After that, both mother’s read a scripture of their choice. Bishop Brooks counseled us for a minute or two but had a pause for the passing train to go by while sounding its horn. I was soo worried about the helicopter pad across the street, I didn’t think for one moment that the train would halt the ceremony. One piece of counsel from Bishop Brooks was to remember three words…”You’re Probably Right”. We exchanged rings and before you know it, we were husband and wife. Fortunately, it was a quick ceremony, it was a clear day (not a cloud in the sky) but it was 90+ degrees at the time of the ceremony. Too cool everyone off, we sipped on huckleberry drinks and soda while Ryan and I had our pictures taken. At around 5pm, we headed into the lodge dining room for dinner. The table was combined into one big table to allow both families to be seated together. The lodge served Huckleberry Pecan Crusted Chicken which was to die for. It was delicious! We cut the cake and danced our first dance as husband and wife. Our song was “God Blessed the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts. It was a memorable day and the whole wedding weekend really exceeded our expectations.
The next day, we dropped off my family at the airport which marked the end of our spectacular wedding weekend. After we said our goodbye’s, Ryan and I headed back to Simms to attend our open house party for family and friends in Montana.
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