#1 - Wedding of Nathan and Rachel Schaumann

So this isn’t much a travel entry, but definitely worth the words.  Just a week after we returned home from our semester abroad, we joyfully celebrated the wedding of Nathan and Rachel Madsen. As with Emily, we were gone for most of the wedding planning, and we just got to be there for the food!  Both Nathan and Rachel are pianists, and so a big part of the wedding week was a recital of Nathan and friends in the Assembly Hall and Temple Square, and then another recital at the actual reception.  We adore Rachel, we’re glad she’s part of our family!
 
Highlights:

• Assembly Hall Concert
• Wedding Reception in the Provo Library
• Wedding Breakfast and meeting Rachel’s Family
• Sealing in the Provo City Center Temple
• Adding a new daughter to our growing family

 
Highlights:

• Assembly Hall Concert - the evening prior to the wedding, Nathan and his musical friends put on a concert at the Assembly Hall in Salt Lake Temple Square.  It was an absolutely marvelous evening on incredible music.  Nathan and Nathan Cox, his cellist friend were the primary performers, and some other missionaries with whom they had made some musical arrangements on their mission.  Nathan's music concerts are always a highlight of the month, and putting this in combination with his wedding was pure magic.
• Wedding Reception in the Provo Library - I love weddings, because they bring together extended family in such an exciting and memorable and loving way. We had family from Guam and Texas and California and Utah on the Schaumann side, and friends fly in from North Carolina and Texas.  It was meaningful to see people who love Nathan come to support him.
• Wedding Breakfast and meeting Rachel’s Family - We had a breakfast together with Rachel's immediate family, and it was a great opportunity to get to know them a little better.  
• Sealing in the Provo City Center Temple - A sealing ceremony, to enter into an eternal marriage and sealing covenant it always a sober, and spiritual, and wonderful experience.  We are blessed to have the sealing power and the priesthood and temple ordinances restored to the earth.
• Adding a new daughter to our growing family - Rachel is terrific.  It is exciting to get to know her better and welcome her to the family.