Mark and Clarissa Get Hitched

Tyler's best friend from High School is Mark Simpson. He is a great guy and one of the two that Tyler bothered to stay in touch with after leaving Idaho. (Shout out to Sean, the other guy who made the cut.) Mark has been there for us through it all. If we were struggling, he wanted to help. I'd like to think that we returned the favor now and then, but I think the scales are tipped heavily in favor of Mark as the more useful friend.

He got remarried last month and we over the moon to come and witness his wedding and share in his joy.

Mark and Clarissa got married at the Capitol Building. I wasn't aware you could have weddings there, but apparently you can. Because I did not grow up here in Utah, I have not been to the Capitol Building before. (I have seen the outside.) It is quite a grand structure. The inside is beautiful all done in stone and what looks like marble. (I am not a materials guru by any means.) I took a picture of the kids by one of the statues in the rotunda.

The staircases were quite grand as well. All the family came down the stairs until it was finally Clarissa who came to meet Mark at the bottom. Mark's dad married them. I believe he has been a Bishop before so he had the authority. That was pretty neat.

You may now kiss the bride. Woohoo!!

Clarissa looked lovely. Her veil was so long that it got caught on chairs every now and then. Here they are signing their marriage license. All official.

Mark asked Tyler to hold his top hat (to be used later). We had a lot of fun playing with it. June wasn't quite sure what to do with a top hat and cane, but Robyn had the right idea.

They had a bet going to see who would get cake in the face. Clarissa was winning by a lot until her family came and put all the cash in Mark's jar. I guess they wanted to see her get cake in the face.

Weddings are very busy for the people getting married and their immediate family, but for the rest of us, we had some time to kill. June and I played a lot of Boinx. We didn't have any paper, so we used receipts that were left in my purse.

There was a bit of dancing. Mark and Clarissa took the floor and looked pretty dapper. Then there were mother/son dance, father/daughter dances and combinations of the like. Clarissa had a special song for each child and she danced with all her kids.

Both Clarissa and Mark have previously been married and they each have children. Mark has three boys. Clarissa has 4. Check out these seven boys all together. (Sorry they are far away. They were doing a dance number.) The older boys are Clarissa's...the younger, Mark's.

Clarissa also has two daughters. They are both beautiful. I'm sure you are doing some math in your head now. That is NINE kids. Wow. These two newlyweds will be hopping. But love can you help you do all things.

I'm so happy for Clarissa and Mark. We are going on a double date with them tomorrow and we plan to get to know her better. But if Mark approves, we do too.