cHRISTMAS 2005

MerrY ChRistMas!

We went on a Argosy cruise with nICH's parents to look at the lights on houses around Lake Union it was so much fun!

cHRISTMAS lights on Sailboats

dOWNTOWN sEATTLE

lOREN and cATHY

oUR first cHRISTMAS tREE

We went to a tree farm and cut it down ourselves!

In my mom's family it is tradition the day after tHANKSGIVING to go up the canyon and pick out the perfect cHRISTMAS tree, then we would go back to gRANDMAs for homemade chicken and dumpling soup! YUMM!! So this year I still got to hunt for my tree but without the chicken dumpling soup!

tHANKSGIVING 2005

HaPPy ThANkSgIvIng!

nICH and I went to the mEPPEN's for tHANKSGIVING. My dAD's brother lARRY and tERRY and their families all come to Smithfield, UT for tHANKSGIVING.

nICH carved the turkey

gRANDMA mEPPEN made her famous marshmallow yams!!

bRAD waiting patiently for some good eats!

After our scrumptious meal that mama mEPPEN made we had to do something to work of the pounds!

So we started...

The mEPPEN Dance OFF!!

go gRANDMA go...

gRANDMA mEPPEN and aUNT dI

the TWINS...

uNCLE lARRY and tERRY

go mom..you've got some moves

aUNT cARLA and dEBBIE (mom)

Melissa's concentrating so much her eyes are going to pop out!



wHITNEY and mERTZ

and then the pros showed us how it's really done...

nATHAN and kATELYN

hONEYMOON

We went camping up in Bellingham, WA for our honeymoon.

It was Labor day weekend and we got off to a late start and we were worried that we may not get a camping spot. But we took our chances...and got a awesome camping spot. I can't remember what the Campground was called but it was beautiful!

nICH did all the work...

He put up the tent...

both tents!!

We weren't quit used to sleeping in the same bed...let alone a sleeping bag!!
Just kidding one tent was for all of our stuff!

gathered fire wood

and he went claming for some yummy dinner!

WoW...you got some big clams!!

All while I played in this cool tree...

How did this happen?...mmm!

I guess I'll never know....

after all nICH's chores were through he came to play too...

what a HOTTIE!!

The beach was beautiful and the sunsets were awesome!

Sunny Seattle...here we come!

The day after we were married, we packed up my belongings and drove 819 miles to Seattle!

nICH packed the car as tight as he could. We both felt a little squished!

Saying goodbye is never easy!

I think I finally stopped crying when we hit the Oregon border!!

"First comes love...then comes marriage"

We were married on August 27, 2005 in Logan, Utah!

Bishop Robert King performed our ceremony.

BJ was the ring bearer. He looked so handsome in his tux!

eLLIE was the flower girl. She absolutely loved her "princess dress"

as she would say.

They were so cute together!

The Groomsmen: cHRIS, cARRAS, jON, jOSH, nATE & little bJ.

The Bridemaids: aMANDA, mELISSA, kATELYN, bECKY, gENNI
& pRINCESS eLLIE

The ceremony was perfect. I tend to be a bit emotional, I am sure some were wondering if I was happy or sad, because I cried... a lot!

But it was all happy tears!

mR. & mRS. fRIEDRICHSEN

I think PaPa LoLo's favorite part of the day was blowing bubbles!!

The "BIG DAY"

nICH and I at Buchart Gardens... where nICh got up enough courage to ask nICOLE to marry him.I flew up from Arizona on Mother's day weekend.I was hoping that one day of this weekend trip would be the "BIG DAY" Nich planned a whole day trip for us...we took the Victoria clipper up to Victoria BC, the whole ferry ride up to Victoria Nich was acting quite strange, little did I know the ring was in his front pocket and nICH was cotempalting what his next plan of action was... when we got to Buchart it was so crowded, the whole time nICH was looking around the gardens like he was my bodyguard and a killer was going to jump out of a bush at any moment. He was really trying to find a quiet, less crowded place to get down on one knee and not make a big scene. We walk by this gate that says "EMPLOYEES ONLY" there was path that lead down to a little lake...so of course nICH has found his perfect spot! We headed down the forbidden path and the whole time I was nervous someone was going to catch us and throw us out of the gardens. We found a little bench...nICH sat on it for about .01 seconds and then got down on one knee... and then my worries came true (kind of) a worker of Buchart Gardens found us...she starting saying "Hey you guys can't" then she looked at us, looked at the ring box, then said "did what I think happen, just happen" we both said at the same time "YES" !! She was nice enough to take some pictures of us (that we used for our wedding invitations. It was a perfect day!