::big weekend::

This was a big weekend for us since we had a wedding, Ryan's birthday, and the beginning of the Olympics!! We went to Tyson's wedding (Brady's cousin) in Richfield, and were able to attend the temple sealing, which was in the Manti Temple. It was a beautiful morning, and meaningful to us since this is the first sealing we've been to since attending our own almost a year ago! Somehow we forgot to bring our camera again, so we had to rely on the iphone camera. The wedding was on 8-8-08 which is such a fun day to get married, but it also meant that we missed a lot of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. After the beautiful outdoor reception, we caught the parade of nations and then the lighting of the torch/cauldron. We all agreed that it was awesome.

Since we missed everything before the parade of nations, we tried to find some video of what we missed on the internet. I found this gem that is apparently the only video of the opening ceremonies left on the internet (unless you count the crappy cell phone recordings) due to NBC quickly retracting everything. I love how they have drummers with lights on their drums and they collectively mimic an enormous LED display screen. Watching the countdown made me wish I was there to feel the energy that must have been pulsating through that arena! After the countdown and some kind of introduction, the drumming continued with ease and beauty. Seeing the hundreds of Chinese drummers beating in perfect unison not only grabbed my attention, but also demanded my respect.....and made me hope that we never go to war with China :) If you missed the opening ceremonies, hurry and watch this before it becomes "unavailable" too! p.s. the commentary is in Dutch...

Olympics 2008 Opening Ceremony - video powered by Metacafe


I LOVED the amazing fireworks at the end that went on and on! It was so beautiful! If anyone finds a place to watch more of the opening ceremonies, let us know! From the pictures it looks like they put on an amazing show :)

Ryan's b-day was on Saturday, the 9th! We had a fun family party at Bajio's, where we shared memories and relaxed! It was nice to see Ryan and Steph outside of the hospital laughing and taking a breather, and so fun that the whole family could be there together :) Of course we forgot our camera again, so forgive the blurriness of the pic....

Happy 27th Ryan!