Maybe this should be titled "The One where Gordon and Morgan had a Wedding." They actually got married about a month after Justin and I but Gordon is in the Navy and got transferred from San Diego to North Carolina and then deployed to Afghanistan. Gotta hand it to Morgan for waiting so long to wear her wedding dress! Now that he's been back for a little while they were finally able to have a real wedding and reception. It was beautiful!
Justin and I drove (again! People need to help me out and convince Justin that air travel is much faster and will make his wife less upset with him.) to San Diego a mere 8 days after I got back from the ACS conference. Crazy! Thankfully we split it up and drove to Las Vegas first to crash at Uncle Don and Aunt Wendi's house. They weren't there because they were visiting their newest grandson in Idaho (congratulations to Christie and Spencer!!) but Evie and Rachel were home. I haven't seen Rachel's daughter Avery since before Justin and I got married so I was amazed at how tall and grown up she is. She entertained me and Justin with this poem from "Ride a Purple Pelican."
Justin Austin
skipped to Boston,
dressed in dusty jeans,
he sipped a drop
of ginger pop
and ate a pot of beans.
Soooo cute!! Wish I'd recorded it. I think she could have stayed up all night reciting poems to us but eventually we all did go to bed. Justin and I left for San Diego pretty early and met up with Jared, Gordon and Gordon's little brother, Chris. We ate some pretty tasty Mexican food (yum, I miss good Mexican food) at Lucha Libre and then Gordon showed us the way to the San Diego temple.
This is what it looks like from the freeway... (that's Gordon in his red convertible rental)
And then suddenly the trees get out of the way and BAM! Gorgeous!!
Justin and I took a prom picture in front. Too funny!
And then Jared posed as well. (Andrea, I'm adding all the pictures I have of Jared for you :)
Afterward we went to pick up the boys' tuxes. Thankfully the tux store was right by our hotel so we checked in and then all piled into Gordon's convertible (I had to sit on the hump in the backseat) to go on a tour of SD. He showed us Balboa park which is the largest square area park in the country. Seriously, it is huge, but not just grass. I really liked the architecture of this museum.
By the way, I took that picture as we drove by. Turned out pretty nice :) The San Diego Zoo is also in this park but we really didn't have much time to go in. Next time for sure!
Next, Gordon took us to the Naval base. We got to see some aircraft carriers and navy fighter jets and helicopters. I have to admit it was pretty cool. We got out for a little bit to check out the beach.
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| Chris, Jared, Justin & Gordon. |
It was a little chilly and we were getting hungry so we went back downtown to eat at Spaghetteria! I was so excited to eat there again. Mmmm.
The next morning the boys abducted Gordon for his "bachelor party." They hiked up Cowles Mountain where they encountered a rattlesnake. Gordon thought it would be funny to text Morgan a very close up picture of it and tell her that he had been bitten but was ok. How do men come up with these ideas? Good thing she's a sweetheart and forgave him. Justin might have been in a little more trouble if he pulled that the day before our wedding!
San Di-ah-go. If you don't get the quote from that, you wouldn't get it anyway.
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| Ah, Justin's favorite pose. We need to learn some new ones. I love that Jared's head is poking out between Gordon's legs. You guys are so weird!!! |
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| So glad Justin had our camera :) |
With the boys gone I took the opportunity to go to the temple. That is such a beautiful temple!! And the women inside were so fun. I know that's a funny thing to say but it was pretty slow at 11am on a Friday so I got to talk to them more than usual.
The next day was the ceremony. It was held on a different naval base than the one we toured with Gordon because this one had a view of the city across the bay. What a beautiful backdrop! The only problem was the birds. These adorable ducks tried to crash the party and walked down the aisle before the bride and groom could.
I caught this picture of Gordon as soon as Morgan stepped out. So cute! Hmm maybe I should have edited a little- don't mind the photographer!
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| Handsome men! Gordon, Chris, Justin, Reggie, Jared & Mike. That's Gordon's mom (Mama Gordo! center) with his aunt and cousin. |
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| Bridesmaids: Megan, Emily, Apryl & Ashley |
Something happened with the music and Morgan had to wait a few minutes to make her dramatic entrance but it had a happy ending :)
There were only 4 bridesmaids and 5 groomsmen so Megan had 2 escorts walking down the aisle. Lucky lady!
I mentioned the crazy birds. These seagulls kept trying to steal the appetizers. At one point this guy actually tried to divebomb the tray from the air! Pretty sure I looked hilarious trying to stop this in heels. Reggie's girlfriend Kara (who is also a grad student) helped me protect the food. I was glad there was someone else to talk to during pictures as Jared's wife Andrea wasn't able to make it :( Missed you!!
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| He's getting closer... |
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| Darn it. |
Gordon bought the groomsmen "pimp canes" for their gifts. At least it made for a good photo opp :)
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| Justin makes me laugh! |
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| This photo is possibly even better! |
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| Silly boys! |
Of course the groom's cake is Albert!
A few weeks ago Morgan posted a picture on Facebook of a 6 ft. chicken pinata. I didn't really get it until the Chicken Dance song started. This was hilarious!!
The chicken was a nice addition to the photo booth. We had a lot of fun with the props :)
After the sun set we took some really nice pictures of the skyline.
The next day Justin and I had to make the whole drive in one day. We stopped at Tia Auri and Tio Pompo's house on our way through LA. They are Justin's great aunt and uncle who helped take care of him until his family moved to Florida when he was 5. They took us out for an Easter lunch and then we drove around looking at Justin's old apartment and school. Apparently when Justin was little he memorized his address, "Tres tres tres San Marcos." We found it!
This was the alley behind Justin's apartment where he would look out as a little boy and watch the garbage man. When he was little, this was his career aspiration. I find it extremely funny! And I'm glad he changed his mind :)
If this picture looks familiar that's because it was in our wedding video. It's Justin learning to swim in Tia Auri's pool.
It was surreal seeing the pool in real life. Justin said it's smaller than he remembered- more like he's just bigger.
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| Tio Pompo, Justin & Tia Auri. |
