a sprinkle of happiness

These days I love a bit of good news. I love that life goes on and good things continue to happen to our family and friends around us.  It brings me so much joy to be able to celebrate other people.  My brother's wedding has been one of those happy events I have looked forward to for awhile now.  A definite bright spot among all the clouds.  And I couldn't have been happier with the girl he chose to be with for eternity.  I knew she was a wonderful girl when he was dating her, but it really sealed the deal for me when they showed up the day after Wes was diagnosed.  Haley and Ryan came, scooped up our children, and played with them all night while Wes and I just tried to keep our heads above water.  They'll never know how much that meant to me that day to see my girls laughing and enjoying themselves.  

They were married in San Antonio on May 5th.  Wes started to feel well enough that he thought he might be able to make the trip with us.  I was thrilled.  He purchased a ticket and some insurance just in case.  We flew out Friday morning and met up with my family on the flight.  We settled in to San Antonio and my parents and I went to Haley's endowment session at the San Antonio temple.  I was in awe of that temple.  The windows are covered in beautiful stained glass.  It really is gorgeous.  Wes went to the movies with my cousins and my aunt and uncle watched our girls.
The next morning we were up early getting ready for the wedding.  Their sealing was beautiful and Wes actually said, "they look so cute" and then told me they must really be a perfect fit because that is a big deal for him to use that word without me prompting it.  I loved holding my companion's hand and telling my brother how proud I was of him and hugging my new sister in that beautiful room in the temple.  

We had a lovely luncheon at a restaurant in San Antonio and then rested for a bit that afternoon.  We drove out to Austin for their reception.  Halle fell asleep on the way there.  

Their reception was held at an art museum in downtown Austin.  The food, the atmosphere, the music were all fantastic. 

I love watching people be in love.  They cut cake, they danced, and my sweet little Halle caught the bouquet.  

It made her day. 

 We said good bye with bubbles and sent the new Mr. and Mrs. Nimer on their way.  Exhausted, we headed home and crashed for the night.  

The next morning we had a few hours before our afternoon flight so we headed out to see downtown San Antonio.  In the middle of it all is something called the riverwalk.

 The San Antonio river flows through the city and they have created circle of river that is lined with restaurants, hotels, and shops.  We all took a boat ride around the riverwalk. 

 Halle thought it would be like the jungle cruise at Disneyland and wondered what animals we would see.  It was a great little area that I would have loved to spend more time in and enjoy the different types of food.  Next we walked down to the Alamo.  We came, we saw, we walked through, and were done.  

It's a bit smaller then I imagined.  Dad had tracked down a diners drive ins and dives cafe in San Antonio that we all wanted to try.  The mile high onion rings were delicious, but the place definitely fit under the dive category.  We got on the plane and headed home.  Wes was tired, but the trip had been manageable.  Our girls were well behaved and had so much fun with their cousins.  It was a beautiful little bright spot and a sense of normalcy before chemotherapy began.