Oh, Happy Day!

"Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it…"
- Joseph Smith, TPJS 255

As I consider the happiness of my life as it relates to Sarah’s wedding, I can describe it in three phases.

A GLORIOUSLY HAPPY DAY

Today will surely rank among the very most joyful days of my life (so far!). It was absolutely marvelous in every way. We were blessed with wonderful weather (cooler but calm and clear). Everything went according to plan – there were no significant problems or mistakes. We were surrounded by family and friends. And there was a feeling of deep contentment, of shared joy, of eager anticipation for a bright and shining future.

The day began early with a hair-styling appointment, and Sarah transformed easily into Princess Sarah! She was even more beautiful than normal, though that’s hard to believe. We enjoyed our traditional special-occasion family breakfast of cinnamon rolls and omelets. We gathered everything together and reviewed our checklists as we loaded the car. I had the wonderful, sacred privilege of giving one last father’s blessing, and we were on our way to the Mount Timpanogos Temple.

We had arranged for an old friend of mine to perform the sealing. George Durrant was the stake president when I served as high councilor and then bishop at BYU, so we worked closely for about 4 years. Now that he’s retired and working in the temple, we were delighted to have him available to officiate at this event. In his warm and uniquely personal style, he gave Sarah and Brian counsel about their marriage, encouraging them to become each other’s heroes and to be supportive and united in spiritual growth. He mentioned that life will not always be easy, but that prayers for strength are one prayer that God always answers. He told them to build on the best of their shared traditions and find their own new ones. He said to honor covenants, return often to the temple, and create a home full of the Lord’s spirit. I love this dear man; he added to much to the sacred nature of why we were there.

Wedding Eve

The expected weather earlier in the week mostly has played out as hoped. Today was kind of a yucky day, though; it was still quite hot, but in addition was windy which stirred up quite a bit of dust. And then there was a wildfire to the north, so the air quality and visibility were awful. It would NOT have been a good day to take outdoor pictures! We're hoping for improvement tomorrow.

We did have a nice evening with family members who were in town, and the newlyweds-to-be. We made a large batch of barbecued ribs and enjoyed talking together. Here are some photos:



This one was taken by my niece Rachael, showing one of her gorgeous daughters being entertained by a dignified-looking man:


Well. the time has almost come! Tomorrow will be THE BIG DAY!

Final countdown

Lest any reader think the Kenisons' life lately has been all about eating, hiking, working, and all that other stuff mentioned in this blog — let me clarify. The major activity and concern through the past several weeks has definitely been wedding plans. Bonnie has done an amazing amount of work in planning or preparing decorations, facility layouts, flowers, cake, food, etc. I've worked on things like photos, music, and the guest book, as well as supporting Bonnie. We've both had LOTS of fun doing this; we wish we had more daughters so we could enjoy this again in the future! But since we have only one, we're trying to make the most of it.

Here's what our kitchen table looked like recently, as we prepared photos — and this is just the beginning:


We're down to the final five days! Or technically FOUR days from about now, I guess, until the wedding. We've been carefully watching the long-range weather forecasts for Friday. We want the sky to be blue but not too hot while we're taking photos. At the evening reception, we'd really like to have the receiving line outdoors — assuming it's not too hot and not rainy. The forecast this morning gives us hope, if it will hold out through the week; what a great break on Friday:


Finally, here's a "sneak preview" of my beautiful princess.


I have a hard time looking at these photos without getting teary! I asked Matt in our emails today how many hankies he thinks I will need on Friday. This was his response:

i'm guessing at least 6 hankies. well that depends are they big or small. if they're small then at least 12 hahaha just kidding. :D

"hahaha" indeed.

Go up to the mountains

I talked my sweet daughter into taking a little hike with me up Provo's Rock Canyon this morning. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed the chance to chat about the wonderful upcoming events in her life.

We're continually astonished at the beauty we have within minutes of our homes here in Utah. This little canyon is a good example. The stream isn't flowing nearly as strongly as it did in the spring, but it's still some spectacular scenery.




We've had many wonderful experiences hiking and camping as a family, ever since Sarah was little. She rode in a child's backpack for a while, but she really was a "super hiker" (the label we gave her) before long. She's continued to enjoy that experience through the years, much to my delight. Her annual "girls' backpack" with a group of her friends is a great tradition that I hope can continue for many years.

This afternoon, we added to the sweetness of the day as we went together to another mountain — the mountain of the House of the Lord — the Mount Timpanogos Temple. Sarah received her endowment and we enjoyed the sweetness of being together with her in that sacred place. While Sarah was having her initial instruction, I was able to complete some initiatory work on some family file names, and then we joined together for the endowment. It was a busy day in the temple; there were six first endowments in our session, and we learned there were 35 weddings performed during the course of the day!! Wow!


We are very eager for Friday to come. I only used my handkerchief a little today, but expect to make up for it on Friday!