My beautiful sister, Hilary got married this past weekend. I am so proud of her and very happy for her. She was a beautiful bride. We had a great party with lots of food, lots of family, many friends and a lot of love. Most importantly of all, it was a weekend of reflecting on what it means to be a family. We are super tight-knit family. I attribute so much of our closeness to efforts that my parents made when we were young and as we grew up. They taught us to treat each other well, be selfless and generous and communicate well with each other. We did family activities and trips together to create memories and strong family bonds. My parents were married in the Latter-Day Saint temple and we believe that through faith and righteousness, these family bonds will last through eternity. Challenges arise in families. But I am grateful for so many tools that help me overcome these challenges. Over the years, my family has changed. Philip married Elizabeth on 8/8/08. Austin and I got married on 4/23/10 and with that I inherited a whole new family. And now we have Taylor as well. I am grateful for these new additions and the value and they add to my life and to the Hurst family, as it is now a combination of Hurst-Jarman-Hyde families. I felt so much hope and joy as I was in the temple with my family. I am so grateful for the promises of the temple and for the knowledge that my family and the love we share will last after this lifetime.
Beautiful Couple.
Me, Hilary and Philip.
So many of Hilary's Notre Dame friends came out from California and New York. It made me seriously miss ND. We even did the "tower of strength" dance in the middle of the party. From left: Arianna, Becca, Bina, Hilary, Nadia, Tiffany, Alyse and Rita.
Brother and Elizabeth. Beautiful. Beautiful.
These pictures were taken by the ever-so-talented, incredible Joshua Brown. My family swears by this miracle workers. Seriously. Go check him out here!!!!
Just a few things that have made me smile the past couple of weeks:
There is a new, two-story McDonalds really close to our place. Austin and I went a few weeks ago for a "breakfast" (at 11:30) forgetting that no, McDonalds will not cater to your breakfast cravings at anytime of the day but do in fact switch over their menus at approximately 5 minutes to 11. Despite that disappointment, we discovered the NEW VENDING MACHINES!!! They are the coolest ever! We sat there for 5-10 minutes playing on them. What does one get with all these new, exciting flavor add-ones? Diet coke. Boring, I know. But the best.
I went on a walk, which, in New York City very quickly turned into a trek. As I walked down Park avenue I glanced up and caught a glimpse of this beauty. I love skies. Seriously. I don't see many good skies or sunsets in this city but I'm glad I took a second to glance up and get a shot of this.
People love cabbage plants here!!! They are seriously everywhere! I contemplated making a whole post devoted to these babies. Maybe one will come in the near future...But I like them a lot. I like how they make almost perfect lines in the planters.
We walked past the Louboutin store on our way home last night. They had awesome window displays as seen below: