| wedding video |

it is crazy to think we hit our two month mark this week. time flies when you are with the one you love most. before marriage, i always looked forward to the day i could reflect on my life and spouse and be able to say "...and i thought i loved you then." we are only two months into marriage and i already feel the deepest amount of love for breck. he's the one that keeps me laughing, brings me a diet coke unexpectedly, the hardest worker i know, puts God before anything else and truly makes me the happiest. i want nothing more than to make him happy and he pushes me to the best that i can be.

this week we also received our wedding video. i loovvvveee it. it is so fun to look back on that day and see us (and others) in action. that was such a special day and a video is something we will cherish forever.

Breck + Stephanie | Wedding Day from Alexia Lauren Design on Vimeo.

| wedding day 8-22-15 |

our wedding day was everything i wanted and more. the day started off with me getting my makeup done and then went over to katie's salon to get my hair done. when i got to the salon, my best friend's wedding was blaring. i loved it! katie always knows how to make things special. after the salon, i headed to the temple! our sealing was at 2pm, so breck and i were to be there at 12:30pm. 

the whole day was the most surreal feeling. all of your life you think and dream about your wedding day. i kept pinching myself and asking, "is it really my wedding day?"

our sealing was B E A U T I F U L. i knew from the moment he started talking to breck and i, i knew he was the one who was suppose to seal us. he had a playful, yet soft and charming personality. he gave us the best advice, too. 

not only did we think that our sealing was amazing, everyone kept saying "i have been to a lot of sealings, but that has to be the BEST one we've ever heard and been to." made us even more happy!

when we came out of the temple, all of our friends and family were there waiting and cheering for us. we quickly took pictures and then raced back to sleepy ridge golf course in orem for more pictures and our reception.

our reception R O C K E D. there were SO many people (i think we counted 300+), the line was clear down the stair well and out the door. we eventually had to just cut the line to get on with cake cutting, bouquet toss, dancing and our sparkler send off. 

my mom did an amazing job decorating. we had a photo table, a candy corner, a kids table and even a photo booth. i know she was stressed up until the wedding day, but it all paid off. both of my parents worked so hard to help us have the wedding we wanted. i feel so blessed that they are my parents. 

it was amazing the love and support we felt. people traveled near and far to let us know how genuinely happy they were for us. not only that, people kept saying "i love your love story." and i do too! 

the best part? shelby, our sister-in-law, packed us S I X to-go boxes of reception food. don't worry, we ate all of it the second we got to the hotel room. we were starving! also, shout out to my brother who was so thoughtful to being me a diet coke during the reception (however, i think i only got two sips. boooo.)

| i believe in a thing called love |

it is crazy to think that our wedding day has come and gone in the blink of an eye. breck and i were very fortunate from christmas on to see each other about every three weeks. however, after my last visit to seattle at the end of june, we were in it for the long haul. 45 days of not seeing each other was way hard, maybe more so on me than breck. when you know you want to be with someone forever, you want forever to start immediately.

although we got married on saturday, august 22nd, tuesday august 18th was the day i looked forward to all summer. that was the day that breck flew in. i couldn't wait to just be with him! people kept asking me what the "countdown" was, and every time i said i was just counting down to the day breck came.

i decided to make a sign for breck when he got off the plane. i mean, if there were ever a time to make a sign for him now was the appropriate time, right? the sign read "wedding week, baby!" i could not even contain my excitement. i was SO giddy! the second he text me telling me his plane landed, i stood right now and help up my sign. i was clearly aware he wouldn't be come down the escalator for at least fifteen minutes, but i didn't care. so many people stopped me to say congratulations and one lady even said to her friend, " i want to stay here to see his reaction!" it was a sweet reunion and almost a surreal feeling knowing it was OUR wedding week.

the rest of the week was jammed packed including: marriage license, bridals, me going through the draper temple, wedding dinner at La Jolla Groves and the wedding!

| girl time |

before i get married and move to washington, i wanted to have a sleepover with my nieces. kylie was a girls camp, so it was just alli and courtney. although it poured rain (i think we get more than seattle these days?), we still made it a party.

things to be noted:

+ did makeovers on the girls. i went all toddlers and tiara's on them and they l o v e d it.
+ ate a lot of watermelon (after all, it was national watermelon day)
+ swam in the hot tub (luckily, my parents place has one)
+ made endless amounts of duck tape flower pens
+ had a sleepover in the king size bed
+ played lots of dora memory

my nieces are the sweetest girls on earth. i'm serious. alli keeps things spunky and courtney is an A N G E L. i had so much fun with them and was grateful to be able to share that memory with them.

| shark bait ooo-ahah |

this last spring, scottie mentioned he wanted to check out the newly revamped aquarium in sandy. i wanted to go as well, but the only time i could was saturday. saturdays + teachers + places like that = no bueno. i love kids, but my weekends are a time to be kid free.

anyway, i had two free tickets. so since i have a new roommate here in park city (aka scottie), we decided to venture down there when we both had a day off. side note: we go to grab my tickets and they expired in may. awesome.

the aquarium was awesome to the least. i am a big advocate in hands on learning and the loveland aquarium provides the perfect opportunity. they had ocean exploration, antarctica (and penguins!), an african safari and utah exploration.

and let's just say after seeing a visual of how big great white sharks really are, i am fairly confident i could take one on. jk. they're H U G E. i actually just want to go cage diving in the ocean and see them from the distance.

overall, we had a great day. i was grateful for the opportunity to hang out with scottie. it is really starting to hit me that i am moving away from utah and won't have these simple opportunities and luxuries.

| i like to move it, move it |

you know things are serious when YOU MOVE INTO TO YOUR FIANCE'S PLACE. yeah, talk about surreal. we found that it would be easiest to move my things to seattle before the wedding, rather than after. that way i am semi moved in and we won't have the stress of moving me.

my parents and i loaded a u-haul here in utah and then made the track to washington. i am so lucky to have the parents i do. they would do anything for their kids/grandkids. like, who pays for a u-haul and then gladly drives their child 16 hours only to help them unload it? scott and jolene, that's for sure.

| s p r i n g |

spring activities included:

last minute biking trip to boise

gillian turning the big 3-0

some "bunny" coming for easter

spring break in st. george

hiking angel's landing 

kylie and courtney's dance recital 

{ oh and kylie is now 12. whhaaa? }

third row jazz tickets and making our own kiss cam

breck getting pneumonia on our apt hunting trip in seattle 

mani/pedi's with all the girls 

getting stuck in the denver airport with my nieces

| grandpa ransom |

after christmas 2014, i had a feeling it would probably be the last time i saw my grandpa ransom. he was aging quickly and getting slower as the days went on. i knew i couldn't let christmas pass without getting few pictures with him and spending some extra time with him. the best part was that on christmas we all wore plaid for fun. without telling my grandpa he showed up in plaid too #twinning

in january of this year was his 90th birthday. he had been looking forward to this mile marker of a birthday for a while. he kept telling my mom, "i just want to get to my 90th birthday."

soon after he hit ninety (like literally days after), his health started to decline. FAST. he got pneumonia, went to a nursing home, got pneumonia again and the cycle went on. on the night of April 7th, i got a text saying hospice called and my grandpa had passed. he was only on hospice for a matter of hours. so that was a blessing that he no longer had to suffer. it broke my heart to think of him suffering. he was such a sweet and gentle man who loved his savior, jesus christ. he was a self made man who worked hard for the lifestyle he wanted. he loved his sweet wife beth, who he is happily with once again.

i will miss the drive up to grandpa's house. i will miss picking raspberries. i will miss swimming in his -40 degree swimming pool overlooking liberty lake. i will miss eating stale lemon drops. i will miss dropping in and watching mariner's games with him. i will miss him tickling us until we could no longer breath (okay, maybe not...). i will miss his the way he scrunched his nose when he laughed.
most of all, i will miss him.

families are forever.

{ courtney kicks cancer }

Courntey has come such a long way in 2k14.

Ending Chemo.
Growing her hair back.

Her poor body has been through so much. I am amazed as I go through pictures her transformation throughout it all. Looking through pictures of her starting chemo blows my mind. She really does look so sick. But now? You would never know that her body went through so much in just one year.

Make-A-Wish foundation is so amazing. The fact that they go above and beyond to grant a child's wish is inspiring. I've heard of a kid getting signed to the Utah Jazz for a day, Disneyworld (which most kids choose) to meeting a celebrity of their choice. Make-A-Wish spoils kids with cancer (as they should).

Courtney's wish was to go to Disneyworld. So yes, the entire family got an all expense paid vacation to Disneyworld. They had the time of their life and what a fun memory for the Simon family.

After the trip, Courtney got to raise a stained glass star which will forever be in the Make-A-Wish building here in Utah. They threw her a little party with cake and ice cream, had cardboard cut-outs of her favorite princesses and then she raised the star. We are so blessed that she is happy and healthy! Because unfortunately, some kiddos aren't so lucky. About 3 months before Courtney was diagnosed, a boy at my school was diagnosed with cancer. A happy little 1st grader, who got done playing at his soccer game complained of his side hurting and not being able to breath so well. His parents took him in and come to find out he had spots on his spine. Last winter, he was off chemo and healthy enough to come back to school. What a school celebrity! The kids loved little Owen. We had done fundraisers for him and his family and the kids at school were his biggest cheerleaders. However, Owen being at school didn't last so long. Soon after his return, they found his tumors had spread. Back on chemo he went. This past fall his family was also able to make the Disneyworld trip (they have on-site support and medics for treatments). After he came back, things went downhill quickly and the little guy passed away in November. My heart broke for that family. What a fun last memory that family had going to Disneyworld though and the fact one child's wish came true before passing on. 

Cancer? Don't ever come back. Like, ever.