CHRISTMAS and and before the wedding (in Washington)

Side Note: I forgot to mention how at the beginning of November we surprised my dad and went to Las Vegas! I will never forget how Trent and I jumped in while dad was in a missionary meeting and all he could say was "what are you doing here?" Typical dad. Wouldn't have been surprised if he threw in the "dad" face too :}. We went to Fleming's and saw Cirque Du Soleil LOVE! What a memorable weekend. Of course we were busy working on wedding details as well such as bridesmaid fabric, invitations, and "the dress."

But back to the story, finals were over and we were driven by Sean (Trent's friend) to Las Vegas. There we enjoyed a leisure break amidst all the chaos of wedding planning (we still were trying to figure out seating arrangements, burning CD's as give aways, and finding a stupid-little-cake topper...not to mention a baker to make the wedding cake). While there, Trent and I worked out with my dad, ate at Roy's in celebration of the end of the semester, and did a lot of relaxing!

After five days of Sin City the family flew to Richland for Christmas Eve and Christmas with the Christensen's. It was so fun to see their happy little family blooming. Christmas dinner was delicious as always. The Orlowski's cannot make anything less than amazing in the kitchen.

Here are some pictures of our favorite presents.















































The following day we drove to Bellevue where Trent and I celebrated Christmas with the Hartman's! Oh how exciting it was to anticipate actually being part of their family. The children were so cute and the reunions very alive.

While in Bellevue we set the finishing touches for the wedding. Trent had his bachelor party with his buddies playing boy games like glow-in-the-dark dodge ball, the 2-liter challenge, and sledding. I had a second bridal shower at Sarah's (best friend ever) with the help of Cheryl Ann and LeeAnn. Small mishaps occurred (still not having a cake bakers, topper, guarder, dress zipper breaking flower miscalculation, etc) but my mom and I handled everything pretty well. More than anything we were so excited for our opportunity to get married in the temple. At the days end, taking in my endowments and the sealing were all that mattered to us.

Trent and I still tried our best to make the most of our trip in Bellevue. We ate dinner with our friends Tyler and Denis and course I made time for hand shaven noodles and a trip to cheesecake factory with my best dance friends. We spent new years with my sisters, their husbands and Amy at Ray's Boathouse. It was sooooooooo delicious. Yes, my family certainly enjoys good food. Later that night we tubbed it up with Jordan and Sarah in their jacuzzi. New years evening we ate dinner with my extended family (I was already getting jitters and barely could touch my food). Next thing you know it was the wedding!


But we'll save that update for tomorrow.