1970 Wedding of the Year Continued...

Okay...so it is not tomorrow as I ended my last blog entry with...but I will continue anyway. During the week of our wedding we had to do our blood tests again. We had them done in Louisiana, me by my family doctor and Claude by the Air Force doctors, but noooooo. Evan, my father-in-law drove us to Brigham City to get our license. We brought our test results as proof we had no communicable diseases. Well, wouldn't you know, Utah does not accept results except from doctors in Utah. And guess what, they had a doctor right next door that could do it for a nominal fee. So good Evan takes us next door and we learn we must also have a physical with that blood test. Oh my, this would be my first pap-smear and my father-in-law would take me for it. I cannot begin to tell you the embarrassment I felt. I just met this wonderful man and, oh my, it was very embarrassing. We got our physicals and blood tests and Evan took us for something to eat until they could get that over to the licensing place so we could get our marriage license. Just so you know, we passed on all counts and qualified to be married in Utah. Yeah!! My family arrived at the end of the week.

We had to get up at o'dark 30 to get to the Logan Temple for our wedding. Claude's parents and grandparents had all been married in the Logan Temple and that was where he always wanted to be married. I, on the other hand, just wanted this guy for a hubby and to have babies. This needed to be preceded by marriage in the temple but I really didn't have a favorite choice. So Logan was right for both of us. We caravaned to the Logan Temple in the dark cold morning of Friday, February 13, 1970. There was only one other brave couple getting married that day. Claude and I were by far the cuter of the 2 couples. Now, growing up in Louisiana, you didn't get much snow. I have shared that on a previous blog entry. So my heart's desire for the perfect wedding day in February was a big snowfall. Since Claude and I had neither been through the temple before, we had to perform all ordinances done previous to the sealing of the marriage. This was previous to the movie that we all now enjoy and was a live version. At that time the Logan Temple had different rooms and you walked from one room to the other as you finished in a room. This was up a little flight of steps each time. Humor interjected here...I did not have a garter belt for my hose (no pantyhose invented yet!!). So I just pulled those stocking up as far as they would go and hoped for the best. But every time we would get to another room those hose would be around my ankles. The lady at the front of the room finally came to me with some straight pins and just pinned those hose to my inside clothing. Claude was walking behind me one room move. As I started up the steps, he stepped on the back of my dress. We were an interesting couple to get through but we did it and ended up at the top of the temple where the sealing rooms were located then. As we waited for the sealing portion to begin they thought it would be nice to give Claude and I a moment alone in the sealing room. We were a mess at the point. Someone told us that there was a really big snow outside. I really wanted to see that snow. Someone forgot to tell Claude to really empty his bladder before this long day of temple work. So Claude really needed to find a bathroom. But we were blessed with a sweet man named Lyman Spillman who came in with our families and Claude's bishop from his home ward in Utah and his sisters friend and brought us mentally and spiritually to the place we needed to be for this sealing. It was beautiful and we were a very happy couple. I must say that one of the things I was most impressed with on my first visit to the temple were all these wonderful people standing at every point ready to whisper what you needed to know to do next or to help with whatever you needed. After serving in the temple in Washington DC as an ordinance worker, I came to realize these are like angels there to help you at every turn. The Lord wants you to succeed. We dressed in our Sunday clothes and left the Logan Temple in a most beautiful snowfall. The flakes where enormous and you could almost see the pattern in them as they fell.

Bonnie and Evan and reserved a place for us in a restaurant in Tremonton so we could all have lunch together.

Then we headed back to Thatcher to rest before the open house at the church in the evening. This was also provided by Bonnie and Evan. I had been asked about having a reception and I'm just not a reception kind-a-gal. I just really thought having their friends in Utah come and have punch and cookies at the family home in Thatcher would have been great. But it was Bonnie's first child to marry and she had a way she wanted some things done. So we had an 'open house' at the church which really was like a reception. It was fun to meet all of Bonnie and Evan's friends and family. Claude's dear friend Stacy Little came. His date came with a brown shoe and a black shoe on. They were about the same style and she didn't notice until they were in the light at the church that she had done this. We all had a good chuckle. My mother made my wedding dress and she did for each of my sisters when they were married. I still have it today. It has been used several times since the wedding. Once I wore it when Claude and I spoke at a youth event a church in Denver about temple marriage. The another time when we had a road show competition at church in Denver and we needed a bridal gown for one of the actors.

Finally, the end of the festivities with family came and we changed into our "let's go play" clothes. The following pictures are of me knocking on the men's room door at the church telling Claude to hurry up. The other is of the "get-away mobile". My poor little Volkswagen, from mud covered to T.P'd.

Claude and I made it all the way to Ogden. The next morning we had breakfast/lunch of Big Mac's at McDonalds. Then we headed to Salt Lake City for a couple more days. I had two night gowns for my honeymoon. One was a very pretty pink number just right for the occasion. The other was very Sandi, a flannel night gown. Okay, so I'm a very practical girl. Somehow I managed to lose the flannel one at the motel in Salt Lake City. Every time we are in Salt Lake City and drive by that particular motel, my dear hubby asks if he should stop and see if it was turned in to lost and found. Well folks...that is the story...it would be interesting to have Claude edit this with his views. Now, next month we will have another Friday the 13th of February and it will be our 39th anniversary. When that day happens, you can all chuckle and enjoy this wedding story of long ago.