We are in the Children’s Story equivalent of 2 Nephi – Jacob, long past the time when Lehi’s family crossed the ocean. In that account, the story explains:

As they [Laman & Lemuel] came toward Nephi, he commanded them not to touch him because he was filled with the power of God. Laman and Lemuel were afraid for many days.

Then the Lord told Nephi to touch Laman and Lemuel. When Nephi did, the Lord shocked them. Laman and Lemuel knew the power of God was with Nephi.

Sometimes when I read that to Aiden and James, I would substitute “zap” for “shock,” just to mix things up. Still, when it came time to ask Aiden what he remembered, the standard “I don’t know” was the only thing he would ever really say consistently.

Then, this past Sunday, I was at the computer uploading some pictures from our wedding photography CD’s, and I heard the kids playing in the basement. Aiden was standing on the couch, and James was on the floor – this greatly exaggerated Aiden’s towering stature over his younger sibling. They were laughing pretty good, apparently with Aiden holding something just out of James’ reach. Suddenly, I heard Aiden say:

James, don’t touch me. I have the power of God! ZAP!!!

Well…

I guess they were listening after all.

Just two days ago, Johanna emailed me a link to the gallery our wedding photographer had just posted of our wedding photos. She was beyond excited, and wanted me to see ‘em all.

And so I went to the gallery and looked around, and I must say that some of ‘em turned out pretty good. I have my favorite, as does she, and soon we will be going to our photographer’s house to get a CD of our pictures.

One of the great things about this guy is that he is giving us full copyright on the pictures…we can make as many prints as we want! Pretty rare for a wedding photographer, from what I hear.

So the wedding photo idea started out really well. Then, last night, I got to give her sister our ‘wedding gift’ of editing her wedding announcement photo in Photoshop (I love my job and all the kewl programs they give me.) It wasn’t bad, but it took four hours to get it all done. She was happy, in the end, which is all that matters.

We had a wonderful time at the Hines Mansion in Provo. The penthouse suite was an awesome room that Johanna just loved to death. There was a hot tub, sparkling cider, rose petals, the works. Not bad, in my opinion, and for the right price, too.

Saturday we started out by buying some shoes for Johanna, since she forgot to bring any pair other than her dress shoes from the wedding dinner…and they are the most uncomfortable shoes in the world. Believe me, I tried them on…erm…I mean…just kidding. We also noticed as we were leaving the Hines Mansion that we didn’t have a camera. I had been migrating Johanna’s bags from her Mom’s car, and had missed the camera because it wasn’t in the back seat with the rest of ‘em. So when we bought the shoes, we bought two disposable cameras. One has already been used up, the other will soon join it.

The drive to Vegas took FOR-EV-ER! Nascar enthusiasts clogged the freeway so badly that it took over an hour to go three miles on the freeway. Once we got past the race track, it improved a bit. But since we had a dinner reservation at Excalibur at 8:30, we were in panic mode and it was not a pleasant drive.

Once we got to the hotel, we parked the car, ran to get a taxi to take us to the show, and en route saw his clock was at 6:45, not 7:45 like ours. I took out my cell phone, and sure enough, it said 6:45 as well. Stupid time zone difference had us both worked up and now we had an hour to kill instead of each other! So, we went to the M&M factory to look around, and will go back to buy stuff before we leave.

The Tournament of Kings was AMAZING and LOUD! Well worth the money spent, and we bought a nice picture to remember the time there. And we were so tired by the time the show ended, we decided that we would sleep in the next morning, and hit an 11:00 sacrament meeting instead of the 9:00 one.

After attending church, we decided to drive out Hoover Dam for a dam tour, some dam pictures, all the dam jokes I could think of telling, and the best dam excuse I could ever hope for to sound like Grandpa Dodge. There was a sign clearly posted that said no pets were allowed on the dam, and yet I saw a number of ladies carrying lap-dogs around. Johanna wouldn’t let me say “Hey Lady, didn’t you see the sign? No dam dogs!” I was rather disappointed. We had a couple good laughs about that. But enough dam talk, let’s get on with the rest of the day.

Actually, that is all we have done so far today. We will be having sandwiches for dinner soon, and later this evening we will go see some of the free stuff that is here, so we don’t break the sabbath. In a few minutes, I will let Johanna post her version of the recent events here for your enjoyment. Hearing two sides of the story is always more entertaining than hearing just one. Hers will likely be a lot shorter than mine, I ramble a bit. Anywho, we are having a grand time here. More later!

Actually, it is all very exciting to me, and I am unable to go back to sleep because I am nervous of what to expect, worried that I will forget to pack something or bring something…I told Johanna that my nerves would hit me this morning, and I was right.

Aiden and James had a sleep-over last night with me, so that Johanna could get ready for the wedding without all the distraction that two young children can produce. Besides that, I have their tuxes and am best suited to get them ready for the whole event, so it seemed only natural that I take them for the morning. At one point, I asked Aiden if he was having a good time on the sleep-over, and he said he was. I told him that starting today, we would have sleep-overs together forever, since he, James, and his Mommy would live with me. He was half asleep, so I didn’t get much of a reaction from him…but I think he was happy with the idea.

Anywho, since I can’t sleep, I thought it might help calm me down if I wrote a little something about this transition, got my feelings into words. This is probably the only time you will find me posting something so personal on this blog…well, until Johanna and I have another kid…that might top this one. But here are some random thoughts that have been fleeting through my mind this morning:

• I wonder if Johanna will like the place(s) I have chosen for us to stay on our honeymoon. (For those of you who are interested, we will be in the Hines Mansion in Provo Friday night, and in Vegas we will be high above the Strip in the Stratosphere)
• I wonder if Aiden and James will start calling me Daddy right away, or if it will take a while.
• I wonder if I am ready to be called Daddy right away.
• I don’t really have a choice in that, I AM Daddy right away.
• I wonder if I will cry at the wedding. I actually hope so.
• I need to get some sunglasses before the wedding. 4 pairs, I think that would be a super-cute picture, Johanna and I and the kids all ‘chillin’ in shades. (Thanks Groves’ for the inspiration on that one)
• I need to remember to pack everything. EVERYTHING.
• I can’t remember the engraving inside my ring ‘word for word’…is that bad?
• I am glad I got a paycheck yesterday, it will make the honeymoon price tag a little less painful.
• I really have had a good single life so far, my family means the world to me.
• I’m talking like I’m at a funeral, they will still mean the world to me.
• Will Dad’s bowtie fit? Will Dad Evelyn’s fit? Will they think I am weird for making them wear real bowties? Will they let me tie them on them?
• Will the temple let me wear my tux shirt through the ceremony, or do I need to quickly iron a white one.
• I had better iron one.
• I love Johanna. LOTS.
• What will happen with the wedding dinner? Will everyone show up on time? I told my friends on the phone that it was at 7:00, but afterwards found out that it was actually at 6:30.
• What will happen between the wedding at the dinner? The wedding ends at 3:45, the pictures take roughly an hour…
• I found out last night that Sarah has a blog…I need to get that address and link to it.
• I hope the car makes the trip to Vegas and back alright. The thing has had trouble starting up lately.
• I need to brush my teeth bad. If Johanna doesn’t kiss me because of bad breath, it would be a really bad omen.
• I hope that she brushes her teeth.
• I can’t brush the kids’ teeth, I don’t have their toothbrushes.
• I’m nervous.
• I’m excited.
• I love technology. But I love Johanna more, you see. But I still do love technology. Always and forever.
• Camels are weird. Why am I thinking about camels? Oh yeah, Rachel made a comment recently about getting proposals from Arabs who had tents in the desert.
• Rachel would probably love to go to the art gallery that Johanna and I are going to.
• Speaking of art…I need to make sure Johanna gives the camera to someone to take pictures at the temple.
• I need to get the memory card out of the computer.
• I love Aiden and James. They are amazing. Even when they are obnoxious, they are amazing.
• I wonder if Chewie will ever behave and get house trained for Johanna.

Enough of this, I have to get ready for the day. I should triple-check all my bags, eat something to soothe my stomach, triple-check things again, etc.

I guess that’s gonna be all for today. Next time y’all hear from me, it’ll be post-honeymoon. Ta-ta!