the day after we got to bear lake (and reunited with family members who we hadn’t seen in two years and who had never met our twins – it was so, so wonderful and more on that is coming in the next post!!) … moses turned five years old!!! it was a pretty epic birthday, surrounded in cousins in a beloved fun place, aaaaand there happened to be a huge party that night – mo’s cousin’s wedding!
moses woke up and unwrapped his present from mom and dad – he was really really hoping for a treasure chest and he got three! during the first months of 2021, moses became really interested in small collectibles and came to love anything shiny or sparkly. the bead and “gem” collection his school teacher had helped him start didn’t have a good place to stay safe, until the birthday treasure chests came along! very exciting. mo was able to show them off to his cousins right away, and launch right into cousin play.
moses had requested a strawberry cake, and it was so fun to have a birthday cake celebration with cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents!
after checking on the duckling eggs (more coming on that in the next post – moses was sooo excited about it), we set up a piñata to fulfill mo’s birthday tradition (x2 … he’d had a piñata at his birthday party in london but we figured we’d do it again with cousins).
then it was lake time. it was the babies’ first time suiting up for bear lake, and the birthday boy had lots of fun playing in the water and at the beach. there was also lots of setting up going on…
… for ashton and lexy’s wedding, right there on the lawn in front of our bear lake house.
little wedding guests – the twins, and the cousin twins (gabriel and etta were born just five days apart!):
love, love, loved seeing all my nieces and nephews dote over august and eve … especially loved seeing the biggest eyre cousin (max) with the littlest eyre cousin (eve):
i was on the edge of my seat the entire ceremony, thinking at any second our little boys would get really fidgety or loud, but actually moses was completely enthralled by the whole thing – the slow walk down the aisle, the words from my dad the officiator, the vows, the ring exchange, the kiss-the-bride. he really loved it!
and then of course the best part was the confetti exit! we were sitting on the aisle and so moses got to help ian set off a confetti cannon and that was very exciting. what a stunning bride and groom, am i right?!
after a few family photos …
… we headed to the beach pavilion for dinner and moses was just a liiiiiitle excited about the wonders of the kids’ table:
i decided it was a free-for-all, and this was such a treat for the birthday boy 🙂
then the big dance party started!
both moses and gabriel (but especially moses) had a super, super fun time dancing and just taking in all the fun, raucous celebration.
it was a stay-up-late night for the birthday boy (another big treat!) but he did go to sleep, joining his siblings, before the sparkler send-off.
an epic birthday, indeed!! mo had a really tough transition into a totally new life with our big move, so i’m especially glad he had a great birthday.
oh how we love our moses thames, now a whole five years old. his exuberance and wonder and energy and creativity is off the charts, and he is teaching us so much as he is learning so much. he is such a good soul and we are so lucky that he is ours!
wright now 
Just out of curiosity – there was a LOT of back and forth on Shawni’s blog about Lexie’s wedding dress. The cleavage, shoulders, slit… I am wondering what your take on it is. Thanks.
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my view on it is that she looked gorgeous! that it was the dress she chose and she loved it so that’s fantastic.
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Thanks. That’s very kind of you. I thought she looked fantastic as well, and I’m glad your family gave it the LDS/Eyrealm stamp of approval. I only asked because if I were to see those pictures standing alone and not on your blog, I would never have thought it was the wedding of two young people raised in a devout LDS household. I am extremely glad to see that very strict religion loosening up its standards on modesty.
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i definitely don’t speak for the church (or even my family, although we would all have a similar opinion on this, i believe) as a whole, haha. one of the most central tenets of belief of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints is freedom to choose and respect for others. like anyone, i am not always perfect at recognising and honouring this but it never occurred to me to think anything other than about how beautiful and happy lexy looked on her wedding day. she and ashton got to choose the wedding of their dreams and it was awesome!
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Yes, it did look like an awesome party! I’m glad there is freedom to choose now, there sure didn’t use to be. You had to go by those pesky SOY guidelines about shoulders, low cut, etc. The choices made here will mean a lot to all those younger cousins who were in attendance – when they are choosing their wedding attire, and their parents remind them of the SOY, they can say, “remember Lexie and Ashton’s wedding?…”
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there’s always been freedom to choose! and the strength of youth guidelines still exist. it’s just always been that everyone can choose to follow them or not! younger cousins will also get to choose, and they know that (i’m sorry if some youth in the church don’t understand that for some reason or another). there are consequences for every choice we make in life in general, including the judgment of others, assumptions, unsolicited advice, where and how we can do things (this dress is not an option for a temple wedding, just like some clothes are not an option for certain uniforms or dress codes, etc.). i think sometimes what we wear becomes a big conversation because it is so visible, but just like anything else it’s our choice and the consequences follow. right?
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Yes, right! I think the youth know they can choose… but I think most of them would choose to follow the guidelines just out of respect for their parents, their church, the example they set for others…. it’s like, yes I can choose to break the law, or cheat on a test…. but I would choose not to, because it’s the wrong thing to do.
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Just curious, what does SOY stand for?
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Strength of Youth.
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Thank you.
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What a great post! I had actually forgotten that Mo’s birthday and the wedding were on the very same day! Such great memories!
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Moses looks absolutely adorable in his birthday pictures!
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Back in the day when I was coming up, the guidelines in the booklet For Strength of Youth were NOT choices. Your statement “it’s just always been that everyone can choose to follow them or not!” may be true in your family or even in your ward, but I was always taught that if it came down from Heavenly Father to the Prophets to us then it should be followed.
Of course everyone has the “choice” – but most if not all of the sisters I grew up with knew that there is a right choice and a wrong choice.
You speak of “assumptions” – that dress, although beautiful by worldly standards, is not appropriate for a young woman in good standing to wear. We all know it. So the “assumption” to be made by the fact that she is wearing it is that she has left the church.
Not being judgmental, just stating fact based on doctrine.
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I love weddings and I love following and reading Charity’s posts. And I’m not LDS but have grown up along side many mormons so I am very familiar with the religion. Donna, get over it. This young lady can do whatever she wants- it’s her wedding. And if she is or isn’t in good standing- i know that is a “big” thing in your religion but even if she isn’t who cares?! She is in love and married a man of her dreams. Let it go.
The LDS faith like every other religion loves to keep women down, you are doing a good job of that too. Move on!
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How is asking them to dress modestly keeping them down? And remember “my” religion is also Charity’s religion. That used to mean we both have the same view on doctrine. I guess everything is fluid now..
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Different Lisa than the one above, but also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is no doctrine around someone’s appearance, merely guidelines and those can be interpreted many ways. One doctrine that is not left up to our own discretion is our belief in Christ and our covenanting to be like Him. President Monson said it best when he said, “Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved”. If I were Charity or Lexy or Ashton reading some of these comments, I don’t think I’d feel very loved because some had a problem with something I did and felt like it was super important to get that message across. Just a reminder to show more love, and worry less about fault finding.
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Please tell me the different ways to interpret “should not show shoulders”. I’ll wait…..
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Donna, there are different perspectives on everything in this world, and yes, things do change. Get over it!
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Of course things change. But to my knowledge the modesty guidelines given to young women have not. Please correct me if I’m wrong or if there is a newer version of For Strength of Youth that I am not aware of (that does not admonish the young women on matters of modesty).
I would also like to know the different “perspectives” that apply to the sentence “should not show shoulders”. Do you really want to rely on semantics to see just how far you can push the modesty standards?
If Jesus Christ was at that wedding, what would he say about the dress? And about the wild abandon at the dance party?
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yeah, i checked out of this discussion because i’ve already shared my opinion … but i just have to say, i think jesus would be (was!) thrilled for ashton and lexy and their love at this wedding and not concerned about shoulders or thighs (meaning, he would say *nothing* about the dress!). and i think he’d appreciate the joy expressed in the dance party, and the use of our incredible bodies which are such a gift!
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I’m sure no one will see this because it is an older post and you have “checked out” LOL. However I must take issue with you saying Jesus would be unconcerned with thighs or shoulders. Really? Doesn’t Jesus have the same views as his Father? And didn’t Heavenly Father tell your prophets to admonish young women not to show these body parts when they dress, even for a special occasion? What a joke. You and Shawni both use “grace”, “forgiveness” and “agency” to do whatever. you. want. Own it.
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i actually didn’t wear the dress, so this isn’t about me (or my sister??) doing whatever i want. and yes, really. i don’t recall jesus ever talking about clothing choices but talking quite a lot about grace and forgiveness. prophets may have admonished certain specifics, and everyone gets to choose if they submit to those specifics or not. this is an example of someone who did not, and that is her choice. my choice is to love her and celebrate her on her wedding day. i think jesus would do the same.
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What an epic day!!! What a gorgeous family! Moses, Ashton, Lexi, and your parents are all shining bright with love, joy, and light in these photos. If that’s not straight from God I don’t know what is.
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amen.
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Donna, why do you keep up the discussion?
My impression is that Charity has given all the answers she wants to give. We probably all agree on this: The beautiful dress shows her shoulders, it would not be an option for a temple wedding, the couple looks very happy, they have a large loving and supportive family on both sides and it was a beautiful wedding.
So maybe this comment section isn’t the place for further theological discussions or assumptions.
And Charity, I think you have done a wonderful job on making Moses’ birthday a highlight despite it being on a wedding day!
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