Austin and Lindsey Got Married

My nephew Austin and Lindsey chose Chantilly Mansion in Layton as the place for their wedding.

My brother Andy is the father of the groom. Amanda is the mother of the groom and also the maker of the beautiful wedding cake.

Rachel was the flower girl and Maggie was a bridesmaid.

As the guests were arriving, I noticed a man who looked very familiar to me. I kept looking at him wondering why in the world he was at my nephew's wedding. He is a member of our stake's high council who is assigned to our ward. He attends our meetings every Sunday.

He lives in Bountiful and my brother's family lives in North Ogden. How in the world would they know each other well enough that he would be invited to the wedding ceremony I kept wondering?

The more I watched him, the more puzzled I became. He was carrying a black binder and was looking very official. So official, in fact, that I soon realized he was the one who was going to be officiating the actual marriage ceremony!?! That added more perplexity to my pondering.

I was very happy when he walked over to talk to me. Ahhh, the perfect chance to find out how in the world Dave Petersen knew my brother. He stuck out his hand and introduced himself as Bishop Petersen. Well, of course. I already knew his name!! The bishop part was new to me, but I just figured he must have been a bishop some time before he was called to the high council.

I gave him a questioning look as to why he felt the need to introduce himself when I knew very well who he was. I decided to play along and introduced myself to him knowing very well he knew exactly who I am. Then I started to tell him what I knew about him--he lives in Bountiful, he is in our stake, he goes to our ward every Sunday, etc.

At that point, he said matter-of-factly that I was confusing him with his IDENTICAL twin brother.

Sheesh!! How freaky! He looked and acted IDENTICAL to the way his brother looks and acts! He even sounded IDENTICAL to his brother! It was weirding me out big time!!

And the weirdness continued...! When I got introduced to his wife, Andy and Amanda reminded them and me that their son Trevor and our son Ben had served in the same Singapore Mission together.

Ben and Trevor were companions for a short time and they were also roommates in college for a while. I remembered how the Petersens came to Ben's homecoming talk four years ago and I'd met them then.

That's probably why I felt like Dave Petersen looked so familiar when he got assigned our ward and first started attending each week.

It's all crazy and I must admit I just couldn't keep my eyes off Bishop Petersen all evening because I still could have sworn it was the Dave Petersen I know that was standing there before everyone performing the marriage ceremony.

It was kind of nice when Bishop Petersen started the ceremony by telling how he had been honored to receive the Eagle Mentor Pin from Austin. The pin is awarded by the Eagle Scout to a person who was instrumental in helping him earn his Eagle rank. Bishop Petersen had been Austin's Scoutmaster.

Nice little personal touch to help us know the friendship and bond he and Austin have with each other.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Ward.

I loved taking photos before and after the wedding.

Sarah brought along a very cute little companion with her to the reception. We were able to visit with my cousin Angie and her sweet family for a while.

Time for the newlyweds to leave on their honeymoon.

The sun was casting a glow in our direction as we were leaving, so we had to stop for a photo.

Rebecca had every intention and desire to be there, but her family had all been taking turns being sick and she didn't want to infect anyone at the reception.

I was so glad Sarah had been able to attend that evening. Lincoln was a hit with everyone who saw him. He was giving out smiles galore as he was being passed from person to person. Such a little angel baby!

I had to laugh at what Sarah wrote when she posted this photo on Instagram.

"My date tonight flirted with every lady (and man) he saw, puked all over himself and passed out before the party was even over. But I'd still go out with him again."