"did you get your packet?"

A couple of days after Boo and I got engaged, Nancy invited us, along with my parents, out for a dinner/wedding planning meeting. My parents and I figured this meant we were going to brain storm about a few major decisions (i.e. dates, locations, maybe even go as far as colors) and spend the rest of the time chatting and such. Nancy had a different plan. Before the waiter could even serve the water, everyone at the table was handed their own personalized initial wedding itinerary. As Nancy took the six of us through this “first-draft” of the wedding plan we soon let on to the fact that every major decision had been made, every little detail had been sorted, and every foreseeable crisis had a foreseeable solution. After about 2 minutes of this, I noticed my parents (who in my lifetime have never put pen to paper in an effort to articulate any plans) look at each other, smile, and then relax back into their chairs. Smiling, my Dad whispered, “This is going to be easy, all we have to do is show up!” It was great! If Nancy is anything, she is a planner.

Since that first experience, I have come to expect a large manila envelope to arrive in the mail well before any major family event happens. Every time we open our “packet” I almost hear a game show host say, “Johnny lets show them what they’ve won!” Then we get to pour through the agendas, maps, and pamphlets while beholding the most amazing adventures that have been laid out for us in astonishing detail. One example of the fine detail that went into every “packet” was a small manila envelope containing the exact change we would need to park at the Hover Dam parking complex (stapled to directions of how to get to the dam which were folded inside a brochure describing attractions at the dam). Simply amazing! Everything always goes off without a hitch.

I will always love Nancy for her plans. The night I proposed to Beckee, we came back to the house to find the whole family waiting to congratulate us on our engagement. After about 2 minutes of hugs and such Nancy piped up and said, “I know this may sound weird, but a couple of months ago I went ahead and reserved Gardner Village for you guys at the end of December. I also booked a couple of temple dates at around that time as well. We can work out the details later.” Amazing! From that moment on I was not only part of the family, I was part of the plan.

Happy Birthday Nancy!