~ The Honeymoon ~

~ September 19-25, 2010 ~

We decided to spend our Honeymoon in Utah, since we both love the mountains and landscape so much and just don't get enough time there! Besides that, it would give us a chance to have more time with family... something we definitely don't get enough of!

My sister Julie and her husband Steve gifted us with several days at their condo at the Zermatt Resort in Midway. It was absolutely beautiful.... and so relaxing! Even though we both thought we knew where we were going, we got a little lost on our way there and had to stop and ask for directions... but to give Craig some credit, he was okay with asking for directions! =)

~Zermatt Resort ~ Midway Utah ~

~ The accommodations were lush and relaxing...as you can see from Craig enjoying the master suite! ~

~ And the views from the windows and our patio were beautiful ~

During our time at the Zermatt, we took a lot of drives through the canyons, enjoying the scenery in Provo Canyon & Bridal Veil Falls, the Heber/Midway Valley, Park City, Sundance, the Alpine Loop, American Fork Canyon... we just couldn't get enough of the beauty of Utah in the fall. What a perfect time to get married in Utah ~ it was absolutely beautiful!!

~ A few of our favorite pics from Provo River & Bridal Veil Falls ~

~ Heber & Midway Valley ~

~ Park City ~

~ Sundance ~

~ Alpine Loop ~

~ American Fork Canyon ~

~ Just some pics of the two of us having fun ~

When we came back from Zermatt, we spent more time with family.  One night we went to Kovi & Jodi's house for dinner.  Craig cooked some of his yummy hamburgers and potato wedges and I had fun playing with my new grandkids =)  I'm in love.... they are so beautiful and sweet... Little 4 year old Bryton hardly left my side and wrapped his arms around my neck to say "I love you Grandma"  it just melted my heart!! ~ I haven't won over baby Coleson yet... he's a little cautious around me, but I'll win him over eventually!  I can't wait to visit them again and hope to move home to Utah where we can spend time with them on a regular basis!   What a great job Kovi & Jodi have done with their sweet family!  I'm more impressed by them every day.

We also spent more time with our parents and our siblings and their families.... but didn't get nearly enough time with everyone!  Time came to an end way too soon and we miss them all very much.  We love all of you and appreciate all you've done for us!!  We'll be back ~ you can count on it!!!!

~ Our Wedding Day ~

Craig Robert Gallagher & Leslie Dawn
"Renstrom" Robertson Gallagher

September 18th, 2010

To use my sister Julie's words... "it was a magical day!" God truly blessed us with a most perfect wedding day, filled with blue skies and sunshine, love and laughter, and best of all, shared by family and friends ~ we couldn't have asked for anything more!


I have to admit, I wanted to sleep in, knowing it was going to be a full and busy day, but I guess I was just too excited to sleep because I was awake at 5:30 am... just wanting to talk to Craig =) My morning was fairly leisurely ~ I talked to a few people on the phone, packed my bags for the honeymoon, took a shower, and visited with family. Unbelievably, there was no nervous energy... just excitement and happiness!

Craig met my family at the church to assist with the setup of tables and chairs. A huge THANKS to all my family who helped with this task! I love you all! Afterwards, he had a visit from Danny Lowe, his old friend from school and they got a chance to visit for a brief time before he had to head over to the church.

And Chad ran to pick up my flowers for the bouquet... thanks Chad =)

I got to the church about 3:30 to meet with our Cake baker, Julie Arrowsmith Stenquist... and the cake was stunning!! She did such a great job in copying my dream cake... thank you Julie!

I thought I'd have time to fix up my hair before pictures, but before I knew it, we were ready to start in with the wedding party pics... so I've had better hair days... but once I put on my dress, my shoes, my jewelry, I felt so beautiful and ready to marry my best friend, the hair just didn't matter anymore.

We went outdoors for the pics and the few I've seen so far turned out beautifully.. I can't wait to see the rest! We should have some really great family pictures. We sure love Jodi and are so grateful for her time and energy and this gift of memories for us...

Our Bridal Party included my two best friends, my sisters ~ Julie & Launa ~ and Craig's son, Kovi and best friend, Ronnie, served as his Best Men.

Our beautiful and talented granddaughter, Kailee, sang "A Moment Like This" just moments before the ceremony. She had both Craig & I in tears, along with many in the crowd. We've had soooo many compliments about her performance, and it just made the day so special! I found out later that she had not performed in public or with a microphone before, and I was just so impressed with her poise and her delivery. She was a little pro.. and I can't wait to see what she accomplishes with her vocal talent! This will be a very cherished memory of our wedding day!

We had a couple of other special performances as well. Melanie sang "Love Me Tender" for our first dance, Greg sang "Crazy Love" for Craig's dedication song to me, and Launa sang "You've Got A Way" for my dedication song to Craig. All the performances were simply beautiful and made the day so special and so personal. The DJ music was a wedding gift from my old high school best friend and her husband ~ Sherry & Scott Harward ~ it was perfect!  It was fun to hear them sing together again and the music was so professional!! Thank you to all our family members and friends who contributed such beautiful memories of our day!

I danced with 3 of the men in my life... but missed a special dance with my son, Chad, as he was suffering some pain from a recent work injury! Some of my favorite pics are below... one each with my sisters Julie & Launa, and one with my new grandson Bryton!

Craig & I both agree that the best part of the entire night was seeing family and old friends there.... to share this day with all our family members was so important to both of us and there were some very touching moments for each of us throughout the evening.  Chad & Kovi toasted us ~ and I was so touched by each of them.  Chad just has a way of making people laugh and being so sweet at the same time ~ he thanked me for being such a wonderful Mom and had me choked up with happy tears =) Kovi welcomed me into the family and their entire family has been so loving already!


My son Chad came in from Las Vegas, my brother Matt also came in from Las Vegas, one of my Dad's, Gary Robertson & his wife Carol, came in from Mesa AZ, along with all our local family members.  We had surprise visits from my cousin Barbara & Glenn Pfalmer, all the way from Nevada City California ~ and Craig's next door neighbor from childhood, Darren Patten, in from Mesquite Nevada ~ along with old friends we haven't seen for a long time ~ Danny Lowe (who is actually mentioned by name in my teenage journal!! lol), Wayne & Stacy Zakotnik, Robyn Baughman, Sherry Harward, the Christiansens, Elaine & Vennessa Wilcox, Steve Fanelli and his mother Dora, Teresa Severe.. just to name a few.  We greatly missed several family members who were unable to be there... and a special thank you goes to my Mom & Dad, Keith & Jody Renstrom, for all their hard work and contributions to the day!  We appreciated everyone who came and shared this day with us... our day was simply perfect!

After all the excitement and the visiting with family and friends ~ Mr. and Mrs. Gallagher left the church to head to the Zermatt Resort in Midway for our Honeymoon!

~ The Week Before the Wedding ~

I arrived in Utah on Friday, September 10th... without Craig. I stayed with my sister Julie and her beautiful family in Alpine. There was a lot to do before the wedding, and it gave me a chance to visit with my family, sisters, and friends prior to the big day. Julie & Steve let us borrow their Lexus 430 for the duration of our stay... what a fun car!!

Leslie in the Lexus 430

In leiu of a bridal shower, we had a girls dinner out, with the Renstrom's and Gallagher's. On Saturday, September 11th, we met at Brick Oven in Provo and had so much fun just visiting and laughing. The Gallagher's shared some stories about Craig... and of course, some stories were shared about me too. We had fun! It was nice for the girls to get to know each other a little before the wedding. In attendance: Joan, Lori & Sarah, Jodi & Kailee, Julie & Ashley, Carrie, Jerusha, Melanie, Tiaura, Launa, and Jody.

On Wednesday, September 15th, Carrie & Marisa, Julie & Ashley, Mom, and I met at the local nail salon to have manicures and pedicures for the wedding. They did a great job on my french mani/pedi and I'm glad to know my hands and feet will look good that day. It's always nice to get a little pampering too!

I picked Craig up from the airport later that night.. =) It had been 10 days since I had seen him and we were very happy to finally see each other... We are just 3 days away from the big day!!

On Thursday, September 16th, we headed over to the Utah County building in Provo to get our marriage license... I asked Craig if he had cold feet and he said "no, my feet are sweating... let's go!" He always knows how to make me laugh... that is one of the big things I love about him!

Just about to get our marriage license

On Friday, we took a drive up the canyon to revisit the proposal spot... Bridal Veil Falls. We both LOVE the mountains and canyons and miss seeing the beautiful sights of Utah, plus it was a nice way to relax and just enjoy each other before the stress of the wedding day. We took a lot of pictures and laughed and played.. we're both very excited about tomorrow and neither one of us has cold feet or nerves. I guess that's another way to know it's just right... it's meant to be... and we're finally together like we should have been so many years ago =)

My BEST friend and sweetie... Craig in Provo Canyon

Home in Utah Valley

Bridal Veil Falls - where he proposed "officially" =)

Pretending like we're scared!! lol

After our trip up the canyon, we head home to get ready for our pictures with Jodi. Once we were both all dressed up in our wedding dress and tuxedo, it felt so real to both of us! We first went over to a park near the American Fork Temple and took some outdoor pics. I had flies and mosquitos galore trapped up inside of the tulle of my dress, but Jodi said she could edit that out... lol. The bugs always seem to find me wherever I'm at!!! We headed next to the old Lehi Train Station and took some pics there.. I can't wait to see them all... I'm sure they will be amazing and we both appreciate Jodi sooooo much for being our photographer!

Our first pic - taken by Jodi 9/17/10

After pictures, we headed over to Kovi & Jodi's house to visit with the kids and take Kovi & Jodi to dinner. Kailee called me Grandma for the first time, which took me by surprise, but oh, how I loved it!! I love how this family has totally embraced me and made me feel so welcome and a part of their lives already. Bryton seemed to take a liking to me as well, showing me various pictures around the house and staying by my side throughout the visit. I love this family already!!!

After a nice dinner with Kovi & Jodi at Costa Vida (yum!!) I headed back to Julie's house for a visit with Chad and a good night's sleep... although, Chad and I talked into the night and I didn't get to bed until about 1:30 am. I guess I was just so happy to see my Chad... and was just too excited for the next day to get much sleep. When I wake, I marry my best friend... and the love of my life!!! Life is GREAT =)