Oquirrh Mt. Temple Dedication

Today we attended the open house for the Oquirrh Mountain Temple in Utah. Luckily I was able to get tickets before it was over! There were so many people there - but I am sure that was due to the fact that it was the day before the last day to tour it. We first went into a tent outside and watched a video about temples, their purpose and why church members attend them. We then joined the long line to get in.

Of course, I took a good amount of pictures of the girls while we waited.



Once inside, it was glorious. The House of the Lord is indeed magnificent. As soon as we entered, you can feel the spirit warming your heart. It is such a peaceful place to go. You are not allowed to take pictures inside for it's sacred nature. I did get some of the facade.

After we were done, they had a refreshment tent!

Family + Beautiful Temple + Cookies = a most wonderful afternoon

Our new addition!

It doesn't eat things, poo or pee in the house or yard & it is very well behaved!

We got a new (used) van today. We were needing a bigger vehicle since Minnie has been in our home. Seriously, why didn't I take pictures of the whole family - including dog - stuffed into our Oldsmobile Alero? Truly that is a sight to see! Chris would sit in the back between the girls & Minnie got the front passenger seat.

So, here she is! Our 2008 Chevy Uplander.

Fun family road trips, here we come!

Splish, Splash...finally!

Today we went for a much needed day at the pool. It has been so stinking HOT! A friend stopped by to invite Victoria to go swimming & I knew Christianna would be devastated - so we decided that we should all go together! We went to the Murray City pool and the girls had such a great time.

She is so brave when that life jacket is strapped to her!


Here is Vanessa (friend), Victoria & Christianna. Even though "Three's a crowd" they all played great together.

It was such a fun day! Thanks Kristina for letting me tag along.

(Why does it seem that Victoria is always posing? Look at that left arm action!)

Victoria's 1st Quilt

I am so proud of Victoria!

The entire time we were away on Trek, she was the fanatic quilter! Each morning she would wake up and ask Grandma what quilting had to be done before breakfast. My Mom has been working on a quilt project & is nearing the deadline. She was making small girl quilts that were to be taken to an orphanage in China. The poor dears pretty much had rags to sleep on, so the quilting guild was helping out the best way they know how & that is quilting. Once the project was done, they set to work on Victoria's very first one.

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The persistence paid off - all she has to do is make sure to get it tied before the upcoming Utah State Fair. Isn't it such a cute quilt?

Pioneer Trek 2009

We were so excited to go on Trek again! There was a lot of preparation & time spent on getting things together - but it was so worth it! We went to the Deseret Livestock Ranch in northern Utah. (Above is a picture of our family.)

We were told to choose an ancestor. I chose my Grandpa Roscoe. He is such a wonderful example to me. He was a member for a short part of his earthly life-but in those years, he truly served the Lord as much as he could & he is someone I really want to be like. I trekked in memory of him.
We started on July 15th and we walked...and walked...and walked.

Around noon the men were called to serve in the Mormon Battalion. The women were left to pull alone. We had each other and I know the Lord strengthened us to be able to do the hard pull up the very long hill! There were only 4 girls, including myself so it was difficult. A sweet YW from the Polynesian ward joined us & it really helped.

The YM were told not to help as we came up. They had to wait until we reached the gate further up. I love the Women's Pull. It teaches us many things:

• Women are strong. We can work together and do hard things.
• The YM have feelings. It was difficult for them to stand idly by as we suffered.
• With the Lord, all things are possible. He will provide a way to accomplish the things he asks of us.

Here are all of our wonderful and strong Young Women. I am so proud of all of them!

That first day we walked about 15 miles. The bread & soup was a most welcome meal. I slept pretty good that night.

The second day we walked more. The best part of it was the hoedown! After we reached our camp, we set up our tarp shelter & then there was fun to be had! Yippee! I had about 6 or so blisters, but I felt nothing as I danced around. I really missed my Chris - he had over 15 blisters & could barely walk. He hobbled around and took pictures though - what a sweetie!

It was so much fun seeing our youth as well as the youth from the second ward - many of whom were in our family when we went on trek 4 years ago with the 2nd ward. They have all grown so much - and yes, I know that I sound old when I say things like that.

Friday was considered our Sabbath Day. We ended up having our FHE this day since we ran out of time the night before. We had a fun activity - we played a variation of Red Light Green Light. We had it set up to be like our earthly journey - if you fell into temptation (moved when you were supposed to freeze) you had to start over. Chris was a great tempter, poor Todd didn't see that one coming. Chris told him that his pants were falling down & when he went to fix them, he had to go back to the beginning.

After a while of working as an individual, they joined hands and had to all work together to move across the field. It was a wonderful parallel that we need to work together as a family so we can achieve that blessing in heaven - Eternal Families. How much joy we will have when we work together and how sad it will be if one is lost.

The last day was a shorter walk...in comparison. Chris was so badly hurt that he had to drive in one of the medical vehicles. I really missed him.

We ended on July 18th. We all survived and I think a lot of the youth came out of it stronger spiritually as well as physically. I would go again and again if given the opportunity. I just love trek - here's to 2013! (Victoria will be old enough to go - can you believe that?)

Road Rash ROCKS!

Well - I like to ride my bike - ALOT! So when my BFF Kayla asked if I could go for a long ride with her Monday morning, I said "Sure!" I first had to get permission to borrow Chris's bike since mine was in the shop for some gear shifting issues.

After I got the "you better take care of my bike & not wreck it" speech, my wish was granted & we were off. We got up early and headed out around 6 am. Chris had actually been working the previous night into early morning & had his bike all ready & waiting in the garage for me! How sweet!

Well, I thought we would try a different, more scenic route to catch the Legacy trail. Unfortunately, we ended up on the wrong side of the river and on a BMX track. We tried everything - just heading north but once we came to tall grass, the fear of ticks prevented that one. We hefted the bikes over fences & everything. We even rode around on the motorbike track for a bit. That was seriously fun! We figured out that there was no other way to get there without heading back out and onto the road. SO after a good half hour or so - we were again on our way to the trail. My theory is...if you don't try it out by exploring options - you don't learn, right? Let's say:

Lesson Learned!

Not long after we were on our way on the trail - a very unfortunate event occurred.

I totally wiped out! (It was actually pretty hilarious if you ask me.)

I was behind Kayla and just looking around, enjoying the beautiful morning when I suddenly looked ahead of me to find that I was dangerously close to her back tire. Well, when you look at something while riding - odds are, you WILL hit it...and I did. My front tire got stuck to her back & then I remember flying over the handlebars and into the tall grass on the side of the trail.

Oh it HURT! My left shoulder and head took the brunt of it as I crashed into the hard dirt. I tried to get up and that hurt too - so I just sat in the middle of the trail to catch my breath as others passed us by. They asked if I was ok - & I was...for the most part. I bet that was a sight to behold: Now you see her, now you don't & what IS that cloud of dust from? He, he.

Kayla was very concerned for my well being, but after the shock of the fall wore off, I was as good as new and we commenced our awesome bike ride!

Once we got back, I thought I should document the injuries. My left thigh and right hip were feeling a little burny & I saw that I had a little road rash. My right arm was also hurting.

Day one - left thigh bruises

Right arm - that was a big knot!

This is awesome - Day 2 & the bruises were crazy DARK! This is my left thigh again.

My silver lining that day was this:

I went and had my toes done! Don't they look all cute and sparkly?

Now, since we went on Trek - I wasn't able to get any other pictures of the progressing bruises. So after we got back I took this one. It is now practically gone.

I have some words of wisdom for you & your children:

Always wear a bike helmet! It doesn't matter if you are on a road or not - you could wipe out anywhere! Seriously, if I hadn't been wearing a helmet, my face & head would have been really scratched up & bruised.

Utah Museum of Natural History

TOAD -ally awesome!! Today we went to the museum with Heather and her boys, Brett, John & Tanner. We had a very fun time. Victoria was taking so many pictures! She is a chip off the ol' block.

Right at the front of the museum, they have this dinosaur. When you feed him coins, he talks. This is always a favorite pose...pretending to be eaten by the dino. To me, it looks like he wants to lick Christianna's nose....but maybe that's just me? This is John by her, don't you love his cute crooked smile?
This here is Brett. All too serious for having a dino breathing down his neck, don't you think?
I wonder why he is scared of Minnie...she is nowhere near the size of that thing! (ha, ha)

The museum often has a featured exhibit. This time it was all about frogs. There were some very cool looking ones there. The bright ones are so awesome and poisonous. Bummer, can't have one as a pet I guess.

We thought this guy looked like he was made of wax.

They had this little water thing with the frog habitat in it. You could crawl under it & come up through the middle. Look at these two crazy frogs. Ribbit, Ribbit!

Christianna taking a tun at drawing some petroglyphs. Not bad for drawing behind the table.

This is always a crowd pleaser. There is a cool section where you can find dinosaur bones. You use brushes to sweep the dirt away to reveal a femur or something. Victoria is working hard and teaching Tanner all she knows about this recovery process.

We tried to get a picture of all the kids together in a photo booth, but ...SURPRISE...pretty much the girls were the only ones who made it into the shot. We attempted to get a picture of them all together in this little mine, but we were only able to get (from left to right) the side of Brett, Victoria & her camera, the back of Tanner, Christianna (thanks for looking at me-even though it looks like something stinks!), and John's right shoulder. Way to go everyone!

I am so glad that we live where we do! We are getting to know Heather, Aaron & the boys better. They are the BEST neighbors. Looking forward to more outings together!!

Happy Independence Day!

This year we celebrated our independence by heading to the park to see Chris & the fireworks. You see, the day we celebrate independence is the same day that pretty much the city owns Chris. Ironic, huh? It's all good - there are perks to that, like preferred parking & prompt exiting abilities.

Chris had the assignment of traffic this time. So after we arrived & said our "hello's" we walked around a bit, ending at the park.

I was sitting on the bench and looked over to see Christianna - my little monkey- climbing all over the jungle gym! (On the outside/non-safe area.)

We ended up going back over to see Chris and played frisbee for a little while.

Then we staked out our fireworks spot and enjoyed the show.