Bear Lake 2008

Todd and I joined my family in July for, what is becoming, our annual trip to Bear Lake. We had so much fun with my sister, Brooke and her family, my sister Kelly and her kids (we missed you Cory) and my cute parents. We really wished Matt could have joined us but he was being the "responsible" one of the group and stayed back to work.

While we were there we...

Went boating (thanks to the Powell's)

Went wave running (Thanks to the Gillett's)

Caught some SwEeT air on the tube (some of us preferred no air at all).

We discovered the Bear Lake Monster.

We played...

We even had time to just relax...

We really had a great time with everyone and can't wait to go back next year.

4th of July in Lake Powell

We went to Lake Powell with some of Todd's family {Connie, Amy, John, Dane & Alexa (sister, bro-in-law, their 2 kids), Mandy (cousin) and 3 dogs} over 4th of July weekend.

Let me tell you - it was quite an adventure.

Without getting into too much detail here is an overview of our trip:

~Wednesday, July 2nd~

- Left at 10:00pm for Lake Powell.

~Thursday, July 3rd~

- Spent a great day out on the lake in Hite. There was no one else there - the water was awesome.

- Tried to watch a movie outside and ended up killing a rattlesnake - went back in the motor home.

~Friday, July 4th~

- Spent some more time on the lake.

- Ate lunch.

- Made a 50 mile trek {I might be exaggerating} on the boat from Hite to Bullfrog to watch the fireworks.

- Left Bullfrog around 11:00pm to make our way back to Hite on the lake. Get lost several times.

~Saturday, July 5th~

- Boat ran out of gas at 2:00am

- Help arrived at 7:30am

- Got back to camp at 8:30am

- We all took a long nap and then came home

All-in-all it was a great trip - the weather was great, the stars were bright and beautiful and it was great to spend time with family.

The morning we got there.

Knee-boarding and tubing

Me and Mandy

my CUTE hubby!

We got take-out at the Anasazi Restaurant on July 4th so we could go back to the boat to watch fireworks.

Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days

Todd and I decided that because we are now "Pleasant Grove-ians" that we should participate in the local festivities. So we, along with some of Todd's cousins, attended the Strawberry Days RODEO!  YEE HAW!!! 

Todd and his cousin, Josh, showing off their belt buckles. Yes, Josh's belt buckle is a gun. They tried so hard to fit in and I think they almost pulled it off.

             

MUTTON BUSTIN' = Parents convincing their children to participate, child falling off the sheep, getting dirt in their face and then carried away crying. WHY, PARENTS, WHY?!? 

Todd's cousins: Ashley, Matty, Molly & Nick. We had so much fun with them!

More cousins - Josh & Aarean

By far this was my favorite event - A cow milking contest! Several teams made up of three men were each given a cow to milk. I don't know what they do to these cows but when they come out of the gate they are ANGRY. The men were being pulled and tugged through the dirt - just to try and milk these poor cows. It was HILARIOUS to watch!

P.S. Todd is looking for 2 STRONG men to participate with him next year. Any takers?

This is a MUST: Strawberries 'n' Cream

Welcome Home ~ Mom & Dad

As a lot of you know, my parents returned on June 12th from serving a CES Mission in Suva, Fiji.
As part of my birthday present, Todd and my parents both purchased tickets for me to fly out to L.A. to meet my parents and then fly back with them to Utah. Needless to say I was ecstatic! I know to some it might not seem like much BUT when you have a family the size that I do - I welcomed the one-on-one time I had with my parents.

I think I reverted back to my childhood - I really missed my mommy & daddy and it is so good to have them home. Time is a funny thing - it felt like they were gone for so long but once they were home it was hard to remember what it was like while they were in Fiji.

I met my parents at the LAX Airport. I greeted them with this sign that my sister, Brooke, made.

HoME SwEet HOmE

As promised, here are some pictures of our new pad. We are finally settled in and enjoying the new place. Even though it is smaller than my parents home in Alpine, it is PeRFeCt for the two of us.

Moving...

These last 2 weeks have been crazy. My parents are coming home on June 12th {YEAH!!!} and so Todd and I have been moving out of their house into our own townhouse in Pleasant Grove. We are so excited to have our own little place to call home. I was anxious to document this monumental step but for some reason our camera is not working which makes me sad - I will make sure to post some pictures once we get a new camera. Todd and I have cherished the experiences we have had while living in my parents home. We loved the ward we where in and loved our neighbors, especially Brooke & Mike and their kids. They are the best neighbors anyone could ask for and we will really miss living so close to them. 

We look forward to new adventures and are so grateful for the blessings in our life.

Aloha from Kauai

Todd and I just got back from a wonderful vacation to Kauai! We went with Todd's family and stayed in a home in Princeville. It was absolutely gorgeous there!

Don't be jealous but we got to drive an electric blue, CHEVY COBALT, fully-loaded with radio, steering wheel and tires. Todd enjoyed driving this fine piece of machinery.

Ke'e Beach

Balihai

To My Sweetheart ~

The other night we were sitting around with Todd's family and Connie asked me when I started liking Todd, I replied... Ever since I met him. Todd informed me that it sounded slightly stalker-ish. Just because I can remember where we met and who introduced us doesn't make me a stalker... does it?

But really, I have loved Todd ever since we met, not in a stalker-ish way but in a my life is so much better with him in it - way. And my life keeps getting better as time goes on. I am so grateful for my sweet, loving, thoughtful and caring, not to mention totally handsome, husband. There is not a day that goes by that he doesn't make me laugh and more often then not it is the kind of laugh were my stomach hurts and there are tears rolling down my eyes. He is so thoughtful of others and of me. He is dedicated to being a great provider for our little family of two (which includes watching shows such as; Mad Money and Suze Orman). He loves the Lord and is dedicated to the Gospel. I love team teaching the little Sunbeams with him in our ward - they absolutely adore him. He does things every day that let me know how much he loves me. From reading other blogs I know that there are many women who think their husbands are perfect and I am not disputing those claims, all I am saying is my husband is perfect for me and I love him dearly.

Thank you Sweetheart!

"When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.....when first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased."

 ~ C.S. Lewis ~

ROMNEY 2012 !!!

Those of you who know me, know that I am a big Romney supporter.This past week has been disappointing for me, but now I am going to start thinking toward 2012. In an effort to prepare for Mitt's victory in 2012, I thought that we should start thinking about how a Mormon president would function in the White House. I received this email and decided to share it with all of you. Enjoy!

If you are his new Bishop, here are some of your questions:

Will you allow an inaugural ball to be held in the cultural hall? Do you mount security cameras on top of each basketball rim and have a secret service detail stationed on the stage?

Can you call Mitt and Ann as the Nursery leaders...even if you really feel inspired?

Who is going to home teach them? Will you call someone who needs activation but may not pass the vetting and national security screening?

If Harry Reid and Mitt Romney are in the same High Priest group, will you need to be there to keep order?

Exactly how will tithing settlement work? Will the Secretary of the Treasury come too?

Will you be inviting the new Romney family to speak in Sacrament Meeting... and if they go a little over at what point do you ask them to sit down?

Can you call the Secret Service agents to help out in Primary?

If you give Mitt a calling and the two Democrats in the Ward raise their hand AGAINST sustaining him - partly out of habit - does the Supreme Court need to be involved?

If the President wants to hold Sacrament Meeting at Camp David or the White House for security reasons, is that a conflict of Church and State?

If you're assigned to be the Romney's Home Teacher:

Can you just drop by, no appointment?

Can you even call them for an appointment or do you have to go through the Chief of Staff?

Can you bring by Christmas sweets and cookies? Will they be analyzed? And for how many people - family, secret service details?

If you don't come can the IRS do an audit on you? Will they want to do a national security background check?

Do you have to help him move in and out of the White House?

If Ann Romney gets sick, are you allowed to bring in meals or at least tell the Relief Society about it?

What can you share with the Bishop about the Romneys?

Do you have to ask them about their year's supply?

By the way, Rachel told me that I was not allowed to post anything political to our blog. I think she is a little tired of my addiction to CNN and my emotional ties to the debates(Yes, I did scream at John McCain during a few of them...). Let's just keep this post our little secret okay?

Love you Rach!