Jordan and Faith are Married!

Yay Jor Jor and Faith are married! They got married on September 7th, 2018. We are so happy for them. They are so good for each other and Faith fits right into our family. The whole days couldn't have gone any better. The temple sealing was wonderful and it was the first time Cade and I have ever been to the Draper temple not freezing and/or super windy. It was a gorgeous day!

Then the luncheon was just across the street at the chapel right across from the temple. My mom is sure glad to have her part done and done! I was asked to sing at the luncheon and so I finally found a song I wanted but asked Cade if he could sing with me, learn the piece on the guitar and OH...can you change the words too??? He was awesome and came through for me. We sang the Lava Song from a Disney short and changed the words so it fits Jordan and Faith. Everyone loved it and laughed more than I thought they would. It was so fun singing with Cade again.

Then I left the reception and went home to get the girls ready for the reception. They looked SOOO cute in their matching purple dresses and flower crowns. So cute. Cade's mom was with me that night. She drove all the way up from Prescott to help me out that weekend since Cade left straight from the luncheon to Logan to get ready for his huge bike race he had been preparing for all year (LOTOJA). But the reception was BEAUTIFUL and the weather was perfect. There were over 500 people who attended and most stayed so it was super crowded. Lots of people who love Jordan and Faith!

We are super happy for them and excited for their future. Faith has already been counted in the running for the favorite aunt/uncle. The kids love playing with her.

School Starts Again...I Still Can't Believe It

This year Emma is in 3rd grade and in Mrs. Webster's class. Reese is in 1st grade (full-day!) and in Mrs. Leeflang's class. Nora is going to Learning Dynamics preschool in Lehi and has Ms. Fonnesbeck. Nora has been having a hard time some days saying, "I don't want to go!", but usually she still does fine and ends up liking it after all is said and done. They are all growing up fast!

Yellowstone Adventures!

We drove half way to Pocatello, Idaho Wednesday night so we could break up the drive. Then Thursday morning we met our friends, the Steel's (Shane and Sadie & kids), at Bear World. Which ended up being perfect because we didn't see a single animal in Yellowstone (besides squirrels and birds!). The girls loved bear world because they got to go on rides, see lots of bears and animals AND Emma and Reese got to feed the bear cubs! That was a highlight and so fun to watch. Then we drove to a burger place and ate with the Steel's, then drove to West Yellowstone to check into our KOA campground.

At the KOA we checked into our cabin and went swimming. Then at night we drove to downtown West Yellowstone and walked around shops, got the girls their souvenirs, ate at a pizza place and played at the park. It was super fun. Unfortunately, that night Nora was throwing up from about 1 am to 8 am. I was right there and caught every throw-up in a plastic bowl I had brought. That was definitely not our favorite night...but the show/vacation must go on. So on we went!

On Friday morning we had planned on getting out super early but because Nora was sick all night, our plans changed to late :). We drove first to Old Faithful and got there before there were too many crowds. Then we drove to the Fairy Falls hike to see the Grand Prismatic Spring from the overlook there. It was so beautiful. Nora was sick so she took the hiking backpack and Lucy had to be held (mostly by me but occasionally Cade did double duty :)). Then we went back to the gift shop for Cade and ate some lunch. Then we called it a day in the park- we were way too tired. We went back for naps (long ones!), more swimming, bike rides and treats. Then at night we drove to downtown West Yellowstone again and ate at home-cooking restaurant.

The last day (Saturday) we took our time packing up and eating breakfast. Then we drove way up north to Mammoth Hot Springs. They were super cool but the girls didn't like the egg smell :). After Mammoth we drove to the Artist paint Pots and got to see the mud bubbling and squirting out- the girls thought that was fun. Then we left Yellowstone and drove back home! We all had so much fun. Aside from a throw-up it was very successful! :)

11th Anniversary at Bear Lake

Our anniversary tradition is so much fun! This year we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast right by Bear Lake and went to the Brigham City, Utah temple.

In more detail, we dropped the girls off at Grandma Bleak's house in Bountiful around 1:00 p.m. Friday and drove to the north shore of Bear Lake. When we got there around 4:30 the wind was pretty bad. The people that rent the wave runners out said that we could just go out for a bit if the wind was too bad. Well, it was too much for me. We went out for maybe 20-30 minutes and brought it back in. Luckily we got a lot of our money back. Swimming in the warm waves, however, was SUPER fun! We swam for a while until Cade was too hungry :). We ate burgers and fries and then checked into our bed and breakfast. This Bluebird Inn was SOOOO cute. The landscaping was beautiful and the place so quaint and cute. After we checked in we drove downtown to scooter around and get raspberry shakes. We had fun scootering and caught the tail end of the concert and boutiques. Then we went back to the bed and breakfast to try out the hot tub (which was a little sketchy so we didn't stay in long!). Breakfast the next morning was super yummy and we ate with strangers from out of town and enjoyed random conversation. Then we packed up and before we drove to the Brigham City Temple, we dropped by Sis. Maynes home to say hi. She was one of the senior sister missionaries I got super close to in Nauvoo when I served there. She showed us her beautiful homes that she rents out and actually offered for us to plan our families vacation next year in one of her homes! Then we drove to the temple and enjoyed a session and sealings together. It was a very small but beautiful temple. Then we ended by saying hi to the Stephenson family from Cade's mission and drove back to Bountiful to pick up the girls. It was such a fun anniversary! Pretty soon we'll run out of Utah temples and will need to branch out but for now we still have I think 5 Utah and a few Arizona temples we can do while we still have small children at home.