Woody's Balti Palace: August 2014

I like to look for rainbows...

We had to come home from Utah when we did so we could return in time for Levi's baptism on July 12.

We came home to cold water (our water heater broke down before we left for Utah and we tried to get it fixed and were told that they needed to order a part... so we waited to hear from them... and waited and waited... until finally I gave up waiting and called them again hoping to be abel to come home to hot water... well, they neglected to inform us that WE needed to order the part, not them, so cold water it was until we got the part and they could fit us into their schedule to fix it). The day we got hot water back was a glorious day, indeed. I had to share a picture of my joy on instagram. Its a good thing we got it fixed when we did, we had company coming to town!

July 12 came, along with Grandma and Grandpa Hoss and Grandpa and Grandma Woody. The morning of the 12th we decided that the time had come for our family to add one more member to our ranks... so we adopted Murphy.

The baptism was at 5 pm. There were two kids from the stake scheduled to be baptized this day but a new family just moved in and their son got to join the baptismal service as well. He and Levi are in the same class at church!

I love the pre-baptism, all dressed in white picture. He's so excited! Levi got to choose: someone to give a talk about the Holy Ghose, someone to say the closing prayer, and the closing song. He also got to choose the music leader.

Grandpa Hoss gave the talk, Grandma Jane gave the prayer, Grandma Hoss lead the music (even the musical bouquet while we waited for kids and dad's to get dressed-which proved a somewhat funny experience), and the closing song was A Child's Prayer.

We're so happy that Levi chose to be baptized. We know that it was the right choice to get him on the pathway back to our loving Heavenly Father.

After the baptism we tried to get a good family photo... Jane's hand showed up in most of our camera shots, but that's ok, she is part of the family, after all!

Levi is such a sweet heart. He has so much love to share. Expect great things from this boy, they're coming.

We got to enjoy visiting with the grandparents for a couple days after the baptism as well. We are so blessed!

Reunited and it feels so good... Bryner edition

Oh, my Texas family. I can't express how much I adore this family. Brandi and I were chatting this spring and when I learned that she and her family were coming to Utah this summer I had to make sure that we would see them!

We were able to meet up with them at a park after our nephew Gibson's baby blessing. It was SO much fun to see them!!! Its been way too long! And these kids have grown so much!!! Do you like how Levi is acting like he's actually taller than Ben? ha. That'll be the day.

Beautiful Brandi.

This kid is so grown up!!! When last we saw him he was only 2!

He and Bolton seemed to enjoy it each other.

And miss Miranda still loves the babies. She's going to be such a great babysitter!

Jonas doesn't seem like he's as much of a giant compared to her anymore.

Bryant and Jill have a lot in common, they're both the oldest and very responsible, they're both voracious readers... but she not only looks older than him but she certainly acts like she could be a teenager! And not in the bad attitude kind of way. She's such a great young lady.

I love Brandi so much.

We definitely should get together with them again, it was far too short a reunion. But it was so amazing that we made it happen at all! Thanks Bryners for driving through at the same time we were in Ogden!

This Sunday was our last day in Utah for the summer of 2014. We hit the road back to Cali on Monday. We had a wonderful time and were able to see so many people that we miss and love. We have been so blessed to become friends with such fabulous people across this great nation of ours.

Reunited and it feels so good! High School edition

Ethan wasn't the only one that got to reconnect with friends while we were in Utah, a few of my friends from high school were also in from out of town and we were able to get together on July 5 along with some of the locals. :)

We all (mostly all) brought our kids and husbands along as well. It was fun watching the kids all dig in the sand together. Ogden Parkway is such a great place.

Many treasures were found and some other treasures were buried, as you'll see below. :)

Love these ladies.

They just get more beautiful as time goes by.

Baby Abee was enjoying snacking on all the fresh fruit at the table.

Baby Hadlee was passed around. She is a doll!!!

What a pleasant surprise to see Joni and her family there! I think Brooke is a perfect blend of her mom and dad. She's so beautiful!

Here's to the ladies who lunch.

Its fun to see each other as moms, but still be the same people we used to be... hopefully just a little more wise.

Ethan enjoyed talking with Craig and Gary. Poor guy was left to on his own, I was busy catching up!

It was so much fun to see everyone again! I'm so blessed to have kept in touch with these remarkable women. What a fantastic example they are to me.

And we proved that we can still giggle like school girls.

When we were getting ready to leave one of Kate's daughters had buried a shoe in the sand and couldn't find it so we all had a treasure hunt to help out...

After it was found Bryant and Jonas started battling on the tabletops while they waited for us to finish saying goodbye.

Its funny, I feel like I know a lot of the kids that were here (because of blogging), but they have no idea who I am.

It was also kind of weird to realize that some of these kids are actually the same age, like Jane and Jonas. Its hard to remember ages when just looking at pictures.

And the perfect way to end any party? In a mud puddle, of course.

Until next time, ladies. Love you!

Independence Day 2014

The fourth of July is always a fun day for our family, but its even more fun when we're in Utah!

Ethan woke up bright and early and couldn't get back to sleep... he had running on the brain so he headed up to Henefer to their 5k. He called me on his way home to let me know that he won his age group! Way to go babe!

That morning we headed to a park in Layton where Ethan's brothers were kind enough to set up an awesome gigantic slip'n'slide. They have these billboard signs that are huge, they line up two of them together, connect at least 5 hoses to the bathroom across the park, slather the slide in dish soap and then let it rip! It was so much fun!! The kids had such a good time. Levi's new friend Garrett even got to come for a little bit. The pictures must be on Ethan's phone, so I'll try to add them later.

After the fun (but exhausting) slip'n'slide party we headed back to Scott and Jane's for cake and ice cream for Levi's birthday! He requested a lemon cake decorated to look like the National Park symbol, this is what I came up with. Not a bad buffalo for only having a zip loc bag with the corner cut off. :)

He enjoyed his cake.

And his presents.

The hi-chews were a really big hit!!!

To top the night off, we headed down to Holladay to Ethan's brother's house. We were well fed and couldn't have asked for better company. It was such a great way to spend the evening.