Wow! Its been a month since I blogged last! I've got some catching up to do! So, here goes.... Over Mother's Day weekend, our ward Primary had an activity at the Temple. So, we went as a family and walked around the grounds and had a picnic lunch. It was great. Thanks to Rhonda who ALWAYS has her camera, we have some pictures that captured the moment.

After we ate our lunch the kids ran around on the grass and climbed trees. It just doesn't get better than this!

Of course, it was hard to get J out of the trees. He is 100% pure boy. He LOVES to climb trees. He looks for a tree to climb everywhere we go!

This is most of the kids in our Primary. We are missing a few families. I'd guess that this is about 80%. I know somewhere out there, a picture of my family in front of the temple is floating around in somebody's camera. If someone could forward me that picture, I would really appreciate it!!

It was a great day. The kids all took the opportunity to touch the temple. President Monson said to let our children go to the temple, and walk around the grounds, and reach out and actually touch the temple. And as they touch the temple, the temple will touch them. As well it has. We love the temple and are excited to get to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House as a family when we go visit later on this month. (Hopefully, I'll remember my camera then!!)

Eight is Great!

Today was a big day! B was baptized a member of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We love and highly value our membership in the church and it was such a blessing to be able to see her make this choice- and really understand what she was doing. She's so sweet. I could tell by watching her, the sweet change that came over her as she came out of the water all sparkly clean, and again after she was confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I felt the spirit so strongly and I know that Heavenly Father was smiling down on her today.

My brother Brad's daughter and B are the same age- only 6 weeks apart. It was funny that their baptisms ended up on the same day. It made for a very crazy, but very fun and meaningful day for our family. Betsey, a friend of my sister-in-law(Julianne), took pictures of the two of them together a few weeks ago, in their MATCHING white dresses. We scored and found them at Costco for a REALLY great price. Anyways, Betsey did an amazing job! We really appreciate all of her hard work!

Thanks to all of our family and friends for their love and support. We have such a wonderful ward family that really supports and loves each other. And as far as family goes, Brian and I lucked out on the parent and sibling side of things. We are surrounded by wonderful people who we look to as our examples in so many ways. We were blessed to hear from both grandmas and both grandpas at her baptism today. It was a great experience to be able to hear their testimonies. My heart is so full! I don't know what more I can say!

Eight years ago...

Eight years ago our lives changed forever- when we welcomed our sweet little B into the world! I can't believe she's 8! Life goes by so fast. Although her arrival coming into the world was an extremely long and grueling process- I was in labor for 28 hours with her! But she was worth every bit of it.

A few of her baby-baby pictures. She's grown so much over the last 8 years. We are excited to continue watching her learn and grow. We love you B! You're growing up into such a beautiful girl. Your kind, and thoughtful, and so fun and silly. You are so much fun to be around. We are so happy you are apart of our family.

Annual Family Ski Trip

Well, here they are! Photos of our annual family ski trip-we went the 10th-12th of this month. We love to go skiing as a family. Ever year we go up with my sister Gina and her family and stay a few days in the mountains to ski. Did I mention that we LOVE it? Its a great chance that our family has to spend lots of time together just having fun. That is our one objective, and we have a lot of it. The first picture is of Me(lady in the light green and gray jacket), and B and J (both in blue jackets!) My niece and nephew snuck in the picture behind us-( their keepers). And of course Brian is taking the picture! Shamefully, we never got a picture of the entire family together. Sad, but very true. Anyway, this year we were able to go up for three days, two nights. We all did better with our "Skiing Skills". Both B and J improved enough to take the edgy wedgie off of their skis. What is an edgy wedgie you ask?? It sounds very uncomfortable, but it is not, I assure you, and has nothing to do with an actual wedgie! So, its a bungee cord hooked to the top of both skis to ensure that the skis neither spread too far apart, or get crossed over one another. Very nice for kids who are beginners.

You will notice how lovely we all look in our ski goggles. They totally rock. When you're out on the slopes its all about keeping warm and having fun.
Here's a shot of Brian and I at the very top of the slopes with Donner Lake in the background.



We were out all morning with the kids, and they got tired. So, we sent them back inside with Gina we and got to stay out and ski a little longer with the big kids and my brother in law Eric. Now, Eric and his older kids are really good and just like to have fun. They go off the paths and into the powder, through the trees. I call that crazy- they call it fun. Brian loves to join them. So I got to follow all of them through stuff I never would have done on my own. I was in powder up to the top of my thighs, but I have to say, I had a great time.
This is S. This was her first time EVER on skis. She didn't like it at first, but daddy took her up on to the chair lift and that made it all worth it for her. For days after we came home she kept asking to go skiing to ride on the ski chair. She said, "I big. I go ski." It was so much fun to watch her out there with dad. We can't wait until next year to see how she does by herself!

Here's a shot of J on the lift with Brian. Here's how our family works when we ski. Brian can do it all- including ski backwards with a camera. He also teaches all of our kids to ski, by skiing with them, between his legs. He's a master. I'm exactly opposite. I can ski (sort of) and can help my kids if they fall. But that's about all. My kids are super racers who think I'm totally slow and tolerate skiing with me. They love to ski with dad. Its OK to ski with me when dad goes off and does something they are not willing to do-(thankfully, they are not dare devils!! But we are buying them helmets to wear next year!)

Here's super sweet B, who thinks she's going on 17. She is getting so good. This year was the first year we let her ride the ski lift without an adult with her (Dad's idea- obviously not Mom's)! I had to take a few really, really deep breaths, but I made it through. She's a very responsible and careful person. SO, I had to trust her and let her do something I knew she was totally capable of doing. Its just so high off of the ground, it made me nervous. Anyway, she had a great time skiing with her family and cousins. As you can see, we had a really great time and can't wait until next year. We had two days of incredibly clear weather, and one day where it was a little snowy. But it snowed every night, so there was always fresh powder to ski on in the morning. Perfect conditions- or as Brian would say, "Dude, the conditions are stellar!" This was our 6th year, and we hope to keep going for many years to come.