Mini Reunion

Joey just got back from his missionary service in Brazil at the end of September and John is leaving for his mission to Las Vegas next month, so we all thought it was a good occasion to get together in Utah for General Conference. Since we are distantly related to the Roots now (Oksana married Joe Root), and they have a big house in the Salt Lake valley, they offered to put all of us up for the weekend. Sam, Joey, John, Ben, Oksana, Kate, Tristan, Lucy, Saren, Amy, and I all stayed at their house. We wondered if the girls would understand whose house it was where we would be staying. They are pretty observant because by they end the weekend they just referred to it as "Kate's grandma's house".

Our family went down before the Missouri crew got there and visited with Taran and Stanley for a day or so. Taran is just about ready to have her baby, so it may have been the last time we would see her before the baby arrives. We watched the first sessions of General Conference with them on TV.

When everyone from Missouri came out, we had a good time hanging out and catching up. We hadn't seen Joey in two years. Little Kate has grown up in the last six months or so. No one had seen little Amy yet either.

On Sunday we all spent most of the day at Temple Square where the huge Conference Center is located. Taran and Stanley came up for a while. Jeff and Renee were out visiting Billy and Jana and so they came over to join the fun as well. We got permission to bless Amy while we were in Utah. I asked at the visitors center if there was a room we could use and there was. We got to bless Amy in a room right near the base of the ramp leading up to the beautiful statue of Christ. It was cool because all of the Melchizedek Priesthood holders in our family (my {Tom's} side) were there that day to participate. It was a simple little witness to me of the blessing of the gospel in our family and the legacy that my grandmother and her sister have created by their joining the church.

{For those of you who are not familiar with an LDS baby blessing, it is an unofficial ceremony in which a priesthood holder says a prayer to officially declare the child's name to the Lord and offer her a blessing of good fortune for her future. It is way to have an official name to go onto the records of the Church until she actually becomes a member of the Church after she is baptized. In the LDS church we do not get baptized until we are considered accountable for our own choices. Until then, little children are innocent. So in some ways it is similar to a traditional Christian christening but without the official ordinance of baptism. We usually just do the blessing in the local church building, so that is why it was special for us to do it there in Salt Lake City on Temple Square.}

Most of my family had gotten tickets to Conference and so they went into the Conference Center in the afternoon. We had the kids with us, so we just enjoyed napping and listening to the conference on the beautiful Salt Lake Temple grounds.

That night Kathy Root made a cake shaped like a beehive and we celebrated Saren's 2nd birthday a little early. It is fun to be with our family. My best friend Mike and his new wife London were there as well.

It was a short weekend, but we got to listen to the prophets speak, bless our sweet daughter, and enjoy the company of many of our loved ones.

Taran is ready to pop!

Hanging out at Taran and Stanley's (Amy found a nice little perch)

Sam and Joey with Amy

Oksana and Kate

Pop loving being a grandpa

Hanging out at Temple Square

Lucy and Amy

Beautiful Amy

Taran and Amy

Here is everyone that participated in Amy's blessing: my brothers John and Joey,
Me (with Amy), Pop, my brother-in-law Stanley, my uncle Jeff, and my cousin Billy

Saren loved playing around the "Reflection Pool" by the temple

She and Lucy also did their toddler size damage to the grounds by picking some irresistible flowers

The temple in the Reflection Pool

She's cautious at first...

...getting excited...

...stopping to pose...

...drenched but so excited!

Here we are with Salt Lake Temple on the left of the picture and the Conference Center in the distance on the right.

Saren is two!

Civil Defense Caves and friends

This week for Family Home Evening we got to go explore the civil defense caves with some friends of ours from our ward. There was just a hole in the ground out in the middle of nowhere that we climbed down in and it led into this amazing cave. The girls were a little hesitant at first because it was very dark and a little cold, but i think they enjoyed the adventure and getting to hold the flashlight! We also had a bonfire and cooked our tin foil dinners!

Saren, Tom, and Lucy coming out of the cave.

Lilly, Lucy, and Saren posing in the cave for a picture

Odin, Saren, Braden, Lucy, and Lilly (friends from the ward!) We love our ward!

My handsome husband and my cute little baby Amy!!

Playing in the Rain

Well today was the hottest day of the year so far. I was out playing soccer this evening and then we went and worked in the garden for over an hour. We could see the dark clouds rolling in and thought that it would rain soon. When it came, it hit with power. I haven't seen it rain here like this in a while. Rexburg must have a self cooling mechanism built in. If it gets into the 90s it automatically starts raining to cool everything down. Since we were already getting drenched by the time we got home, we decided to just enjoy the rain out in our yard. The girls had a blast. I love summer. I also love watching my sweetie dance in the rain. It reminds me of when we were teenagers.

To the Top of "R" Mountain We Go

We went over to the Menan Butte again this year ("R" Mountain) and had a good time. We went with a trip that was organized through the school. Last year when we hiked up there we carried two babies. This year, the girls seemed so much more grown up. I carried Saren in a child carrier pack and she had a good time. Tristan carried Lucy over all the parts where Lucy was too tired, but Lucy did a pretty good job for a almost-three-year-old. Tristan was quite the hiker herself being pregnant and all. Not many women I know want to climb up a volcano in their seventh month of pregnancy. I has been the hottest week in Rexburg this year too so add that to it. Good times.

The Idaho Falls ZOO

A couple weekends ago we went down to Idaho Falls (mainly to get out of Rexburg, but also because we heard there was a zoo there!!) Lucy really liked the animals- some of her favorites were the huge turtles, a little leopard, a baby camel, and of course the ducks. Saren was intrigued as well- I think she made some of the animals nervous too though. It was kind of funny.

Aren't we cute...

There was a play area with a chicken, an egg hatching, a nest, etc. We went here when Lucy started getting restless so she could play around.

There was also a petting zoo for kids, Lucy wouldn't touch the goats but Saren did! It was so cute.

4th of July Fun

This year for Independence Day, we stayed here in Rexburg. And I think we've decided that this might be our favorite holiday. We had a lot of fun!!

Friday night we had some friends over at our house: Dallen and Sara Birch (Tom's old roommate) and Brian, Brittany, Mason, and Brittany's mom. We had a BBQ!

Saturday morning we woke up late and went down the street to watch the parade. It was awesome. Lucy loved it. She had fun watching the horses, gathering candy, and probably the best part was getting chocolate milk, mmmm! They also gave out free hot dogs and water. We love free things by the way.

Then we went to the park where they had a bunch of booths set up. Lucy and Saren played while we looked around. We got our picture take with Snoopy and won a family portrait sitting with a new photographer in the area (we won't actually get them taken for a month or two, but it was cool!)

Then we came home and all took naps, ate dinner, and went out and bought some sparklers. We let Lucy hold them all by herself (we even let Saren try with some help). We also watched a little firework show from our front yard over the trees. All in all it was a great day!