Fickle!

I am learning that during spring in Utah you can have a beautiful day like this one day . . .

And wake up the next morning to this!

This was conference weekend for those of you who are LDS, you may remember that the Saturday sessions of general conference we had weather like the top picture (that was April 2nd) and then Sunday morning they showed pictures of temple square looking like a winter wonderland (April 3rd). It was actually really pretty and didn't last long even considering how much snow fell, but still! That is quite a difference!

Our neighbor's beautiful tree.

Shoveling in shorts - must be spring snow!

We just got this baby all set up! The net got so weighed down we had to go shake it off. This snowstorm actually broke a lot of trees because the snow was so wet and heavy.

Guess What We Put Out?

When we told the girls last summer that we were moving to Utah, the first two questions they asked were, "Can we bring Twilight?" and "Can we bring the trampoline?" Those were their two main things they wanted if we were going to uproot them from everything they knew.


When we moved into the house last November, it wasn't the time to set it up. So the girls have waited anxiously for several months and finally were reunited with their beloved yard toy. If only we could have brought our awesome swingset too.

Will's Mission Report

After our fun day with Will upon his arrival from Japan, we got to do some more celebrating with him at his homecoming. It was so neat to attend his ward and hear his mission report and some of the growing experiences he had on his mission. This was shortly after the earthquake in Japan so his emotions were especially tender that day as he spoke of the Japanese people he learned to love so much.

It was very cool to hear him bear his testimony of the Savior in Japanese. Vern* and I got to sit next to one of his companions from his mission which was fun. I just feel so proud of these awesome young men that go out and do miraculous work with so much faith at just 19 -21 years old. This is usually the stage of life when boys can be especially focused on themselves, but our church asks them to sacrifice everything to serve others and the Lord. It really is an amazing thing to see how mature and selfless these young men become during those two years. In other words, I felt very proud of my awesome cousin. And just a side note - not to give all the attention to Will. His older brother Charlie, came home just a year ago as well and I felt the same way. It was a bummer though that I didn't get to be a part of all his fun homecoming celebrating since we were in Oregon. They are good boys. Ahem, good men, I mean. Manly men. (o:

A little Simon Says is always a good way to celebrate!



Kimmie made the most adorable cupcakes for the occasion! Everything is candy. I like the broccoli the best!

My long lost cousin Megan. Well, I guess, I'm really the long lost cousin. I can't help but point out Lara's hilarious face in the background. He he! Sorry Lara! I want to know what she is saying.

Signs of Spring!

I have been so excited to see little green surprises popping up out of the dirt all over the yard. Since this is our first year in the house, and we've really only lived here during the winter months, I don't know what kind of plants we have in the yard. I am feeling very grateful to the previous owners for all their hard work planting the bulbs that make me so happy to see. Every time spring comes and the little green sprouts pop up out of the dirt I can't help but think of "The Secret Garden". I love the way Burnett describes the world coming to life again after a long, cold winter. I love spring!

Ahhh, another not-so-lovely sign of spring. Yellow jackets. Bart's* arch enemy. Our lovely wood beams in the entry of our house that I love so much are also loved by yellow jackets. I believe Bart* killed about 100 of these babies after he discovered a huge nest above one of the beams.

And, of course, playing outside again without coats, gloves, boots, etc. The girls found another use for the sleds we used in the winter. They made perfect boats for their imaginative play.

Grandma Beth

Well, just because we live a lot closer to most of our family now, doesn't mean we get to see them as often as we'd like. We have slowly, but surely, made our way around the valley to see our wonderful extended family. When the girls had a day off from school in March, I thought it would be the perfect time to head down to Orem to finally visit with Grandma Beth. Beth married my grandpa when I was a teenager and has been such a sweetheart to me all these years. I consider her my "adopted" grandma and want the girls to know her. We thought it would be fun to bring the girls' scrapbooks to show her what they've been up to this last year. She took time with each of them to ooh and ahh over every page and they loved sharing all the fun things with her.

Natalie found one of grandpa's old tigers in the basement and has not stopped talking about it since. Grandpa loved tigers. We also got to see grandma Beth's "Daughters of the Utah Pioneers" flag that she designed! The girls were very impressed that grandma Beth made an official flag.



Before we headed to lunch, Beth gave each of the girls a very special little glass box in the shape of a heart with a fancy flower on top. They were so excited to have something so fancy.

After our fun visit, Beth took us to lunch at Village Inn. We had such a fun time and the girls really enjoyed getting to know Grandma Beth better.

Homecoming!

When my aunt Jill invited us to come to welcome my cousin Will home at the airport after his two year LDS mission to Japan, I was so excited! Luckily, the timing of his flight worked perfect with the girls' school schedule on Friday afternoon. Getting there was a little stressful. I am so used to PDX (the Portland Airport), I really had a hard time finding my way around. The girls and I went to where we thought we were supposed to be, and even saw several families holding signs and balloons waiting for elders, but the people did not look familiar at all. I called Chrissy and after a few minutes we realized I wasn't even in the right building! (Thank heavens for cell phones!) Like I said, I don't remember the Salt Lake airport so well. (O:

So the girls and I ran to where Christine told us to go - about a block away. Luckily, we got there in plenty of time. We found everyone holding signs - Christine asked that we not calculate her percentages on the poster above. (O: Brad (below) held one of the signs that a friend helped them write in Japanese. The feeling there was so exciting. There were other groups of families waiting in the same area and everyone was anxious and watching closely up the escalators every time a group of people came down. I think Jill was about to burst with all the waiting.





Everyone cheered as we saw the elders coming down the escalator. It seemed to take forever for them to get down. If you have never witnessed a reunion of a mother with her returned missionary son, I highly recommend it. But I also highly recommend bringing a lot of tissues. It is such a spiritual experience. Here is a young man or woman - as many girls serve missions too - who has sacrificed everything for two years; time with family, money, friends, college, a comfortable home, free time to do hobbies, free time in general - all to go to an assigned mission, usually somewhere the missionary has never been to share the gospel with people they've never met and many times in a language they've never spoken before. It is miraculous that there are so many young men willing to make this sacrifice - who love the Lord more than themselves. It is awesome! It makes me so proud of our elders and sisters serving all over the world. Then you think about the loved ones of that missionary. What mom wouldn't get teary just thinking of sending her son or daughter somewhere foreign for two years with nothing more than weekly letters or e-mails and phone calls twice a year. Not to mention the financial sacrifice to support them. When you get to witness the return of a faithful missionary with his family, who also sacrificed so much - the moment feels so sacred. It still makes me cry just thinking about it. Such a powerful moment. The only thing that I can think of to compare it with is when witnessing the return of a soldier who has sacrificed for his/her country.

We all felt so proud of Will! He looked so great!

Christine and Will

What a wonderful day! And what an adorable group! Mary (Will's sis), Hailey, Will, Christine and Lauren. Will, Hailey and Christine were all born the same year - a rather fertile year in my extended family! Kaitlin was also born that year, but she couldn't make it to the airport since she lives 5 hours away. I used to babysit all of these kiddos (well, not Lauren (o:, I didn't know her yet - she's Will's girlfriend). I love my family!

After an amazing reunion with Will, we headed back to Dave and Jill's house to just talk and catch up. Will showed us how he sat during his two years on his mission. He said kneeling so much was hard to get used to and hurt at first, but after a while, he got used to it.

We loved looking at maps, pictures and all kinds of souvenirs from Japan as Will told us stories from his mission. Just a side note: This really brought back so many wonderful memories of the day Bart* got home from his mission. I still remember sitting in his parent's living room and hearing so many stories, looking at what he brought home and asking him all kinds of questions. It was so cool to learn about Japan's culture and Will's experiences. I don't know how long we all sat and talked, but I could've listened for hours longer. It was fascinating! Will definitely learned to love the Japanese people and culture. The fact that he got home just a week before the 9.0 earthquake hit Japan really made the whole disaster hit home. My first thoughts were, "Thank heavens Will got home safe before it hit." But my next thoughts were of all the people that were there that he loved so much. Luckily, he was able to hear after a few days that everyone he knew was okay. My heart ached for the beautiful country that we learned so much about through Will just the week before.

Natalie thought Will's Japanese sword was pretty cool.

We worked up quite an appetite with all the talking, so we had to get some good old Cafe Rio!

Sarah got to practice using chopsticks by eating M&M's for dessert! She got pretty good!

We got to listen in when a friend dropped by (who served in Japan as well) as he and Will conversed in Japanese. It was pretty cool to hear how fluent Will was! Just amazing!


Is this the sweetest picture, or what?

We LOVE Will! Welcome Home!! I am so so so glad we got to be part of this amazing day! An awesome perk of being back home.

Case Lot Sales!

You know one thing I really LOVE about Utah?

Case lot sales!!

This is WAY easier than bringing home individual cans for food storage. And we got lots of good deals. I was so giddy as I placed these in our food storage closet!

A Day Trip Down Memory Lane

President's Day - we decided to use the day off to go on a fun day trip to the beginnings of our little family so many years ago. We headed down to Provo to relive our college days.

I can't believe this place is still standing. It was kinda dumpy back when we lived here! (o: Our humble beginnings at "The Manor House". Such a fancy sounding name for this cinder block structure. We had good times here though in our cute, little studio apartment. And the not so good times are funny to us now. Like the night after our neighbors moved and we smelled cigarette smoke coming from next door in the vacant apartment. We called the police and they found a homeless man in the closet right on the other side of the wall from our bed. Yikes! Good Times! (o: I prefer to recall the fun times trying to figure out how to cook dinners, keeping our little house, having my little sis visit for sleepovers, staying up all night playing King's Quest VII The Princeless Bride when we bought our very first computer and then Heroes of Might and Magic. It was good therapy after long nights studying!

One of my old places of employment. I didn't get a picture of Franklin Elementary where I worked most of my years down at BYU. My last year, before we moved to Oregon, I worked here for the Utah County Visitor's Center. I was so blessed to have such great jobs while we were going to school. I worked with great people and got to go visit so many fun places (while getting paid) so I could recommend places for people to visit. I have great memories of going with co-workers Kristy and April to various museums, the preview of Thanksgiving Point's gardens, hotel tours and even skiing at Sundance! I also got to take pictures for the Utah County Visitor's Guide. So I can say I've been published. (O:

We took the girls to Los Hermanos - one of our favorite restaurants to go to for special dates back in our old college days. It's in a new location now, but has the same feel.

After lunch we headed to the Bean Life Science Museum on BYU campus. Natalie did not like the 8 foot tall scary bear as you can see by the look on her face.

But this butterfly exhibit was pretty amazing to look at!





Sarah enjoyed watching a real live paleontologist at the museum of Paleontology.

... until she ran into this guy.

We finished off the day at Cabella's and let the girls try their hand at the fun shooting gallery. What a fun day!!

Decorating a Little at a Time

One thing we are always pretty slow at when we move into a new place is hanging up pictures. That's because hanging pictures is a commitment and commitment is hard for someone who has a hard time making decisions. (O: I loved my pictures hanging in the upstairs hall at our house in Hillsboro. It was my little tribute to my baby girls and their special blessing dress made by grandma P. I miss my vinyl lettering that said, "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" - hopefully I'll get some later on. But for now - I have my favorite little picture montage upstairs again!

It's Official

We are officially Utahns. We have the driver's licenses and plates to show it. I still have my Oregon ID for sentimental purposes, but it is no longer valid. It was kind of weird changing our plates. We put it off for long enough. My brother, Mr. police officer, gave us a little motivation when he told us the fine for having out of state plates for longer than the grace period (60 days) was going up. That was all we needed. And the notoriously horrible DMV was AMAZING! It was so organized and fast, we could not believe it. We had new drivers licenses in about 30 minutes, including the time to take the open book test. Miracle of miracles.

Now we just need to change our Oregon cell phone numbers . . .