Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

Last weekend, we drove up to attend the open house for the Oquirrh Mountain Temple that is being built in South Jordan, UT. We really enjoyed taking the kids to see this beautiful building. We really enjoyed the spirit that is there--just a bit of heaven on earth!

Fun in the SUN!

We have been enjoying all the nice warm sun of the last few days. I am pretty sure that we were ALL vitamin D deficient since there was much whining, fighting, and grumpiness (mom included) during the 3 straight weeks of rain we had in June! It might be hard to prove that diagnosis without some blood work, but as a mom who has accurately diagnosed many colds in my day, I am pretty sure that our "illness" was caused by low levels of vitamin D. We have been working to cure ourselves by sitting in the sun and running through the sprinklers. Here is the proof.











More summer fun to come!!

Pure Joy

My son is a happy baby as long as he has food, sleep, and isn't hurt. We get lots of smiles and happy looks and I love EVERY one.


However, what makes my heart sing just a little bit more are the moments of unbridled joy and laughter. A baby's joy is so pure and unchecked by any past experience and just oozes from them so naturally. It's contagious!!

Fathers

With Father's Day today, I thought I would post a few pictures of the fathers in my life.


In daddy's arms--my children's favorite place.


My dad.



Hope your Father's Day was great!

Outside on a Sunny Day

It doesn't seem like the title of this post should be shocking for JUNE--but it is--at least in Utah. We are up to 73 degrees and it is probably the warmest and driest day we have had in more than 2 weeks (don't quote my one this--I am not an almanac.) We took advantage of the warmth and did a little weeding and a little photographing (SHHH--don't tell my husband or he will know I didn't slave away all day :)!) Here are just a couple from our day.






P.S. I don't normally do textures on photos. However, when I took this picture, I envisioned some texture from the moment I took it. What do you think?

Been Through Hail

A few days ago, while sitting at my computer, I noticed a bud on one of my rose bushes. It was a perfect shape and I could tell it would open soon. I wanted to capture it with my camera, but it was extremely windy during the day (not a recipe for sharpness) and rainy that night. This same scenario was repeated over and over the next few days. Yesterday, despite the heavy rain, wind and pebble-sized hail it bloomed wide open. Today, with a short break in the string of thunderstorms that have plagued us the last few weeks, I grabbed some photos. Probably because of the pelting it endured yesterday, it's petals are a little scarred. I think they make it even more beautiful. You can even see several raindrops from yesterday's rain still resting on the petals.




I checked out this rose bush, too. I love the pink color and the perfect shape of the roses on this bush.


Then I checked out some of the other things that are blooming at my house right now, too.


This last one is my favorite from today!!

For the Love of Reading

About a week ago, at 10 o'clock, at night, my oldest daughter came out of her bedroom telling me I needed to get my camera and come into her room. On a side note, I used to be shocked when she wandered out at 10 or 11 o'clock but it happens so regularly now--apparently most books are just to good to stop reading at an appropriate hour. I was a little skeptical of this supposed "photo-OP" so I first went to her room without my camera to see what could be so worthy of a picture so late at night. The minute I entered her room, I quickly returned to the counter to grab my camera and flash (after all, it is dark in a bedroom at 10 o'clock). I snapped the following picture of my middle daughter out cold and frozen with her book still firmly in her hands. Must be a good book!!

Weekend at Goblin Valley

This weekend, after some very crazy weeks of basement stuff, our family took a much needed overnight trip to Goblin Valley. It is a beautiful spot in the middle of the Utah desert surrounded by. . . . NOTHING. Sometimes NOTHING can be beautiful, though.



Much of the scenery on the drive to Goblin Valley looks like the above. But as you get closer--you start to see this:


Those little funny rock "blobs" are the "Goblins". In the state park, there are several places to climb around on the "goblins." My kids loved the climbing part.






And on the drive out of Goblin Valley, we saw this:



I am editing this post to just emphasize the climbing part of this trip. Now that I am looking back on some more of these pictures, I am wondering if this activity was safe. Luckily, my children all survived.

On the assent up the rock.



One up top and one on the way down. YIKES to both!!

Sunday Thought

The last few weeks have been nothing short of chaotic! I am amazed that I survived. I really needed this advice but am not sure that I could have even processed it. My mind has been overwhelmed with the basic things to do each day to maintain family, finishing up school, work going on in the basement, and things that needed to get done and scheduled next. The good news is that my mind doesn't feel so overwhelmed this morning. Not sure if that is because it is Sunday or because we had a short vacation as a family this weekend or because the carpet is now installed in the basement and I feel that the rest of the basement project is a short run downhill. We'll see.

The Day He Turned ONE!

I honestly can't believe he is one. I can't believe he has lived in our house and been cared for by us for one year. And yet, the chaos of last May seems forever ago and he definitely has grown a lot since we brought home all 5 lb. 10 oz. of his little self. He has survived all the attention that five adoring people can bestow on a little baby. He has survived all the extra mothering of three older sisters. He has survived having his picture taken more than 2300 times (at least that I could count.) And he has thrived despite the fact that his family forgot some of what it was like to have a little baby in the house. He has truly been a delight for our little family and we can't imagine not having this delightful little boy. He isn't really one for staying in one place for more than a fraction of a second, but here are a few pictures from the day he turned ONE!