Christmas Village 2018

Zac made an awesome DC Temple!

Next to Zac's creations 

was the Lincoln Memorial 

that Chris made.

Awesome job, Chris!

Then continuing to the right was Hunter's pentagon

with an abominable in the middle.

Hunter was on a snow monster kick

this year. 

If you look close you'll 

see a few of them scattered around

the DC village. 

Our Emily was next with a

vintage village home.

Love your sprinkle siding, sis!

Paul, with the help of both Emilys,

made Arlington National Cemetery.

Love it, Paul!

He also made a Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

(It's the little green structure between Sarah's White House 

and Emily Bo's Smithsonian 

just right of the top center.)

Layton, Utah now has it's own replica

Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall thanks in part to our

family friend Coach Dooley who told us there's 

an app called "The Wall"

where you can enter a deceased serviceman or woman's name 

and see where their name is engraved on the wall. 

In the picture above, right of the green "Wall" 

is Emily Bo's Smithsonian. We loved

her domed ceiling and 

arched entry!

The tallest entry ways were on Sarah's White House

and she totally rocked it!!!

She even made both the North and South entries

which are quite different. 

You probably already knew that

but I sure didn't. 

I also don't know how Alex does it

but every year he gets 

twice the number of features

built as the rest of us! 

This year was no exception with his 

Capital Building

and his Washington Monument. 

Sarah and Darren's little ones decorated houses too.

Such precious little people!

Rascal loved that they brought Frankie!
This pic was taken in between all the fun.

Frankie looks like she's thinking, come on pal, 

let's play some more. 

It was a blast watching those cute dogs together. =D

Thanks everyone 

for helping us!

<3

Spring break in the nighttime...

This week was the twigs' spring break from school. 

Zac needed to work so we couldn't go south to our beloved redrock.

We decided to make the best of it and play in the evenings.

(photo credit - Jason Carlton) 

We went to the temple 

(all except our poor Paul who had phlebitis 

and was stuck on the couch at home with his leg elevated). 

I went in to do initiatory work 

while the twigs and Meg'n went to do baptisms and confirmations. 

When I came out they looked surprisingly dry...

yup, the baptistry was super packed 

so they hadn't been able to get in. Oops! 

Another night, Paul and I were going to the Layton High School production 

of the Wizard of Oz for the Stake Single Adult group activity 

so we got tickets for the twigs and Meg'n to come along. 

It was a treat to see so many kids we know perform!

In between these activities, 

there was some board game playing and video watching. 

Another evening, our local missionaries came by for a visit.

Sister Christensen is an artist 

and painted this beautiful picture 

that they've made into a card with Elder Eyring's great quote. 

The week's activities ended with 4 hours of laser tag 

and some very sore thighs haha!

We'd like to do it all again tomorrow! 

So grateful for this precious little family.

<3

So many! So many!

Have you heard of Studio C? 

It's a quirky little TV show that the twigs think is pretty funny. 

The title of this blog post comes from the "Google Translate" episode 

because there is "so many" to share today
from the past few months. 

Things like chalk art, 

a concert 

and 

picture scavenger hunts around Temple Square,

sweet treats from an even sweeter friend,

braces were removed,

and braces were reapplied 

(the bottoms first and the tops this week to make room

 for an implant to replace a congenitally missing tooth),

Mia laid an egg,

Zac, Ashley, Joey, and Lexi 

hiked Little Wildhorse Canyon 

and Goblin Valley,

lots of fun family and friends have visited 

(love you all - sorry we didn't get pictures of everyone!),

got to attend the Annual Utah Dental Convention,

this awesome girl got her mission call 

(and a sweet note from her mail carrier, Suzette  =),

and last but not least

we got to feel the excitement of the saints in Cedar City 

for their new temple. 

So many, so many!!!!!

xoxo

Uncommon courage and faith...

We first heard about this amazing guy 

(in the middle with the yellow tie) 

from our missionary, Zac.

He was learning about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ 

and was a great friend to the missionaries. 

Courage and faith should be his middle names 
as his conversion has taken tons of both. 

(His Baptism Day)

(His Confirmation Day)

Just the other evening, we had the privilege of attending the 

House of the Lord with him and about 30

(not all pictured)

of his favorite missionaries and friends 

when he received his endowment. 

Amazing!

Bison, a bunny, baptisms, a beauty, a beast, 7 brides, and an April blizzard...boy oh boy!

Because our girlie's school schedule is half High School classes 

and half College classes 

and their spring break weeks are in separate months, 

spring break didn't really happen for her. 

With a lot of planning and a little creativity, 

we got lucky and were able to party it up 

during her High School spring break 

between her college classes. 

I found the following evidence of the partying on her phone tonight. 

There was hiking on Antelope Island with friends...

and Bison.

There was an afternoon with Ashley at the movies

watching Beauty and the Beast

and playing with Waffles the bunny. 

There were several afternoons of doing odd jobs 

like raking all the leaves out of the garden,

stacking wood,

and having the family sort through their shoes

to make money for efy this summer. 

To top the week off we all went to Salt Lake 

for a live production of one of our family's favorite movies,

then baptisms at the Salt Lake Temple 

for our family members who've gone on before,

and yummy treats at Kneaders

just as a crazy April blizzard was beginning.

I'm thinking she did a pretty good job 

at improvising her spring break week!

<3