My Sister's Wedding and Our Big Announcement

The third weekend while I was working in Idaho, my sister got married in the Salt Lake Temple. I drove down with my parents. Dakota stayed in Idaho since we would only be gone for a day and my parents had someone coming to feed their cat. Their neighbor nicely fed our dog too.

I stayed that night in my own bed while my parents went on to drive to Salt Lake. It was so nice to see Grig! I'd really missed him. It was really nice to be home, even if it was only for a couple of nights.

The next morning, we left our home super-early to go to Salt Lake. We dropped Kevin off at the hotel that my parents were staying in, so he could play with his cousins while we went to the temple sealing. He was pretty excited.

It was a beautiful ceremony. My sister and her new husband looked so happy and the feeling of peace was very strong.

Doesn't she look beautiful?

Once the ceremony was over, we quickly went to get Kevin and his cousins so they could be there when my sister walked out of the temple.

 After the temple, we went to a dinner served by his family and then we had a reception later in the evening. I took pictures during a lot of it while Kevin played with his cousins in the nursery room. They had a good time.

Kevin likes to play with two toys at once.

My sister designed these dresses for all of her nieces, and my mom made them.

 When the reception ended, we drove back home and I got to sleep in my bed again. It was really nice.

The next day we drove back to Idaho. We made a stop on the way though. During the last family reunion, my aunt announced that her dog had just had puppies. She wondered if anyone wanted any. Grig and I have been discussing for a long time whether or not we should get a puppy. We decided we would go and look and them and decide if we wanted one.

After visiting, we tentatively picked out a puppy and decided that if we could get so much money stored away by the time he was old enough to take home, that we would get a new puppy.

Unfortunately, Dakota is getting old, and I'm pretty sure she has cancer. We don't know how much longer she's going to live and we wanted her to help train the puppy before she leaves us.

This is the cake I made Dakota for her 14th birthday last month. She loved it!

We've been able to save up the money amount that we needed, so our big announcement is that we have decided to bring a new puppy into our family.  This is him:

Isn't he cute? He's got a great, calm personality to match. We are picking him up next Friday, the 19th. 

From there, we went straight to the next reception back in Idaho. This reception went faster for me than the one in Utah, because I knew almost everyone that came. It is always fun to reconnect with people I haven't seen in a while.

The matching father and son

The daddy/daughter dance

My sister with the only sister who couldn't come. We made a cut-out copy of her so that she would know we missed her. My dad posted the face on. I think it looks pretty awesome. 

It was a fantastic event, and a very happy one. I am so grateful that my family all gets along and loves each other. I am grateful that we know that husbands and wives can be sealed together in the temple for all eternity. We believe that when marriage is performed under the proper authority, that it can go far beyond "death do us part."

That is a comforting and wonderful blessing.

Camping and Egin Lakes

Weekend 1: Camping with Family

The first weekend up in Idaho, my sister and brother-in-law invited us to go camping with them. They also invited my younger brothers, sister, and my cousin who was up helping with the apartments. Grig and I had brought our tent, so we were prepared to go. We went to an area near Warm River. The first night, we got there a bit late because we had been working, so by the time we got set up, it was nearly dark.

The boys cut up some firewood, and that was pretty exciting.

We enjoyed cooking hotdogs and s'mores and sitting around the campfire talking. Kevin really enjoyed the camping chairs.

 We went to bed pretty early. It took Kevin a while to fall asleep, but we all got plenty of rest eventually.

The next day, I woke up super early because I was cold and people in the campsites around us were talking really loudly. I thought it was my siblings, and so I decided to get up and help make a fire. However, when I got up everyone else was still asleep. I snuck into my sister's tent to steal a match and then I built a fire.

Most of the group that was there.

We had a fantastic breakfast, and then the kids got their swimming suits on so that they could swim in "Warm River." A very deceptive name, I might add. The river was freezing!

A butterfly that we saw on a canopy.

 Despite the fact that it was freezing, we decided to wade in it. After a few minutes, you couldn't feel your legs anymore and it became tolerable. I had a good time, and the kids were laying down in the water. My little brother offered them 25 cents if they would do it. They're tough little kids! We had to leave our site by 11:00 a.m., so we packed up quickly.

This is a woolly caterpillar we found. My niece LOVED it. She had a really hard time putting it down. 

 Once we finished packing up, we drove up the road a bit and went huckleberry picking. Huckleberries are delicious, and Kevin fell asleep on the way. For the first little while, I held him while he slept and everyone else picked berries. He woke up after a little while and we joined in.

 At first, Kevin wanted nothing to do with the berries. We tried to give him one, but he spit it out. However, once he got a taste, he became addicted. He started picking his own and popping them in his mouth. We took turns picking the berries with him and taking pictures of everyone. It was a fun trip, and I'm excited to eat our now-frozen huckleberries.

 We'll probably make huckleberry pancakes. Those are the best.

Weekend Two: Egin Lakes

Grig and I had been meaning to go to Egin Lakes all summer, so we invited a family-friend and her family to come with us. She and I have been friends online for a while, but it was nice to spend time with her and get to know her better. Kevin and her son instantly became friends.

 After a while, we began building sand castles. This is the one Grig and I built. The hole in the middle goes quite deep. We didn't quite get to the end of it before we had to leave, but we rather liked the end result.

 We didn't catch any salamanders or tadpoles, but we still had a really good time. I love that place.  The weekends really helped the work week go quickly and gave me something to look forward to.

I love these guys!

Working in Idaho

As I mentioned before, I have been working in Idaho for the past month.

My grandparents own college apartments, and nearly every year since I was 11 I have helped clean and maintain them during the summer.

My grandparents have been very generous with me, and when I realized that they weren't going to have much help this year, Grig and I began to talk about Kevin and I going up for the summer break. We felt pretty strongly that I should go, and I am so glad I did!

Not only was I able to help my grandparents and my aunt, we also really needed that extra money in ways that we didn't realize. A little while ago, Grig got a root canal and I had some cavities filled. Grig and the rest of his coworkers were asked to not come in for a week in July and September. Those two weeks off really hurt us economically. Add our trip to Virginia to that, and we were in pretty dire straits. If we hadn't had the supplementary income, we would have been in big trouble. Thanks to my work in Idaho, we have had sufficient for our needs and the means to pay off our doctor bills.

That has been a huge blessing. We were hoping to save up more money, but Grig's work is approaching the busy season, so we should be able to do that.

For the first few weeks, we deep-cleaned and repaired the apartments. The last couple weeks were focused on preparing a few spots in the parking lot for cement. I had a good time working with my family and spending time with them. Some of them I got to know a lot better since I haven't spent much time with them individually since I moved out of the house. I also lost around 10 lbs!

Kevin got to know everyone a lot better too. He wasn't always at his happiest, since I kept leaving him, but he could be awfully cute. He got more used to me leaving as time went on and cried less when I left, but he was really clingy when I got home. That could be kind of frustrating, especially when I needed to shower, but I appreciated that he missed me. I missed him too.

Dakota spent her time outside sleeping. I think she enjoyed being out there for the most part, though she was always really excited to see us.

Grig tried to come up every weekend, but a couple of times I ended up going down to Utah instead. We had a few crazy weekends.

I'll probably write about them in more detail (and link that detail to this page) in the rest of this week's blogs, but I'll provide a summary here:

Weekend 1: Wednesday's blog

Camping with Family

On the first weekend, we went camping with my youngest siblings, my sister, and her husband and children. We had a great time wading in the falsely named "Warm River." It was freezing! We had a great time though and saw some beautiful wildlife.

After we packed up, we went huckleberry picking. Kevin really enjoyed picking eating huckleberries.

Weekend 2: Wednesday's blog

Egin Lakes

Egin lakes is a well-kept treasure in south-east Idaho. Placed in the middle of the Sand Dunes, it is a series of shallow lakes. We went there with a friend and it was really fun to get to know her and her family better. We swam in the lukewarm water and made sand castles. Kevin had a great time with one of her sons, and they enjoyed throwing sand at each other.

Weekend 3: Thursday's blog

Sister's Wedding

This weekend we drove back to Utah to attend my sister's wedding. She looked beautiful and we're happy to welcome her husband into the family. All of my family, except one sister who is on a mission, was able to be there. That was really nice. Many pictures were taken, though not all willingly.

We also made a special stop on the way back to Idaho and reached a momentous decision that's really going to add some excitement to our lives. I'll talk about that on Thursday. Be excited! I sure am!

Weekend 4: Friday's blog

The Fish Story

Over Labor Day weekend, I returned home to spend some time with Grig. My parents, who were going to the Ogden Temple open house, dropped me off, and I got a ride back to Idaho with my brother and his family.

While I was home, we had three unexpected guests (or dinners as the case may be), and an amazing temporary house guest.

I had a great time, but it is so nice to be home!

Mormon Monday: Fasting and the Sacrament

On the first Sunday of every month in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have a church-wide fast where we go without food or water for two meals.

Since I became pregnant with Kevin, I have not been able to fast due to nursing and other factors. Instead of fasting food, I would go without television or sugar during that time period so I could still participate. As Kevin's need for sustenance diminished, I was able to fast one meal, and I was grateful for the opportunity.

Yesterday, for the first time in over two years, I felt that I was capable of fasting two meals again. It was a happy moment for me. Fasting brings a lot of power into our lives.

Elder Shayne M. Bowen in April 2009 said:

What if there were a way to overcome our habits, addictions, and burdens? What if there were a way to gain sufficient confidence in the Lord that you could call down the powers of heaven? What if there were principles you could teach your loved ones that, if applied, would allow them to overcome personal weaknesses and draw closer to God?

As we properly understand and live the law of the fast, these desired blessings can be ours.

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6).

Our Father will free us from the bands of wickedness, He will lift our heavy burdens, and He will let the oppressed go free. In fact He promises to empower us to break every yoke. What an enabling promise, to have the power to break every yoke!

Proper and consistent fasting can help us overcome sins, bad habits, and addictions. Is there any of us who would not want to be freed from the personal burdens we carry? Fasting allows us to avail ourselves of this cleansing and purifying power.

I have felt that power in my life.

However, as I was sitting in the first meeting at church yesterday, I wasn't feeling so optimistic. My head was beginning to pound, and I was feeling weak. I didn't know if I was going to make it through the whole three hours without eating something. I had already missed breakfast, and it was an hour past lunch time.

We finished singing the sacrament hymn, which is designed to help bring the spirit before we partake of the sacrament.

When we take of the bread and water, we do it in remembrance of our Savior Jesus Christ. The bread represents his body, and the water represents the blood that was shed for us. When we partake of these symbols, we promise the Lord that we will keep His commandments, always remember Him, and take His name upon us. These are the same things that we promise at baptism. In return, the Lord has promised that He will forgive our sins, and that we will have His Spirit to be with us.

The Lord himself instigated the sacrament. It has always been a fundamental part of His church.

I wasn't feeling very good, but after I had partaken of the bread and water, I noticed a remarkable change. I suddenly felt re-energized and my headache subsided! As I contemplated how much better a morsel of bread and a tiny cup of water had made me feel, my mind suddenly made a connection, and I felt enlightened. It wasn't the tiny piece of bread or the water that had changed me. They were only symbols of my Savior. It was my Savior who had actually strengthened me and helped me in that moment.

Often in this life, we are asked to endure difficult things. Sometimes, those things can seem to be beyond our abilities to complete. However, with the assistance of our Savior Jesus Christ, we are capable of doing anything. This is the grace that is talked about in the scriptures.

I thought that I wouldn't be able to fast the full two meals. Right before I took the sacrament, I was thinking about eating some of the snacks we had for Kevin because I was feeling so weak. However, simply by taking the sacrament, I found that I was able to endure the next several hours and overcome my own insufficiency. I found that the simple reminder of my Savior was enough to sustain me and help me be stronger.

Sometimes, all we need is a reminder that someone is there helping us and caring for us. The Savior is always there. All we have to do is turn to him. There is power in the sacrament and in remembering our Savior throughout the week. There is power in fasting. I know those things that we fasted for yesterday will be answered in the way that is best for our family.

I'm so grateful for the lesson that the Spirit taught me yesterday. Too often, I think I'm strong enough to go through this life alone. The thing that I constantly need to remember is that I wasn't meant to walk alone. I was meant to help and be helped by others. We are here together, and as we strive to serve others, we can ALL return to our Father in Heaven.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Once Upon a Reunion

From the 1st to the 4th of August, we had a family reunion with my dad's side of the family.

The theme was Once Upon a Time, and we had a lot of really fun activities.

We had the reunion at Bear Lake, and aside from the fact that the owners sat on their garage porch and watched us the whole time, we had a great time!

The first night, we just ate dinner and talked to people. Kevin had a great time playing on the playground with his cousins. They also had swords made out of water noodles and PVC pipes. Kevin really enjoyed those the whole reunion. We also went and got one of their famous raspberry shakes. They were pretty good, but I'm not a big fan of the seeds.

Saturday, we went to Bear Lake and swam. My siblings had pooled their funds together to rent a jet ski, so we took turns riding it onto the lake. It was a little bit scary (the waves were super choppy) and it was my first time driving one, so it took a little while to get used to. One of the strangest things was when I released the gas, the jet ski instantly dropped down to a stop. That took some getting used to.

Kevin swam with us for a while, but then he got cold, so he just wanted to play on the beach. There were these shallow pools of water on the beach, and Kevin loved to lay in them belly-down and splash in the water. He was super cute. The water was much warmer in the pools as well. We stopped to eat lunch while we played, and Kevin didn't want to get out of the water to eat. A couple of times, he would have a cheetoh in his hands, and he would slide into the water, soaking his cheetoh in the filthy, seagull poop water, and then eat it. That was pretty gross.

At least our kid has a great immune system.

We also spent some time working on a sand castle. It turned out pretty good!

After we finished swimming we headed home. We all got a little sunburned, but we had applied a lot of sunscreen, so it wasn't too bad. That night we jousted. We stood on shaky stumps and tried to push each other off of them with extra long water noodles. That was really fun. I won some, and lost some.

The next day we went to church and then came back and had a family meeting where we talked about family history and played a game of cousin jeopardy. It was pretty fun. Then our grandma talked to us about the importance of staying united as a family and staying faithful to the Lord.

We spent the rest of the day working on stop-motion videos, writing letters to missionaries, talking, and playing games. Grig really enjoyed capture-the-flag that they played after dark. I had eaten too much dinner, and had no desire to run. I talked to my siblings and cousins instead.

As part of the festivities, we had been asked to write the story of how we met in fairy-tale form. I'll have to post our story, because we were quite proud of how our story turned out.

The next day we cleaned up and then drove home.

It was a fantastic reunion.

(I'm going to post this now, and add more pictures later when I have more time. I've got to go to work now.)