Utah in Pictures Part Deux

Here's some more pictures from our Utah trip...

This is the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It's kind of fun to be able to go to two new temples in less time than it takes us to get to our temple here. Wait...

This is another work project the boys did for their mom while we were in Utah. Unfortunately, they actually broke the previous faucet while trying to fix it, but this new one looks so nice!

I really like the aquarium function on my camera. I think this picture turned out rather well!We gave Brent's mom the funniest cup...it's a hula girl complete with a coconut bra and grass skirt. It was pretty cute!

Finally, looking at the camera! Too cute. You both look so famous! Reyes is such a Washington baby. Whenever she would go outside, she would start to whine a little saying that it was too bright. Then she would shut her eyes. This normally resulted in her running into something - which was kind of funny. We just don't get too much bright sun up here!

This was taken at the aquarium. I think it turned out kind of neat. I did cut Brent out of the picture. He was looking at me with this surprised face. It wasn't as cute as this part.

Reyes fell in love with Grandma's stuffed camel (or cameo - is that how you spell it - in Spanish) that she has to represent Julie while Julie's in Kuwait. (They started this tradition when Ryan and Jess were on their missions. That way, they could be "at" family functions, even if it was just a stuffed animal.) So, Reyes was really excited to see real camels at the zoo. I can't remember which kid it was but one of them said, "Hey, these ones have two humps!" The stuffed camel is a dromedary and these are bactrian. Pretty observant.

Marcela being super brave putting her head actually in the lion's mouth. Hmm...guess we did see lions at the zoo...they just weren't the kinds that move around.

Here's Jayson at the Luau trying to suck a pina colada through a tiny "fun" straw. They were cute straws, but they were not easy to get the stuff through!

Ok, that's enough today. This is going to take forever. Blogger is being kind of weird about putting the pictures in and since that's the whole point of the post, I'm going to go get ready for church. Stupid blogger!

What Once Was Lost...

Is Now Found.

In a prodigal son-esk moment, the marigolds that were lost have now returned. I was at the church yesterday making copies for the bulletin when I walked past the kitchen. I have a tendency to look in open doors whenever I pass them, and as I glanced in the kitchen, I saw the wayward marigolds sitting on the counter. There was a sign under them saying, "Free."

I am kind of confused by this turn of events. Why would someone take them from the under the tree...when there were still cars in the parking lot...and put them in the kitchen with a sign that said "free". I wouldn't do that. Would you?

I'm sure they were just trying to be helpful. I'm glad that I found the flowers though so I didn't mess up my very first job as the new Relief Society counselor, but...it still just confuses me.

On another note, the Leadership Overnighter was super fun. And, hopefully, this week will be quieter. The place where camp is this year is really pretty. It looks like a rainforest. I think we'll have fun!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Ok, that was funny!

Last night I had my very first Relief Society presidency meeting. What I learned from that meeting is that there are a lot of people I don't know in our ward. So, I'm excited to get to know them. But...here's the funny thing that happened.

On Wednesday night, we had an Enrichment Meeting where we planted marigolds in pots. The point, I was told later, was to take them to people who might need a little pick me up. So, Thursday afternoon, the Relief Society president called me and asked me to find out if we had any extra marigolds and we could take them to people when we go visit them. I found the extra ones and took them to the church. Since it was 91 degrees (YUCK!), I didn't want to leave them in my car, so I just put them under a nice shady tree.

When I came out of the meeting, I looked over to the tree and the marigolds weren't there. I thought maybe I was looking at the wrong tree, but there were no marigolds under ANY of the trees. That's right, someone took the marigolds!

Way to go with my first official act as a relief society counselor. I just had to laugh.

Now, I'm switching my hats and going to the YW Leadership Overnighter for camp. Ahhh...YW's...where I know what I'm doing! It will be fun!

Have a good weekend!

Utah in Pictures

I have a bunch of pictures that I want to post from our Utah trip, so I'm just going to post them. They are in alphabetical order, so...

Enjoy!

Jessica let me use her really nice camera. I now have camera-envy. Thanks Jess! (This is at Brent's mom's Hawaiian Luau birthday party)

Cute little Jayson. He is the sweetest little thing. And I'm loving his curly hair. He's going to look like a little lamb!
Here are Rylee and me at Hogle Zoo. I have to say...I was kind of disappointed in the zoo. I used to work there when I was a teenager and it has changed a lot. But...not always for the best. There didn't seem to be that many animals. I didn't even see any lions. What zoo doesn't have lions? I guess I got too used to San Diego Zoo.
Me, Jayson and Tayler. Jayson is pointing at the elephants. He really liked those elephants. It was really fun to hang around with these guys at the zoo. We just don't get to see enough of them. Tay and I really bonded. We decided while I was there that we would pretend my name was Ashley Tayler because her name is Tayler Ashley. Kind of silly, but cute.
Good old Brent. This is at the Luau...you could probably tell that by the Hawaiian shirt and lei, but...
One of the good improvements at Hogle zoo was a carousel. Unfortunately, they had to take out he hippo house to build the carousel. That hippo house has a lot of memories for me. The biggest one was when my mom almost dropped me in the pool with the hippos. That couldn't have ended well.

Thanks, Marcela, for taking this picture. Reyes is the one with her back to the camera. She is not a camera fan. You can hold up the camera, call her name, she'll look at you, then when she sees the camera, she'll turn away. Good thing the back of her head is cute because that's pretty much all I could get. Tay is waving.

Hi Jess!

And, finally Rylee. She told me that she wanted a zebra for a pet. That would be fun. I want to come over and play with your pet zebra!The whole kid crew at the zoo. One of the improvements they've made to the zoo since I have been there is the entrance. It is very pretty. They still don't have lions or polar bears, but it looks nice when you walk in.


I finally get a picture with Reyes looking at the camera and she has her tongue out. Great.This is the new Draper Temple that just opened in, well, Draper. It's right up against the mountains. The day we were there, the wind was coming out of the canyon and it was COLD.


Thanks, Mom and Dad, for taking me on a temple tour! Here's little Eli. He just turned 1. He got this baseball game for his birthday. It's pretty amazing how he knows what to do with it. He just loves it.


He also has that great bandaid on his forehead to cover the 7 stitches he got while they were in Utah. He fell. Poor little guy. That's a lot of stitches for such a small head!


This is one of the reasons we came to Utah...other than to see all our great family. Brent's mom sent him an email saying, "Now, you're suppose to get hot water out of the hot water heater every time you turn on the hot water, right?" That being true, Brent soon realized that the hot water heater needed some replacing. Brent and Ryan got it in and working. Good job guys!

I just love this picture. I call it "I can do that." Isn't it cute how the littler kids look to the bigger kids and do what they do? I know this picture is kind of dark, but it's too cute. It's from the new aquarium in...I think...Sandy. It's called the Living Planet Aquarium. It's kind of small, but good for little kids. I think this is a cute picture because Reyes kept looking from her stuffed Nemo to the real one saying, "I love Nemo."


Oh, that reminds me of another Reyes story. When we were getting ready to go to the zoo, I was talking to her about the animals we would see there. I said, "Reyes, are we going to see tigers?" She would say, "Yeah...they love me" while doing this little dance. Then I would ask, "Are we going to see elephants?" To which she would say, "Yeah, they love me." This went on and on until I got to "Are we going to see crocodiles?" And she replied, "Yeah..." they she looked down and said, "They don't love me." What a cutie!


All the fun people at the zoo. Once again, the back of Reyes' head is very pretty.
Ok, that's a lot of pictures and I'm only about 1/3 of the way through. I guess I'm going to leave those for another post.

My busy week is almost over. Hooray! Have a good one!

The REAL News of the Day

Ok Court, I guess you're right...I do need to tell the REAL news of the day.

Ok, I'm ready...this is a bit scary.

I got a new calling yesterday. I am now the second counselor in the Relief Society presidency. Yep, that's right...Relief Society! That's where the grown ups go! Am I a grown up now? I don't think so.

I don't know why this calling has me all a dither. I'm trying to be cool and collected, but inside I'm freaking out just a little bit. It might help a little once I figure out what exactly the second counselor in Relief Society does. Then my planning and list making skills can come into play and I can start figuring out life.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Here's the crazy part. I have only been in Relief Society for about 1 year since Brent and I got married. The rest of the time has been spent in Primary or Young Women's. So...this should be interesting.

I have a super busy week this week...that hopefully won't get any worse. But I am going to be gone every night except tonight. I hope this isn't indicative of what my weeks are going to be like from now on.

Oh, and I had to speak yesterday. It was a stressful week.

If any of you have any advice, I am TOTALLY open to suggestions. I know that there is training on lds.org and I'm definitely going to do that. But...I need help!

Truthfully, amid all my freaking out, I am REALLY excited about this call. I'm excited to learn something new. I'm excited to get to know new people. I'm just excited.

So, there is the REAL news of the day.

And, thanks for all the sweet things you said about my last post. It wasn't intended to elicit so much praise, but I'll remember that the next time I'm feeling down.

:)