Fun in the snow with cousins

S and I went sledding with some of her cousins in Highland and had a great time. It was S's first time and she was a little nervous. At one point she actually wanted to go down the hill by herself, but most of the time she really just wanted to play on the playground equipment :) She is a good sport, though, and went down the hill with me several times.

Her sweet, little cousin gave her a hand...

Everyone going down together! So much fun!

Temple Square at Christmas

We visited Temple Square as a family this year. Looking back at Christmas this year, this was probably my favorite time. Everything just worked out well and we just enjoyed the time together.

As soon as we got there another little girl gave S this balloon. She was just looking for someone to give it to. How sweet!

This year the glorious Cedar of Lebanon was lit. It's huge!

 I like this side view of the reflecting pool.

S loved the water fountains.

We brought hand-warmers to help with the cold and we also stopped in at the visitors centers and the JSMB to warm up. When we got to the car we had a thermos of hot chocolate to share on the way home. Fun time!

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween. It's fun to enjoy more and more experiences with S. She was a little mouse this year--cutest mouse ever (says momma)! I dressed up as a cat for the ward Halloween party. I thought it fitting to be the cat who chases her little mouse around =)

S with our jack-o-lanterns

Heading out to trick or treat!
We didn't go to many houses and S never
actually said "Trick or Treat!" even once. Ha!

Afterwards we went to have some fun with Nathan's brother & his family.

What a bunch of cuties!!

Hee Haw's

We know the people who own Hee Haw's so we usually go there every fall. S enjoyed it more than last year. She liked seeing the animals and riding on the little train. She especially like the horse swings.

"Oh, hi Daddy!"

In the pig pen

Giant slide ride with Mommy

Tractor swing

Hay ride

A trip to the zoo

My brother and his family invited S and I, and my sister, to join them for a trip to the zoo. We had a very fun time being together. The only downside is that it was soooooooooooooo hot, especially by the end. But, sometimes you just grin and bear it and just have fun!!

My nieces and I with S. Warning: this is not a real elephant

Silly Mommy

Now there's an eagle for you!

My brother holding S while watching the pachyderm show. S was much more interested in the fans overhead than the elephants.

If you haven't gone to the bird show at Hogle Zoo, you should go! It's very impressive and entertaining.

We love the USA!

Nice shot of a polar bear

See? You more than measure up, bro!

My cute niece helping with the stroller. It sure is nice having family around to help out and enjoy S, too!

Aunt Lori and S

Trying to cool off in front of a big fan with a mister. Come join us S!

My Parents' 60th Anniversary

My parents had their 60th anniversary on June 1st. It doesn't seem like it's really been 10 years since their 50th, but the calendar proves me wrong. How blessed I am to have been born to these 2 people! I don't know why I've been given such a blessing, but I am forever grateful for it. 

When they got married, Dad was 19 and Mom was a shocking 17 (she turned 18 a month later). Dad enlisted in the army (this was during the Korean War) and he was sent to training in Washington (I believe). He got leave and was able to come back to get married. Mom only had a couple days notice that he was coming so they didn't have a lot of time to plan a wedding. For their honeymoon they loaded a mattress into the back of a pickup and went to southern Utah for a couple days. 

Dad was assigned to Austria and Mom joined him soon after. They were there for a year and Dad was never in active combat. My oldest brother, Alan, was born there. 23 years after Alan was born, my younger sister, Lori, was born. They had 9 children total. All of us came for the reunion/anniversary celebration, but we were not all there at the same time. It is no small task getting us all together!

Mom & Dad

All of the family who came except Alan, who left the day before

I like this one of Mom kissing Dad and his big smile

All of us kids, except Alan, and our parents

All of the grandchildren who were present

All of the great-grandchildren who were there

We had an open house to celebrate their anniversary and invited friends, family, and ward members. It was a 50's theme with an ice cream bar. Everything turned out really well.

Hanging on the wall is Mom's wedding dress and Dad's uniform 

Pictures of each of us kids and the grandkids
who have families of their own

Table decorations with pictures of Mom & Dad
 and news from the day the were married

The missionaries served the ice cream

Some of the family

My dad's brother, Uncle Doyle, recited a couple poems
 that my grandpa used to tell: Sam MacGee and Lil' Orphan
Annie. Those poems will always remind me of Grandpa.

Dad's sister, Orva; his brother, Doyle; and Dad

Before the open house and after we had gotten everything ready for it we all sat down with Mom and Dad and they talked to us about their courtship. They went to a movie for their first date and Dad even kissed her! He choked up as he talked about how he felt about Mom after that first date. He knew there was something special about her. He said he'd never felt that way before nor since. It was sweet. I don't know exactly how much later he asked her to marry him, but he asked her over and over. It wasn't until he was going away to be in the military that Mom, realizing she could lose him and didn't want that to happen, finally agreed to marry him. I love their story =)

A word about privacy

I just want to share what our feelings are about privacy, given that we have a public blog. We are very concerned about privacy and hope that visitors to our blog will respect our wishes. We do not use our last name on the blog, nor do we use our daughter's full first name. When referring to other people, I will just use first names as well. If you'd like to comment on any of the posts, please just keep these things in mind and don't use last names or our daughter's first name.

Thanks so much!