April happenings

While I was in Washington visiting Janae, Mike took it upon himself (as he often does) to help me out by doing some deep cleaning on our kitchen appliances. So, while he was listening to the Saturday afternoon session of conference, he gave the dishwasher, stove and the outside of the fridge a good cleaning. Some men may bring their wives flowers or jewelry, but my man does this. And I much prefer that.




Between sessions of conference on Sunday, the 4 of us took a lovely walk in the canyon. It was lovely to be outside and enjoying each other.

We had a going away dinner for Jess and Brad with the Bundy's a couple nights before they left for Kentucky for the summer. Their leaving makes us be without a child nearby for the first time since Kylee was born. I was so sad to see them go.

They stopped in Chicago for a few days in hopes of seeing Cam, and also seeing the city. On his PDay they were lucky enough to "run into" him at his church with a little help from the zone leaders. They all loved spending an hour together.

I gave a ward bridal shower to my friend Kathy's daughter Arie.

Emma and Lydia helped me clean the hot tub. They didn't think it was a chore. They thought it was a fun adventure!

I've really perfected this whole wheat bread recipe. It is quite delicious. I love giving a couple loaves away to someone each time I make a batch.

Ann's been helping me spruce up my decorations- inside and out. Here's what my front porch looks like now.

I love this little chalkboard that I can write fun messages on!

Mike and I went to SLC one Sunday to hear Parker Lester give his farewell talk in his YSA ward. I'm so glad we got to see him before he leaves for Russia in May.

One Friday morning I went on a lovely hike to the wind caves with these fun friends.

Here's a couple adorable and funny pictures of Evan. I don't know why I don't have more to put in for the month!

 Jake was so happy he could attend the temple with one of his converts Zheng.

Here he is outside the mission office.

Emailing at the library on Pday.

Cam with his comp and 2 guys from his ward that he hangs out with a lot- Oskar and Pedro.

This is the bishops cute little 3 year old.

He got drenched riding his bike in the rain

Jake can't believe the way missionaries can dress on Cam's mission. He said if a missionary in his mission showed up somewhere looking like this they would probably get sent home! haha.

Hanging out with some neighborhood kids.

Lake Michigan!

Trip to Richland

For the second half of my spring break, I flew to Richland, WA to spend 4 fun-filled days with my bff Janae. I had such a great time. It was wonderful to see where she and Ken live and see what her life is like now since moving from Logan in August. Because we were both trying to eat healthy she had purchased all the fixings for a delicious green salad that we enjoyed every afternoon while watching a few episodes of Gilmore Girls. We only ate out once the whole time I was there, so I felt really good about it since I usually blow it on vacations.

I stayed in Parker's room and for the first time in my life was surrounded by Utah paraphernalia. And I survived!  haha

Something else I survived was having Flash the cat sit on my lap for a spell...I didn't hate it, but didn't let it happen again only because my pants were covered in cat hair after he got off..

One morning we went on an awesome hike to Badger Mountain-the only "mountain" (more like a hill) in the area. It was cool to see a different countryside than what I'm used to.

This is a cool bridge over the Columbia River.

 Ken treated me to a wonderful meal at a delicious restaurant on the river. It was so yummy! And I did go off my diet for that meal and a milkshake afterwards!

 Ken and Janae's condo is a yacht club so their boat is parked about 50 yards from their front door. They can just hop on it and go! That would be so awesome!

Most mornings we went for a walk from their condo along the river. One morning this huge paddle boat was docked nearby.

Another day we attended the Columbia River temple which is about 15 minutes from their house.

We passed trees like this everywhere we went. I love spring!

I had never seen a vineyard and Washington has lots of them, so we drove past some. There are lots of apple orchards as well.

I'm now having withdrawls again from not being able to be with Janae whenever I want. It's so sad when your best friend moves away...Thanks Janae for the best lil vacation and for paying for half my plane ticket! You are the best.

March misc

What would a monthly post be without pictures of my missionary boys? Although this month I only have one of Jake because he doesn't send as many as his brother... Cam had a fun day turning 19 on the 18th. Pedro, a ward member he's become really good friends with got him this cake and they had a little party that night. The tradition there is that everyone helps shove the birthday persons face into the cake, then they have another one for everyone to eat! So he sent a video of that and it was fun to watch.

This was on St. Patricks day when they dye the river green!

This is Jake's new companion Elder Gibby from Brigham City. Unfortunately, he's not a favorite...

I gave a baby shower to my friend Dani (front middle) who's having her first boy. Since she already has 2 girls, she only wanted to invite people who would have given her a present anyway, so we had a nice small group.

This boy! He's always doing something fun and is always looking adorable.

Look at these two reunited in the airport after Ky and Evan's trip to Arizona. Is that the cutest thing ever?

All ready for church! Look at this beautiful mama and her little boy...(who is looking far too grown up...)

For the first time in history, I helped Mike set up our trampoline instead of one or more kids helping. Another first is this is probably the earliest it's ever gone up... this mild winter has been so awesome.

Here's a before and after with getting the patio all set up for summer after putting it all away for the winter.