Jan 17, 2014
Tossed in with the fun of our anniversary, Christmas, my birthday and New Years – we also attended the wedding of our oldest niece Brimley (and our oldest nephew ties the knot in just a few short months, so fun!) To say that I completely adore this girl would be an understatement and watching her get married made me feel older than I really am. (Just another perk of marrying the second youngest in a family of nine siblings – you have nieces and nephews not too much younger than you.) At college, Brimley found a real gem, Scott, and I not-so-secretly wished they lived much closer. They’re fun, energetic and they’ve got all sorts of style. Love that they found each other. 
They were married in the Mesa temple and had a reception at their house the same evening. I can’t wait to see all their gorgeous photos, but of course I couldn’t help but snap a few myself. It’s in my blood. The beauty from the day: 
Each table had random facts about the bride and groom – which made me walk around to each table to read them all, some were quite funny. 
The reception had a waffle bar and other breakfast related foods including donuts, so of course guests had to go home with fine label “McGrath” syrup. 
The donut cake was a work of art (didn’t manage to get pictures of that before people started diving in) and I caught Brian working on the “groom’s” donut cake. 
His and Her cups to toast their new life together. 
More pictures to come…
Nov 7, 2013
Our little girl doesn’t seem so little anymore!
We went to the Mesa Temple for a little photo shoot in her baptism dress and she was beautiful in every way and we had a good time together. (Despite her two rambunxious brothers who joined us as well – we did our best to ignore them while we were shooting)
I’ve taken enough photos of her that she’s starting to tell me how she’s going to pose – she’s more than comfortable in front of the camera!
Love this girl more than she knows! 
Oct 8, 2013
This year’s theme for the Young Women/Men for our church is “Come unto Christ and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness.” As per tradition, I’ve designed up a binder cover as well as logos in a couple different colors. Feel free to use them as you please. Find previous years here and here. 
Download All Come Unto Christ Materials as a ZIP file
Download Come Unto Christ Binder
Download Come Unto Christ 5×7
Download Come Unto Christ Logo on Background
Download Come Unto Christ Aqua Logo
Download Come Unto Christ Magenta Logo
Download Come Unto Christ Yellow Logo
Download Come Unto Christ Gray Logo
Jul 16, 2012
I just returned from a long weekend of late nights with the youth from our church at Youth Conference while Steve held down the fort at home. I generally feel like I’m a young and energetic leader. But after two nights of staying up until 2am I realized just how old I’ve become! The thought of having to run to the store at 1am to grab snacks is well beyond my years, but I did it and pulled through. Oh to be young again…
We spent three days at Eastern Arizona College with our focus being the Gila Valley temple (pronounced Hee-luh):
We joined hundreds of youth in service, learning, enrichment and fun.
We started at the most depressing cemetery I had ever been too. We cleared weeds, cleaned up debris and beautified it the best we could. Have you ever seen a cemetery without grass or even a bush or a tree? I always envisioned my dead body resting underneath a shady tree, not under some river rock. And it’s not as though this is an old cemetery – one headstone I saw had someone buried in 1997. I suppose that’s what you get when you’re buried in the desert!
The heavens were obviously smiling down on us as we cleaned headstones and we were left with a beautiful sunset!
We participated in dance-offs, skits, firesides, classes, temple work and dancing. Lots of dancing. We danced on stage. We danced in the courtyard. We danced in the car. We danced the weekend away. We sang a lot too.
I couldn’t get enough of these girls and I truly had the best time with all of them – on my combined nearly 10 hours of sleep for the weekend!
During our last night dance extravaganza in the courtyard, I was surrounded by youth; some of which I knew, others I did not. I had the most nostalgic feelings engulf my body. It took me back to my life not too many years ago and my mind was racing with great memories. To be young is fun and life is full of possibilites and opportunities.
All these teenagers are on the brink of major life decisions that will change their lives forever. Yet in those moments of dancing you could see they didn’t have a care in the world. The world was their playground and they were loving it, the music was loud and their bodies wouldn’t stop moving. I wanted to shout all of my thoughts to them. I wanted to shout to them to remember these moments. Life is not always this carefree and it tends to beat you down. But life is good and there is simple joy in all of it. Remember this happiness and energy, carry this memory in your pocket.
But instead I smiled. I smiled as I admired each one of them and I danced right alongside them. It was a simple joy and a great reminder for me. It brings me so much joy working with these young adults, I have so much to learn and a weekend is just not long enough!
One very important thing that I learned: Miami, AZ has the most delicious cheap mexican food. Don’t be confused that they named their restaurant the “Burgerhouse”, they’re burros are to die for!
Jul 30, 2010
After a week with my parents, Steve flew in and we drove over to Rexburg to meet up with his parents and two siblings.
What a treat it was to spend a weekend with such a small number of family members. Steve has such a large family that when we get together, it’s really hard to feel as though you have time with everyone individually. With just two families to focus on, I felt that we really got to spend quality time and enjoyed some great conversations.
Sidenote: On our six hour drive I noticed that Hunter’s legs were getting a little too much sun. I searched the car as I kept one hand on the wheel trying to find a blanket or shirt or something we could hang in the window to block the sun. That’s when my genius idea hit…we got all sorts of fun looks when we drove past people. But the diapers served their purpose, they absorbed all the suns rays!!
Hunter had never met these cousins so it was so fun to see them all interact. Hallie was in heaven and all of her cousins were so sweet and kind to her and she loved every minute of playing with them.
We went and roasted some dogs and mallows, fed some ducks and played a little soccer.
We also hit the Whoopee Days (yes, that is really what it is called) Rodeo. This was only the second rodeo I’ve attended and it was a great time. The kids were enthralled but from a few of Hallie’s comments I could tell she was a little concerned. “Is that hurting it?” “Why are they wrapping rope around his legs?” “Why is it trying to hurt him?” I realized, a rodeo is a hard concept to explain to a four year old. But when the questions get hard, just give them a snow cone. They usually lose interest in the animal being chased around the arena!
My sister attends school in Rexburg and was able to join us for our outing!
Hunter loves his cousins. Especially when they are wearing hats. Hunter could not get enough of this hat. He would take the hat, laugh, put it on his own head, laugh, throw the hat, laugh. I’m sure glad that hat went everywhere we did because it provided endless amounts of entertainment!
Our nephew entered the arena for the pig chase and ended up getting some money! It was the funniest thing to watch.
I think my favorite event was the bull riding. I would cringe every time I saw that bull getting ready as they opened the gate but then I couldn’t take my eyes off the rider as I saw his body contort to all sorts of shapes I didn’t think was physically possible. Then as they fell off I always held my breath in fear that he would get stepped on or trampled. Neither of the two happened. Thank heavens. I don’t know how I would’ve explained that to Hallie. Even two snow cones probably wouldn’t have stopped the questioning!
Also in Rexburg we hit up a fabulous pool at a friend of Steve’s parents. It. Was. Heaven. And Beautiful. I could’ve stayed there all day. Hunter was exhausted and nearly fell asleep in the water. Hallie was a little fish and couldn’t get enough. She clearly takes after her father.
We really enjoyed our time in Rexburg. We were able to see our old apartments, our old condo, go to the temple (which is so nice to be just a block…a block away!), toured the campus (which is so different just years after we left), see friends, see old teachers/professors, enjoy the beautiful weather and we loved our time with family.
Here is our traditional picture of the kids with their grandparents. It didn’t go over too well with Hunter. We said we would take another later when he was in a better mood. But I kept this picture “just in case” we didn’t get one later. It’s a good thing I kept it. It’s the only one we got. So this will forever mark our 2010 trip!
Next up: Fourth of July in Rexburg
